Peoria Standard

Peoria County Sheriff Chris Watkins is refusing to release records regarding which inmates may be up for release when the SAFE-T Act becomes law Jan. 1, 2023.

Included in the much maligned law is the end of cashless bail for offenders which will cause the review of thousands of cases across the state and the release of offenders back into communities as they await trial.

Watkins did not respond to a phone call or email after his office denied a FOIA request from Prairie State Wire regarding the inmate records.

Watkins, an 18-year veteran, only recently became sheriff.

It is unclear what his feelings are on the SAFE-T Act given his lack of engagement on the issue.

“As sheriff, I would strive to make Peoria County a better, safer place for all of us to live, work, play and raise families. Under my leadership, the men and women of the sheriff’s office will focus on holding criminals accountable and will keep the community safer through cutting-edge training for our employees. We will also revolutionize re-entry pathways for people returning from incarceration,” Watkins said in January when he announced his candidacy, according to ABC News.

The SAFE-T Act – when it goes into effect – will allow release for those suspected of burglary, robbery, arson, kidnaping, second degree murder, intimidation, aggravated battery, aggravated DUI, aggravated fleeing, eluding drug offenses, drug induced homicide and threatening a public official.

The law has been represented as a get out of jail free card by which criminals will be able to run rampant.

Chicago’s Morning Answer host Dan Proft spoke with Will County State’s Attorney Jim Glasgow who’s would-be assassinator would have been allowed to be free from detainment despite actively planning the murder of an elected official.

“Jim, I know you've made this point, and so I'd like you to make it just to make this concrete. When Drew Peterson, you know, was plotting to assassinate you – and under this law, if he hadn't been in prison, he wouldn't be in prison,” Proft said.

Glasgow said the murder trial he undertook with Peterson was difficult and would have been made worse – and possibly deadly for him – if the accused had been free.

“If you go back to his murder trial, he was in jail for three years on a $20 million bond,” Glasgow said, Prairie State Wire reported. “That's the most difficult prosecution I've ever handled. And there's no way in the world that I would have weathered that storm had he been out of jail. In fact, on the overhear when he was captured by the FBI, when they were discussing my murder, he said if he was out on the street, he'd take care of it himself.”

Mike Koolidge, spokesman for Proft’s People Who Play By The Rules PAC, issued a dire warning, according to Prairie State Wire.

"This January, if nothing is done, mayhem will ensue across Illinois as alleged perpetrators held in pre-trial confinement for crimes from petty theft all the way up to murder will be let out of jail everywhere," Koolidge said. "Any respectable legislator and state's attorneys who doesn't do something about this before then will have blood on their hands, the least of which being the man who signed this catastrophic bill into law, Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker."

Last month GOP candidate for governor Darren Bailey, a state senator from Xenia, criticized Pritzker for making the rounds in Washington, D.C. when the SAFE-T Act was set to have such an impact on law enforcement in the already crime-ridden state, Chicago City Wire reported.