Cook County coalition asks commissioners to freeze sheriff and state's attorney budgets over $550 million shortfall

Fifty-seven Cook County organizations asked county commissioners to freeze budgets for Sheriff Tom Dart and State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke because of a projected $550 million shortfall, while seeking more money for the public defender's office. The board is scheduled to receive the executive budget recommendation on October 8.

A coalition of 57 community, faith, policy, and social service organizations asked the Cook County Board of Commissioners to freeze spending for the Cook County Sheriff's Office and the Cook County State's Attorney's Office in the county's 2027 budget.

The request came in a September 17 letter from Cook County members of the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice. The groups said the freeze would preserve spending on services such as community violence intervention, crisis response, domestic violence support, housing, infrastructure, and guaranteed income while the county faces a projected $550 million budget shortfall for fiscal year 2027.

The letter was addressed to the county board and focuses on two of the largest offices in Cook County government: the sheriff's office, led by Sheriff Tom Dart, and the state's attorney's office, led by State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke.

The coalition said funding for those offices has continued to rise while reported crime has fallen and the population at the Cook County jail has dropped over the past decade.

"It is more important than ever that Cook County freeze law enforcement spending to ensure that we can protect essential health and human services that result in significantly better public safety outcomes while operating with compassion and care for our communities," the Cook County members of the Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice wrote in the letter.

The groups also wrote that the county should continue to prioritize community-based supports that address the causes of crime.

The letter cites the projected budget shortfall and cuts to the federal social safety net as reasons to hold law enforcement budgets flat.

Among the services the coalition wants preserved is domestic violence support. Between 2023 and 2026, Cook County used $7 million in federal pandemic relief money to fund programs including housing assistance and legal aid for domestic violence survivors. That money expires this year.

The coalition said Cook County must continue funding those services after the federal relief money ends.

"At a time when federal cuts are threatening the very programs that make communities safer," the coalition wrote, "Cook County must continue and expand investments" in violence interruption, youth jobs and art programming, and reentry support.

The letter also calls for more money for the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender. The coalition said requirements in the Pretrial Fairness Act, along with an increase in detention requests since Burke took office in 2024, have increased the public defender's workload.

The groups are also asking the county board to seek state funding for pretrial support services.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle's office declined to comment on the letter.

Spokesperson Hannah Fierle said Preckwinkle will provide more details in her executive budget recommendation, which is scheduled to be delivered on October 8.

The request comes as commissioners begin weighing how to close a large gap in next year's budget. Under the coalition's proposal, money would move away from law enforcement budgets and toward public defender services and social programs.

The county board will next consider the issue when Preckwinkle presents her budget recommendation on October 8.