Early morning at Cook County Jail witnessed a shift as a group of new detainees disembarked from a Chicago police wagon, stepping into the bright sunlight, their eyes squinting against the glare.
These men, brought in from various police districts, represented the latest bookings at the jail, which serves as a temporary holding place for defendants awaiting judicial rulings on their admission or release while their charges are addressed.
As the jail buzzed with the activity of overnight arrestees being processed and deputies preparing detainees for court appearances, concerns have emerged about an uptick in the facility’s population.
Though the county experienced a significant decline in detainee numbers following statewide bail reforms and other reductions in previous years, there is a noticeable increase in the jail population once again.
An internal report from the Cook County sheriff’s office, obtained by the Tribune, revealed that the average daily jail population surged by approximately 12% in recent months, reaching its highest level in eight months by the end of March.
The report indicated sharp increases in detention for specific charge types following policy changes implemented by State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke.
When evaluating the factors driving these population trends, experts emphasized the interplay of various elements, including arrest rates and judicial decision-making.
Sheriff Tom Dart, in a recent interview with the Tribune, expressed his support for policies that prioritize the detention of high-risk defendants.
However, he voiced concern over the prolonged duration that inmates remain jailed as their cases wade through a sluggish court system.
The Tribune’s Stalled Justice series thoroughly examined how Cook County murder cases are taking longer than ever to conclude, even surpassing delays seen in other major court systems.
While the jail is meant to function as a temporary holding space for defendants, the lengthiness of proceedings significantly contributes to rising population levels.
The surge in jail numbers has raised questions about whether prosecutors are accurately assessing the nuances of individual cases, particularly in light of Burke’s more stringent detention policies compared to her predecessor, Kim Foxx.
Yvette Loizon, chief of policy at the state’s attorney’s office, countered claims that recent increases can be solely attributed to their policies.
“When people want to lay the uptick in the jail population at our feet, that’s a fundamental misapprehension of the process,” she stated, emphasizing that judges ultimately make detention decisions and defense attorneys can present mitigating evidence.
Judicial decisions are at the core of these trends, as Chief Judge Timothy Evans’ office declined to comment, suggesting that matters related to jail populations remain under the sheriff’s office’s jurisdiction.
The implications of rising jail numbers are not lost on city and county stakeholders, especially with concerns that increases could pose challenges in cost management and crowd control during peak violence months.
While the appointment of a new state’s attorney certainly plays a role in examining recent shifts, experts pointed out that the underlying reasons are complex and multifaceted.
David Olson, co-director of Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Criminal Justice Research, asserted, “It’s probably not a simple explanation.”
Since the early 2010s, Cook County’s jail population has dramatically decreased, nearly halving from average figures around 10,000.
This decrease commenced after Evans enacted reforms on county bail policies in 2017 and was further reduced upon the enactment of the Pretrial Fairness Act in September 2023, which eliminated cash bail in Illinois.
Post-enactment figures showed the jail population plunging below 5,000 for much of 2023 and 2024, the lowest levels recorded since the COVID-19 pandemic led to the diversion of lower-risk inmates for public health reasons.
Upon Burke’s inauguration in early December, the jail’s population stood at roughly 5,200, having experienced a slight uptick at the conclusion of Foxx’s term.
Currently, recent data indicated a rise to just over 5,600 individuals incarcerated.
The sheriff’s office is set to issue a monthly analysis aimed at tracking the ramifications of Burke’s policies on the jail population, based on the first report released in March.
According to the findings from the April report, monthly admissions of individuals ordered detained increased by 47% at the end of March compared to the month leading up to Burke’s tenure.
Notably, admissions related to domestic battery and felony retail theft offenses surged by 81% and 32%, respectively, from November 2024.
Olson found the spike in theft-related admissions particularly intriguing, observing that such charges typically do not qualify for detention during initial proceedings.
“That there’s a big increase in people coming in on a theft charge seems odd because theft offenses are not eligible for pretrial detention at the first stage,” he noted.
The notable increase suggests that individuals who were previously on pretrial release may have faced new charges leading to the state’s push for their detention.
During her swearing-in address last year, Burke announced that prosecutors would proactively seek judges’ orders to detain defendants awaiting trial for certain offenses, contrasting Foxx’s previous practice of evaluating each case on an individual basis.
Burke has reverted the felony threshold for charging retail theft from $1,000 back to $300 and directed prosecutors to pursue prison sentences for more gun-related offenses.
On Wednesday morning, around 500 inmates lined up at Cook County Jail, awaiting transport to court appearances at various Cook County courthouses.
Cook County Jail is one of the largest single-site detention complexes in the nation, yet parts of it remain unused due to the reductions in population over recent years.
Sheriff Dart remarked that while the population increase is “very manageable,” staffing shortages could pose challenges if the trend persists.
He urged for improved court case management to expedite the resolution of ongoing cases.
“I want violent people off the street so if that number is 5,100, fine, if it’s 5,700, fine, if it’s 6,000, fine … whatever that number is, that’s what my job is, that’s what the jail is for,” Dart emphasized.
However, he acknowledged that the length of stay for inmates adds complications to the system that could be avoided, stating, “There’s no reason for it.”
Response to the rising jail population has sparked concern among various stakeholders.
Sharlyn Grace, senior policy adviser at the Cook County public defender’s office, expressed unease regarding the lack of alignment between rising jail numbers and contemporary crime rates in the city.
“I think it does raise a lot of questions about public safety and what the impact is going to be because we know many people who are subject to pretrial detention will come home,” she affirmed.
Research indicates that incarceration during pretrial can result in lost employment, unstable housing, and an increased likelihood of re-arrest.
Matthew McLoughlin, campaign coordinator for the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice, criticized Burke’s detention approach as contrary to the foundational reforms intended in the county’s pretrial system.
He underscored that Burke’s policies appear to be the primary catalyst behind the jail’s enrollment spike, noting, “The blanket detention policies that she’s put forward since taking office … are not in line with the goals of the Pretrial Fairness Act.”
Loizon, however, defended their process, stating that line prosecutors are offering judges a comprehensive presentation of the case details to facilitate informed judicial decisions.
“We absolutely own that piece of it because that is a priority for us,” she clarified.
Long-standing issues surrounding lengthy pretrial detainment in Cook County are exemplified by Augustin Toscano, who has been awaiting trial for over 14 years.
Currently housed in the jail, he has been incarcerated since the middle of President Obama’s first term, facing charges related to a violent drug and robbery conspiracy.
Toscano’s lengthy wait serves as a stark illustration of how the Cook County justice system can falter, with court records indicating years of delays in evidence gathering and arguments regarding trial evidence, compounded by the pandemic and a multitude of other factors.
In his case, a judge has not set a trial date, which reflects the deeper structural issues affecting timely justice in the system.
Sheriff Dart echoed a common sentiment, stating, “Literally, there is no case that gets better as it gets older.”
The prolonged duration of cases in Cook County remains a pressing concern, particularly in light of rising jail populations.
“Theoretically if cases were moving through the system more readily, then additional people coming would not be much of a notice because we’d be moving people out just as well,” Dart pointed out.
Recent daily jail logs from the Cook County sheriff’s office suggest the county is still wrestling with significant case processing delays compared to other jurisdictions, such as New York City, which manages a busier court system.
National advocates argue that detainees should not await trial for more than a year; however, Cook County still holds nearly 1,800 individuals who have been incarcerated for at least that long.
While this figure has improved from the previous record of around 2,000, it remains considerably higher than the corresponding number in New York City.
The challenges extend even further, as nearly 190 detainees in Cook County have been waiting for over five years for trial, dwarfing the figure of just 18 in New York City.
As of Spring 2021, Cook County had six detainees who had been locked up for at least ten years without trial; by April 2023, this number doubled to 12.
Currently, 15 detainees in Cook County face the prospect of never receiving a trial, a situation unseen in New York City.
Toscano has sought a judge’s dismissal of the charges due to the extreme delay in proceedings, complicating his ability to track down relevant witnesses from the incidents years ago.
The continued absence of a trial date underscored the ongoing challenges facing the Cook County court system, raising alarms about the justice system’s foundation and efficacy.
image source from：https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/04/20/cook-county-jails-population/
