The end of cash bail went into effect in Illinois on Sept. 18.
Jones updated members of the Effingham County Board on the matter during a legislative/personnel committee meeting Monday.
"It's taken down the in-custodies a lot," Jones said. "We've maybe got 15 actually that are being held on charges, which is probably half of what we had on a regular basis before that went into effect. It's taking down the arrests a lot too, and it's affecting also the number of active cases, too."
He told committee members that the number of cases the county has brought to a grand jury has dropped from approximately 40 cases a month to about 20 cases a month for the past two months.
"It's definitely reduced the caseload," Jones said.
Despite this trend, Jones noted that the full and long term impact of the end of cash bail remains to be seen and said that some of those responsible for implementing the new law have been somewhat cautious due to a "reluctance to get things wrong."
"It's been a learning curve for everybody involved in it, but we're making our way through it and haven't had any, what I would consider, major issues implementing it," Jones said.
Meanwhile, Effingham County Board member Norbert Soltwedel asked Jones if residents have been appearing in court for hearings since the implementation of the law.
"We've had a lot of people missing court dates, as we expected," Jones said.
Jones believes that some residents have been skipping their assigned court dates because they've discovered that they are able to, in some cases, skip multiple court dates before they are served with a summons and then, potentially, a warrant.
"You're essentially, for most people, getting three bites of the apple before anything serious happens to you," Jones said.
Additionally, he claimed that some residents might be less likely to attend their court dates because they are not bound by pre-trial detention.
Jones told board members he will continue to provide them with any significant updates regarding the ongoing implementation of the law as well as any further impact it could have on the county.
