McHenry County, Illinois

How a case moves here

McHenry County follows Illinois law on arrests, release, and courts. These rules are the same in every county in the state; the full set covers prosecutors, defense, and jails too.

Who decides release first: Illinois has no money bail. Police may release a person charged with an offense for which release can't be denied, without a judge. Anyone charged with an offense for which the state can seek detention goes before a circuit or associate judge.
725 ILCS 5/109-1
Time to see a judge: A person arrested and not released must be taken before a judge without unnecessary delay and within 48 hours, and a charge must be filed.
725 ILCS 5/109-1(a)
Money bail: Illinois abolished money bail under the Pretrial Fairness Act, which took effect September 18, 2023. Judges release people on conditions or, after a hearing on a state petition, order them detained.
725 ILCS 5/110-1.5
Courts: Illinois has one trial court, the circuit court, which hears every felony and misdemeanor. There are no city, county, or justice courts.
Ill. Const. art. VI, secs. 1, 9
Judges and magistrates: Circuit judges are nominated in party primaries or by petition and elected to six-year terms, then run in retention elections to stay. Circuit judges appoint associate judges to four-year terms. Every judge must be a licensed Illinois lawyer.
Ill. Const. art. VI, secs. 8, 10, 11, 12

Read from the statutes and court rules cited, 2026-09-30. 725 ILCS 5/110-1.5 states January 1, 2023, but the Illinois Supreme Court stayed the law until September 18, 2023 (Rowe v. Raoul); the stay is from general knowledge, not a source read here. Retention needs three-fifths of votes cast; not re-read. How small counties without a public defender office provide lawyers was not confirmed county by county.

What this county does differently

Pretrial practice

The state Office of Statewide Pretrial Services provides pretrial services here, and Mapping Pretrial Injustice listed its risk tool in 2021 as the Virginia Pretrial Risk Assessment Instrument, Revised (VPRAI-R).

Illinois Office of Statewide Pretrial Services, Pretrial Services Directory (read 2026-09-30)MediaJustice and Movement Alliance Project, Mapping Pretrial Injustice county map (data as of fall 2021)

From Mapping Pretrial Injustice, a map compiled by MediaJustice and the Movement Alliance Project, advocacy groups that campaign against pretrial risk assessment tools. Its data is from fall 2021; CrimeDB uses it only where no court, government, or research list covers the county.

Police agencies

Agencies: FBI NIBRS master file 2025 batch headers; names from the FBI agency list, pulled 2026-09-29. An agency that serves several counties appears on each. Population served is the FBI's figure.

Crime and arrests

No figures yet

Reported offenses and arrests for McHenry County, counted by the agencies that serve it, appear here once the county series is published. NIBRS reporting here started as early as October 2020.