Kim Foxx touts reforms in report on tenure as Cook County State’s Attorney

CHICAGO - On the eve of her exit from office, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx released a final report and data summary recapping her eight years as the county’s top prosecutor.

Foxx was first elected state’s attorney in 2016 running as a progressive prosecutor, but her tenure was marked by high-profile cases and public scrutiny and she decided not to run for reelection this year. Eileen O’Neil Burke, a Democrat, was elected last month to be the next state's attorney and will be sworn in on Monday.

In her final report, Foxx emphasized the reforms her administration underwent and the several wrongful convictions she overturned which her office argued "profoundly influenced the criminal justice landscape in Cook County," according to a news release.

"Reflecting on the past eight years, I am immensely proud of the hard work and dedication of our team who have tirelessly worked to enhance the scales of justice and equity in Cook County," Foxx said in a statement. "This final report and data summary not only highlight our achievements but also set the stage for continued advancement of fair and just prosecutorial practices."

During her eight years, Foxx’s office corrected 248 wrongful convictions which she said rectified "serious miscarriages of justice."

Foxx’s office also highlighted reforms like the implementation of the Pretrial Fairness Act last year which overhauled the pretrial detention process including the elimination of cash bail. Critics said the law would lead to more crime, but a year later, the new policy saw mixed effects.

County prosecutors under Foxx handled more than 7,800 pretrial detention hearings during that first year and 63% of defendants were ordered detained, according to the report. But those charged with more serious offenses were detained at higher rates like those charged with murder (95%) and vehicular hijacking (87%).

Under Foxx, the Cook County State’s Attorney's Office prosecuted more than 184,000 adult felony cases, of which the office filed about 124,000 and law enforcement filed about 60,000, according to the report. For the cases the state’s attorney’s office filed, 79% resulted in a conviction. Among all cases, the conviction rate was 65%.

Narcotics charges were the most common type of felony prosecution under Foxx’s tenure, although the conviction rates in those cases (38% in Cook County and 34% in Chicago) were far below overall averages, the report said.

Foxx's office also referred more than 17,000 defendants to a diversion program which could lead to an expungement of a criminal conviction if the participant graduates from the program. About 74% of the defendants who were diverted to the program graduated, according to the report.

Prosecutors also overturned more than 15,000 cannabis-related convictions after the state of Illinois legalized recreational use of the drug and tried to address the effects of the prior drug policies.