To lend an objective review of 2017 justice reforms in Cook County, IL, the Safety and Justice Challenge Research Consortium issued a RFP for researchers to assess the relationship between bond court reform and crime in the County, grounding local debates in a meaningful and robust analysis that addressed the limitations of prior analyses. Researchers from Loyola University’s Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy, and Practice conducted the study and this report summarizes their findings: that the new policy significantly increased the number and rate of pre-trial releases, reduced bail amounts for defendants where bail was still ordered, and had no effect on new criminal activity or crime.