Bill
SB 2139
Expands Category A offenses to include aggravated fleeing/eluding a peace officer, escape, and violation of bail/pretrial release, broadening stricter pretrial detention risks.
Status (as provided)
- Bill number: SB 2139 (Sen. Chapin Rose, primary)
- Introduced: Feb 7, 2025 (filed March 10, 2025 per some records)
- Classification/Subject: Bill / Finance (document content concerns criminal law)
- Reported status (conflicting records): "Died In Committee" (2025-02-26) in the supplied metadata; the legislative-actions list also contains later committee and floor actions. The text below summarizes the actual introduced bill language; readers should verify current status on the Illinois General Assembly website because the provided materials include conflicting procedural entries.
What the bill would do (main purpose)
- Amend the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (725 ILCS 5/102-7.1) to change the statutory definition of a "Category A offense" for bail and pretrial release purposes by adding certain offenses — specifically aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer, escape, and violation of bail bond or pretrial release.
Key provisions and changes
- Modify the definition of "Category A offense" (the list of offenses that trigger more restrictive pretrial treatment) to expressly include:
- Aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer,
- Escape,
- Violation of bail bond or pretrial release.
- The introduced text appears as an amendment to Section 102-7.1 and is organized to integrate these offenses into the existing enumerated list of crimes (many of which are already listed under the statute).
- The bill’s stated intent: broaden the set of offenses subject to Category A treatment in bail/pretrial decision-making.
Who or what would be affected
- Criminal defendants charged with the added offenses: by being classified as charged with a Category A offense they may face stricter pretrial conditions (higher bail, presumption against release, or greater likelihood of pretrial detention) under Illinois bail/pretrial-release rules.
- Courts and judges: would apply the amended definition when making bail and pretrial-release determinations.
- Prosecutors and defense counsel: would see changes to how certain charges are treated during initial release decisions.
- Pretrial services, jails, and county budgets: potential downstream impact if more defendants are held pretrial (increased detention population or workload changes).
- Law enforcement: indirect effects via prosecution and pretrial handling of charges like fleeing/eluding or escape.
Procedural / timeline notes and conflicts
- The provided record contains conflicting procedural entries: an early entry lists the bill as "Died In Committee" on 2025-02-26, while a later sequence of actions (committee reports, readings, votes, and even entries noting enrollment and signature dates) appears in the supplied action list. Because these records disagree, confirm the bill’s final disposition and any enrolled/eff. dates with the official Illinois General Assembly bill page or the Secretary of the Senate records.
- Companion bill: HB 4881 (listed as related).
Implications in brief
- The practical effect is to expand the set of offenses that can justify more restrictive pretrial treatment. That can increase pretrial detention for the newly included offenses, affecting defendants’ liberty and local jail populations and shifting workload among courts, defenders, and prosecutors.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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