For centuries, Europeans carving up the prairie to suit their own idea of settlement dug up the graves of Native Americans as they conquered lands and pushed tribes to the West.

For judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and other courtroom personnel, it was business as usual Monday as cashless bail went into effect in courtrooms around the state.

Republican Gov. Jim Thompson led the way for the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act in 1983. The law requires school districts to recognize and bargain with education labor unions.

Despite a frenzied morning of last-minute preparations, the hearings at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse were not substantially different from the old cash bail system.

Illinois’ first day without cash bail got off to a slow start outside the Chicago metro area on Monday, with at least one county still using the old system for pretrial decision making. In Chicago and its suburbs, court proceedings took much longer than before, but the new process ran relatively smoothly.

Illinoisans who own weapons that can no longer be purchased or sold in the state under its new assault weapons ban will soon be able to register those weapons so they can legally keep them.