Preckwinkle said she’s called on the sheriff to release more of those people on electronic monitoring.
Dart said there’s been a “massive decrease” in the number of defendants that judges have ordered released on electronic monitoring since last year. Now judges are “recommending” release on electronic monitoring, but “that is not a legal order,” he said. “I need a court order, not a recommendation.”
Evans stressed that a federal judge last year gave Dart the authority to release up to 1,500 pretrial detainees from the jail to prevent crowding. Dart responded that he hired two retired judges to review each inmate’s record to see whether they are qualified for electronic monitoring, but many aren’t. On Friday, 755 inmates were on electronic monitoring, compared with more than 1,200 in November.