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Cook County judges to consider releasing many detainees amid COVID-19 outbreak

Published  March 23, 2020 1:22pm CDT
Coronavirus
Sun-Times Media Wire

A team of Cook County judges will begin reviewing thousands of criminal cases this week to reduce the number of detainees at Cook County Jail during the coronavirus outbreak.

Chief Criminal Court Judge LeRoy K. Martin Jr. on Monday ordered the review in response to an emergency motion filed last week by Public Defender Amy Campanelli, the Sun-Times is reporting.

The order seeks to release older detainees with health conditions, and others charged with low-level, non-violent crimes.

There are currently 5,600 inmates inside the jail complex.

The order comes the day after the Cook County sheriff’s office said a correctional officer who worked in the jail’s Cermak medical facility tested positive for COVID-19.