SE Illinois News

In a Sept. 13 Facebook post, Rep. Dave Severin (R-Marion) urged his constituents to heed the concerns of law enforcement against the impending removal of cash bail as a result of the Safety, Accountability, Fairness, and Equity – Today Act (SAFE-T).

Severin maintains that the legislation, which is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2023, will endanger "residents, police, witnesses, and victims of crime."

"If we want to ensure every neighborhood across Illinois is a safe place to live then we cannot ignore warnings from law enforcement officials and public safety experts," Severin stated.

Severin previously called for the elimination of the SAFE-T Act in February when he encouraged lawmakers to repeal the legislation in a Facebook post, according to the Carbondale Reporter.

"Today is the one-year anniversary of House Democrats passing sweeping legislation to defund, disarm, and disrespect our police," Severin said in a statement on Facebook, "House Republicans are sponsoring legislation that would repeal the so-called ‘SAFE-T Act'; support HR 598 - Repeal the SAFE-T Act now!"

Earlier in January, he was also a cosponsor of legislation seeking to correct inaccuracies within the initial SAFE-T Act.

In the Jan. 7 issue of "Severin Says," he explains that these adjustments ranged from misspellings to the revision of the effective dates of certain legal provisions.

"I voted NO on the original anti-police bill and I voted no on the latest attempt to put a band-aid on it," Severin stated, "The overall concept of hampering our police’s ability to do their job is bad and the overall bill was terrible. I am firmly pro-police and pro-public-safety."

Severin, who currently lives in Benton, was first elected to the Illinois House in 2017 and has served on the Judiciary - Criminal and Mental Health & Addiction committees.