Crime & Law

Cook County’s Chief Judge Announces New Revisions to Electronic Monitoring Program

Cook County’s chief judge has updated his office’s electronic monitoring protocols, expanding court operations and revising what constitutes a major violation.

Chief Judge Charles Beach had pledged to overhaul the county’s EM system following a high-profile arson attack on a Blue Line train last year, allegedly carried out by a man free on electronic monitoring.

“These updates reinforce the Court’s commitment to timely judicial oversight and clear lines of responsibility,” Beach said in a statement. “Electronic monitoring is a tool of the court, and these protocols help ensure violations are addressed promptly, transparently and consistent with judicial authority.”

Under the revised protocols, anyone on EM who is accused of a major violation — like an unauthorized absence or tampering with a monitoring device — will be returned to court within 24 hours, no matter when the violation is reported.

Previously, that could only happen from Monday to Friday, but courts will begin handling those violations on weekends now, too, beginning Feb. 7.

Under the new protocols, an unauthorized absence of more than three hours on weekdays will also now qualify as a major violation requiring the defendant to appear back in court. That limit had previously been set at 48 hours.

Beach’s office said it is continuing to assess the volume of absences exceeding three hours that occur on weekends and is working to gather additional data. Absences of less than three hours will continue to be addressed by the Pretrial Services Department, which may still determine the defendant must return to court.

The Office of the Chief Judge took over management of pretrial electronic monitoring last year after the Cook County Sheriff’s Office ended its decades-old program.

Beach made it a priority to revise the EM system after he was sworn in last December, launching a new committee dedicated to reviewing and strengthening the ways alleged violations are communicated, evaluated and acted upon.

That launch came days after Lawrence Reed — a man with a lengthy criminal record who had been released on electronic monitoring following his arrest on aggravated battery charges — allegedly doused a Blue Line passenger in gasoline and lit her on fire at random.

The victim survived, but was critically injured. Reed now faces a federal terrorism charge.

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