A plan that could help Cook County cut costs and keep people out of jail has passed the General Assembly. It establishes a field drug testing program in the county, similar to those employed in all other counties in Illinois.

In 2010, Cook County released more than 5,000 defendants accused of drug-related crimes after determining there was no probable cause for their arrests. Each day these men and women sat in jail cost county taxpayers $143. It cost them and their families even more from lost time at work and the anguish of having a loved one in jail. Many of these offenders came from low-income families that could not afford to post bail.

“Field testing could save Cook County a ton of money and help keep people who don’t need to be in jail at their jobs and with their families,” said State Senator Don Harmon (D-Oak Park), the measure’s sponsor. “We owe it to the taxpayers to see if this program, which is already used in the rest of the state, can work here.”

On average, these people spent 25 days in jail and cost taxpayers more than $3,000. A simple field drug test that costs little more than $1 could have dramatically reduced the cost to the county and the suffering of these people and their families.

The plan championed by Harmon creates a pilot program in Chicago to perform field drug tests for marijuana, cocaine and heroin. If it is successful, the field testing program could be expanded to the whole county. Establishing field drug testing in Cook County could also reduce pressure on the state crime lab, which currently analyzes all suspected drugs from the state’s most populous area.

The legislation is House Bill 356. It now goes to the governor’s desk.