Questions have arisen about the future of Illinois' criminal detention system, in light of President Trump's executive order to bring back cash bail.

It has been almost two years since Illinois eliminated cash bail.

Illinois passed the original version of the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act, known as the SAFE-T Act, in 2021, then an amended version in 2022, becoming the first state in the country to eliminate cash bail. It was put on hold hours before it was set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2023, but in July 2023 the Illinois Supreme Court ruled the law is constitutional and it took effect in September of that year.

The law applies to the entire state of Illinois, not just Chicago, and is meant to prevent people arrested for nonviolent or low-level crimes from being held in jail simply because they do not have enough money to pay cash bond or bail. Judges are given the discretion to choose if defendants should be held in custody or released, often on electronic monitoring, before trial, which advocates said will allow more dangerous people to remain in jail even if they could afford to post bond.

President Trump has no say-so over Illinois law, and courts in Chicago and across Illinois cannot just reverse the elimination of cash bail either. Illinois state lawmakers would have to repeal the law.

Some lawmakers say they are under more pressure than ever to make that happen.

"I was opposed to the elimination of cash bail from the word 'go,'" said Illinois state Rep. Daniel Ugaste (R-St. Charles).

Ugaste said he has been behind several attempts to repeal and modify the 2023 law that made Illinois the first state to eliminate cash bail.

"I have myself filed House Bill 1404, which would do the very thing I just told you about — which is modify cash bail, yet at the same time, keep it in place and just do it in a much more equitable way, which is what the advocates were seeking," said Ugaste.

During an executive order signing Monday, the Trump administration called cashless bail a driver of "government-backed crime sprees."

When Illinois came up during the signing event, President Trump said sarcastically, "Oh, they have a great cashless bail. You don't even have to go to court sometimes."

President Trump instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi over the next 30 days to identify and potentially cut funding to states — like Illinois — and other local governments that have eliminated cash bail.

"They thought it was discriminatory to make people put up money because they just killed three people lying on the street," President Trump said.

The only specific example the to which White House pointed to in Illinois involved a Rockford man who was released pre-trial in a 2024 murder case.

Court records show the man was one of three suspects charged in the case, and the judge allowed his release prior to trial due to a lack of evidence specific to his involvement.

"Money has nothing to do with safety," said Alexa Van Brunt, director of the MacArthur Justice Center Clinic at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. "It's just how rich you are in order to get out of jail."

Van Brunt explained that President Trump can't change Illinois state law, but he is trying to make it uncomfortable enough for state lawmakers that they do it themselves.

So, will lawmakers act on that pressure? That depends on who is being asked.

"I would think so, but time will tell," Ugaste said.

"I really don't see us folding at all in the wake of Donald Trump's threats, or his very weak and confusing executive order," said Van Brunt.

CBS News Chicago repeatedly reached out to the Cook County States Attorney's Office for comment on President Trump's executive order, but so far, there has been official response.

The executive order did not specify which federal funding could be withheld. It directs the Office of Management and Budget to figure that out.