Questions have arisen about why we (the local justice system, local police and CARDINAL NEWS) are using the phrase Violation of Bail Bond when Illinois has the SAFE-T Act, which has reformed policing, the cash bail system (eliminating cash bail), and imprisonment.
The phrase Violation of Bail Bond is still used because the legal term remains embedded in criminal statutes in Illinois, even though jurisdictions have reformed or eliminated cash money systems.
Legal terminology often evolves slowly, and the foundational contract language persists for specific reasons.
Legal Code and History
Statutory Names: Criminal codes (such as Illinois Compiled Statutes 720 ILCS 5/32-10) formally define the specific crime of breaking release conditions under the literal heading “Violation of Bail Bond”. Legislators rarely update every historical penal code label in the Illinois Compiled Statutes when broader systemic reforms occur.
The “Bond” as a Contract: Even though cash is eliminated, a release agreement still functions as a formal legal bond, which is a binding promise or contract between the defendant and the court. Even if no cash is deposited, the signed agreement to follow rules and return to court is legally styled as a recognizance or bond.
The Core Legal Purpose
Conditions Remain: Pretrial supervision still relies on specific court mandates — such as staying away from victims, co-defendants, or witnesses; staying away from specific locations; refraining from alcohol use or illegal drug use, weapon surrender and refraining from possessing firearms; obeying a curfew, or not leaving the state. Breaking these rules breaches the formal agreement.
Universal Terminology: Prosecutors, judges, and defense attorneys, and therefore police departments, use “bail bond violation” as shorthand for any breach of pretrial release terms, preserving standard legal vocabulary across different courtrooms. So there is still a bond to adhere to pretrial release terms.
Commercial Bail Bondsmen
Someone asked in a Facebook comment: “Is it bail bonds illegal in Illinois (sic)” … apparently this person meant “Isn’t bail bonds illegal in Illinois (sic)”. The comment was made regarding the following CARDINAL NEWS article: Male Wanted for Violation of Bail Bond Gets Vulgar with Police During Arrest at Burger King Arlington Heights
First of all, the video in this CARDINAL NEWS article shows Arlington Heights police officers on the scene arresting an individual wanted for “Violation of Bail Bond.” There are no commercial bondsmen acting in any capacity in the video in the article. Additionally, commercial bail bondsmen do not exist in Illinois because the State of Illinois banned commercial surety bail decades ago, and officially abolished the entire cash bail system under the SAFE-T Act or Pretrial Fairness Act more recently.
The Illinois SAFE-T Act was signed into law on February 22, 2021, with different provisions taking effect at different times. Initial policing and training rules began on July 1, 2021, and the landmark Pretrial Fairness Act provisions (eliminating cash bail) took effect on September 18, 2023, following a favorable Illinois Supreme Court ruling.
See also …
Violation of Bail Bond published by the Law Offices of Andrew M. Weisberg
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