Monroe County Sheriff Neal Rohlfing delivered an overview of Illinois’ Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act during Tuesday’s Monroe County Board meeting.

The SAFE-T Act was signed into law in July 2021, with part of the reforms becoming effective Jan. 1, 2022.

Aspects of the initial rollout of the SAFE-T Act such as mandated training and body camera requirements were noted, but Rohlfing focused mostly on the impacts of the “pretrial fairness” provisions of the act.

The pretrial policies were to be implemented Jan. 1, 2023, but a series of legal challenges was not settled until mid-September of that year. 

Pretrial changes most notably include the elimination of cash bail, which  Rohlfing predicted would produce a drastic increase in crime.

“St. Clair County is going to burn,” Rohlfing said during a September 2022 county board meeting, explaining he anticipated a dramatic increase in burglaries, thefts and property damage because “no one is going to jail” when the law goes into effect.

While the rollout of pretrial fairness components was not as severe as some believed it would be, Rohlfing did note a spike in theft and burglary in the subsequent two years.

While the incidence of those crimes has since “leveled off” locally, Rohlfing did point to a 100 percent increase in felony drug possession charges in Monroe County since 2023.

The data presented by Rohlfing shows a larger impact of the SAFE-T Act in the county’s finances, with several departments incurring major expenses and the need to hire more personnel.

“The total cost for SAFE-T Act related salaries, mandated equipment and additional equipment needed in 2025” was about $1.56 million, Rohlfing said. “This does not include any salaries for the new judicial circuit that was created or the public defender’s office that we anticipate in 2026.” 

The state will likely cover some of the salary of the public defender, which he estimated will cost about $500,000 annually.   

Rohlfing then described impacts to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and Monroe County Jail budgets specifically. 

A major expense incurred by the MCSD was a purchase of “updated tasers” for $133,902 to satisfy the SAFE-T Act’s “less lethal mandated equipment” requirements.

Rohlfing said body camera requirements of the SAFE-T Act were welcomed but showed how the equipment expenses have become a recurring financial concern.

The MCSD purchased new body cameras in 2025 for $18,564; however, they will need to be replaced every five or six years, Rohlfing said.

Additionally, “retention costs” for body cam video storage is expected to cost taxpayers nearly $19,000 in 2026. 

Commissioner Doug Garmer later asked if the presence of body cameras has reduced lawsuits and “false claims” against law enforcement departments.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” Rohlfing answered, explaining that expenses to curtail potentially expensive liability claims have decreased as more funds are needed for body cam maintenance and video storage.

He did admit the cost is minimal “compared to a million-dollar lawsuit.”

While Rohlfing said the mandated law enforcement training has not been overly expensive, it has served to keep deputies off the road during training events.

In what he called a “subjective expense,” Rohlfing explained the MCSD budgeted for a new deputy “to address the influx of crime coming down the Route 3 corridor.”

The SAFE-T Act has also affected operations at the Monroe County Courthouse, with the abolishment of bail and establishment of pretrial services putting extra strain on the local judicial departments. 

Compared to 2020, the court security budget has increased by $112,000 and court is held five days per week currently, while it had been two or three days per week six years ago.  

Rohlfing also reported a 154 percent increase in prisoner transports since 2020, requiring a “full-time transport team” and extra jail staff.

Rohlfing added that 80 percent of law enforcement matters involve people who do not live in Monroe County, but about half of the non-residents fail to appear in court. 

This chronic absenteeism then leads to even more work for those in the Monroe County Circuit Clerk’s Office and Monroe County State’s Attorney’s Office in addition to other pretrial personnel.

Monroe County State’s Attorney Ryan Webb noted extra timeliness requirements involving victim’s rights notification among other pretrial considerations, with questions about a possible part-time investigator added to handle the increased load. 

Webb also noted added costs for high-cost rehabilitation services deemed “less restrictive” under current regulations, which he said is “ultimately gaming the system.”

Rohlfing concluded by noting many of the costs would be “reoccurring annually,” with the cost this year estimated at just over $975,000.

“This will depend heavily on the public defender budget and prisoner transports,” Rohlfing said, also pointing out there will likely be an annual increase of about $40,000 plus budgeting for new equipment every five years.

Monroe County Board Chairman George Green pointed out that the revenue from the MCSD is not reflected in the department’s  annual budget.

The final report from last year showed a 12.41 percent increase from 2024 totalling just over $1.3 million.

Rohlfing explained he tries to fund about 25 percent of his department’s budget through federal prisoner housing and asset forfeiture.

The MCSD budget was set at $4.5 million for Fiscal Year 2026.