The good news is Illinois has a program that can provide up to $27,000 of expenses for qualified crime victims. But the money the state is awarding victims has dropped sharply, from more than $12 million a decade ago to just over $4 million last year. The program is run by the state attorney’s office and receives an average of $8.5 million a year from state and federal court fines convicted criminals are required to pay.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.