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Bail Under the Judicial Article DePaul Law Review Volume 17 Issue 2 Winter 1968 Article 1 Bail under the Judicial Article John S. Boyle Follow this and additional works at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/law-review Recommended Citation John S. Boyle, Bail under the Judicial Article, 17 DePaul L. Rev. 267 (1968) Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/law-review/vol17/iss2/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Law at Via Sapientiae. It has been accepted for inclusion in DePaul Law Review by an authorized editor of Via Sapientiae. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DEPAUL LAW REVIEW Volume XVII WINTER 1968 Number 2 BAIL UNDER THE JUDICIAL ARTICLE JOHN S. BOYLE* BAIL PROCEDURES HE CIRCUIT Court of Cook County, one of twenty-one Circuit Court complexes in the State of Illinois, is the largest trial court in the nation. Serving over half of the State's population, the Circuit Court of Cook County has replaced 161 courts which served the metropolitan area prior to January 1, 1964.' The bail system in Cook County is a by-product of a streamlined court system and an advanced bail concept. Numbering among the accomplishments of this unique bail system is a ten percent bail provi- sion,' a liberal use of release upon recognizance,3 a reliance upon punitive rather than pecuniary measures to deter bail jumping' and a twenty-four hour bond court. The eighth amendment to the Constitution of the United States * JUDGE BOYLE is Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. He re- ceived his LL.B. from DePaul University and is a member of the Illinois Bar. He has served as Assistant Corporate Counsel, States's Attorney, Master in Chancery, Judge of the Superior Court of Cook County and Chief Justice of the Criminal Court of Cook County. Judge Boyle was awarded the first Lincoln Academy Award in the Field of Law as well as the Catholic Women's Club of Illinois VIP Citation in Juris Prudence. 1 ILL. CONST. art. VI, § 8. Article VI consisting of sections 1-21 and a schedule com- posed of paragraphs 1-13 was adopted by the electors at the general election on November 6, 1962, to become effective January 1, 1964, as an amendment to the original article VI, consisting of sections 1-33, incorporated in the Constitution of 1870. 2 LLL. REV. STAT. ch. 38, § 110-7 (1965). SILL. REV. STAT. ch. 38, § 110-2 (1965). 4 1LL. REV. STAT. ch. 38, § 32-10 (1965). DE PAUL LAW REVIEW [Vol. XVII:267 provides that "excessive bail shall not be required" and section 7 of article II of the Illinois Constitution requires that "All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital offenses where the proof is evident or the presumption great . ." In addition to the fundamental principles underlying the granting of bail, the Illinois General Assembly has provided that "All persons shall be bailable before conviction, except when death is a possible punishment for the offenses charged and the proof is evident or the presumption great that the person is guilty of the offense." 5 Supported by a firm constitutional basis, the administration of bail in Illinois proceeds by utilizing three basic provisions of the Illinois Code of Criminal Procedure: section 110-2 which allows release on recognizance, 6 section 110-7 which grants release upon the posting of ten percent of the amount of the bail by the person for whom bail has been set 7 and section 110-8 which allows a security deposit of cash, stocks and bonds or real estate to be posted as bail in lieu of the ten percent deposit provided for by section 110-7. s Since the setting of bail is an inherently judicial function, a judicial officer must set the amount of bail for the particular offense in all cases. The magistrate or judge setting bail is guided by the provisions of section 110-5 in determining the amount of bail. The amount of bail shall be: (1) Sufficient to assure compliance with the conditions set forth in the bail bond; 9 (2) Not oppressive; (3) Commensurate with the nature of the offense charged; (4) Considerate of the past criminal acts and conduct of the defendant and (5) Considerate of the financial ability of the accused.'o When bail has been set by a judicial officer, any sheriff or peace officer may take bail, release the offender and deposit such bail with the clerk of the court." All felony bonds must be set individually by a judicial officer. Specified misdemeanor, quasi-criminal offense, traffic and conservation case bonds may be prescribed uniformly by rule of court.'2 This allows the accused to post bond with the arresting agency 5 ILL. REV. STAT. ch. 38, § 110-4 (1965). 6ILt. REV. STAT. ch. 38, § 110-2 (1965). 7ILL. REV. STAT. ch. 38, § 110-7 (1965). 8 ILL. REV. STAT. ch. 38, § 110-8 (1965). 9Conditions of the bail bond are set out by ILL. REV. STAT. ch. 38, § 110-10 (1963). 10 ILL. REV. STAT. ch. 38, § 110-5 (1965). 11 ILL. REV. STAT. ch. 38, § 110-9 (1965). 12 ILL. REV. STAT. ch. 38, § 110-15 (1967). 19681 B3AIL and obtain immediate release when a judge or magistrate is not avail- able and when bail is deposited in accordance with the amount pre- setby rule.' 3 Individual determination of the bond amount may thus appear to be side-stepped. However, the accused still retains the right to have his bail reviewed by a judge or magistrate if he so prefers.' 4 The ten percent cash with a minimum $25 deposit, the full cash de- posit and the security property deposits are still available to the accused for all offenses aforementioned. Under recent legislative enactment, chapter 38, section 110-15 was amended. The amendment provides that the Illinois Supreme Court may, by rule or order, prescribe a uniform schedule of amounts of bail in specified traffic and conservation cases, quasi-criminal offenses and misdemeanors whereby the ten percent provisions of section 110-7 shall not apply to bail amounts established for alleged violations punishable by fine alone, and that in specified traffic cases a valid Illinois driver's license must be deposited if the accused wishes to avail himself of the ten percent bail provisions. 15 Provision has been made in Cook County to grant physical release upon bail to any accused within two or three hours of arrest. Often it is accomplished within minutes. Cook County's 954 square miles have been apportioned for purposes of judicial administration into six municipal districts. District number one, services 3Y2 million inhabi- tants of Chicago and covers an area of 227 square miles. Districts two through six service a proportionate share of the remainder of suburban Cook County's two million people dispersed throughout its 120 cities, villages and towns. Bail may be posted or accepted in accordance with the uniform court schedule for the specified misdemeanors, quasi-criminal offenses, traffic and conservation cases in any police station, sheriff's office or jail, or other county, municipal or other building housing governmental units, or a division headquarters building of the Illinois Highway Police within districts one through six.'6 The accused may then be released immediately. When an offender is charged with a felony or either cannot or does not post bond in accordance with the uniform 13 ILL. REV. STAT. ch. 16, § 81 (1967). 14 ILL. REV. STAT. ch. 16, § 83 (1965). 1 5 ILL. REV. STAT. ch. 38, § 110-15 (1967). 16 General Order of the Circuit Court of Cook County No. 8, January 2, 1964. DE PAUL LAW REVIEW [Vol. XVlI: 267 schedule, he must appear before a judicial officer in order to obtain release. In Cook County a judge is available twenty-four hours a day, within the vicinity of the occurrence of the offense specifically for the purpose of setting bail. The Court has established a twenty-four hour bond court in the City of Chicago, Municipal District One. The city is divided into twenty-one police districts. Each district is electronically linked with central headquarters which houses bond court. During court hours from nine to five, applications for bail for persons arrested must be made to the judge presiding in a court where the case is assigned. If the case has not yet at that time been assigned, application must be made to bond court. Bond court functions 365 days per year and twenty-four hours per day. All persons who have not been released by rule of court who are in custody and who are formally charged (booked) must appear in court. Upon arrest the arresting agency trans- ports the accused to appear personally before Bond Court. The judge who will set bail has the police arrest report, the complaint and the previous criminal record of the accused available for immediate con- sideration. The judge makes inquiry as to the various residences and durations, marital status, family, employment, social, church and club affiliations and state of health of the accused. Notwithstanding the fact that the accused may have been informed of his rights at the time of arrest or that he will again be so informed at his preliminary hearing the accused is advised as to: (1) the nature of his charge; (2) his right to remain silent and the fact that any statement he may make may be used against him; (3) his right to counsel; (4) his right to communicate with his attorney and family in any reasonable manner; (5) his right to be released on bail after executing the proper bond and agreeing to comply with the conditions of the bail bond 17 and (6) the penalties for violation of the bond.
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