103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB4753

 

Introduced 2/6/2024, by Rep. Kam Buckner

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act
20 ILCS 3930/7  from Ch. 38, par. 210-7

    Creates the Homicide Victims' Families' Rights Act. Provides for the review of the case file of open unresolved murders. Defines "open unresolved murder" as any criminal activity in which death occurred more than 3 years prior to the date of the application for review of the case file under the Act, for which all probative investigative leads have been exhausted, and for which no likely perpetrator has been identified. Provides that the person or persons performing the review shall not have previously investigated the murder. Provides that only one case review shall be undertaken at any one time with respect to the same murder victim. Provides that each law enforcement agency shall develop a written application to be used for persons to request a case file review. Provides that the applicable agency shall conduct a full reinvestigation of the murder if the review of the case file concludes that a full reinvestigation of the murder would result in probative investigative leads. Provides for the compilation and publication of specified information and statistics regarding open unresolved murders by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. Provides that each law enforcement agency shall employ or designate a minimum number of family liaison officers proportionate to the average number of homicides in the agency's jurisdiction within the previous 5 years of the date of employment with the maximum ratio of 40 homicides per each family liaison officer employed. Each agency may establish a lower ratio for hiring of family liaison officers. Establishes the duties and training for family liaison officers. Amends the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Act to make conforming changes.


LRB103 37094 RLC 67212 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB4753LRB103 37094 RLC 67212 b

1    AN ACT concerning homicide victims.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Homicide Victims' Families' Rights Act.
 
6    Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
7    "Agency" means a law enforcement entity of this State or a
8unit of local government that is vested by law or ordinance
9with the duty to maintain public order and to enforce criminal
10laws or ordinances.
11    "Applicable agency" means a law enforcement agency that is
12investigating or has investigated the murder of the victim.
13    "Open unresolved murder" means any criminal activity in
14which death occurred more than 3 years prior to the date of the
15application under subsection (a) of Section 10, for which all
16probative investigative leads have been exhausted, and for
17which no likely perpetrator has been identified.
18    "Designated person" means (i) an immediate family member
19or (ii) a similarly situated person as the Attorney General
20shall by rule define.
21    "Immediate family member" means a parent, parent-in-law,
22grandparent, grandparent-in-law, sibling, spouse, child,
23stepchild, foster parent, or guardian of a murder victim.

 

 

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1    "Victim" means the victim of a murder.
 
2    Section 10. Case file review.
3    (a) An applicable agency shall review the case file
4regarding an open unresolved murder upon written application
5by a designated person to determine if a full reinvestigation
6would result in probative investigative leads.
7    (b) The case file review shall include, but is not limited
8to:
9        (1) an analysis of what investigative steps or
10    follow-up steps may have been missed in the initial
11    investigation;
12        (2) an assessment of whether witnesses should be
13    interviewed or re-interviewed;
14        (3) an examination of physical evidence to see if all
15    appropriate forensic testing and analysis was performed in
16    the first instance or if additional testing might produce
17    information relevant to the investigation; and
18        (4) a modernization of the file to bring it up to
19    current investigative standards to the extent it would
20    help develop probative leads.
21    (c) The person or persons performing the review required
22by subsection (a) shall not have previously investigated the
23murder. This subsection (c) does not apply to law enforcement
24agencies located in counties or municipalities that have less
25than 35,000 inhabitants.

 

 

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1    (d) The applicable agency shall confirm in writing receipt
2of a request made under subsection (a).
3    (e) Only one case review shall be undertaken at any one
4time with respect to the same open unresolved murder victim.
5    (f) No later than 6 months after the receipt of the written
6application submitted pursuant to subsection (a), the
7applicable agency shall conclude its case file review and
8reach a conclusion whether a full reinvestigation under
9Section 25 is warranted.
10    (g) The applicable agency may extend the limit in
11subsection (f) for periods not to exceed 6 months if the agency
12makes a finding that the number of case files to be reviewed
13make it impracticable to comply with said limit without
14unreasonably taking resources from other law enforcement
15activities.
16    For cases for which the time limit in subsection (f) is
17extended, the applicable agency shall provide notice and an
18explanation of its reasoning to the designated person who
19filed the written application under this Section.
 
20    Section 15. Application. Each agency shall develop a
21written application to be used for designated persons to
22request a case file review under Section 10.
 
23    Section 20. Notice. Each agency shall provide notice of
24the rights under this Act to designated persons as soon as is

 

 

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1practicable after being made aware of a murder.
 
2    Section 25. Full reinvestigation.
3    (a) The applicable agency shall conduct a full
4reinvestigation of the open unresolved murder if the review of
5the case file required by Section 10 concludes that a full
6reinvestigation of the open unresolved murder would result in
7probative investigative leads.
8    (b) A full reinvestigation shall include analyzing all
9evidence regarding the open unresolved murder at issue for the
10purpose of developing probative investigative leads as to the
11perpetrator.
12    (c) The person or persons performing the full
13reinvestigation required by subsection (a) shall not have
14previously investigated the murder, except for the case file
15review pursuant to Section 10.
16    (d) Only one full reinvestigation shall be undertaken at
17any one time with respect to the same open unresolved murder
18victim.
 
19    Section 30. Consultation and updates.
20    (a) The applicable agency shall consult with the
21designated person who filed the written application under
22Section 10 and provide him or her with periodic updates during
23the case file review and full reinvestigation.
24    (b) The applicable agency shall meet with the designated

 

 

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1person and discuss the evidence to explain to the designated
2person who filed the written application under Section 10 its
3decision whether to engage in the full reinvestigation
4provided for under Section 25 at the conclusion of the case
5file review.
 
6    Section 35. Subsequent reviews.
7    (a) If a case file review is completed and a conclusion is
8reached not to conduct a full reinvestigation, no additional
9case file review shall be undertaken for a period of 5 years,
10unless there is newly discovered, materially significant
11evidence.
12    (b) If a full reinvestigation is done and a suspect is not
13identified at its conclusion, no additional case file review
14or full reinvestigation shall be undertaken for a period of 5
15years, unless there is newly discovered, materially
16significant new evidence.
 
17    Section 36. Family liaison officers.
18    (a) Each agency shall employ or designate a minimum number
19of family liaison officers proportionate to the average number
20of homicides in the agency's jurisdiction within the previous
215 years of the date of employment with the maximum ratio of 40
22homicides per each family liaison officer employed. Each
23agency may establish a lower ratio for hiring of family
24liaison officers.

 

 

HB4753- 6 -LRB103 37094 RLC 67212 b

1    (b) The primary purpose of a family liaison officer is
2that of an investigator. A family liaison officer's role is to
3gather evidence and information from the family to contribute
4to the investigation and preserve its integrity. The family
5liaison officer shall also provide support and information, in
6a sensitive and compassionate manner, securing confidence and
7trust of families of victims of crime (primarily homicide),
8road fatality, mass disaster, or other critical incident,
9ensuring family members are given timely information in
10accordance with the needs of the investigation.
11    (c) The family liaison officer shall:
12        (1) establish and maintain a supportive and ethical
13    relationship with the family, building trust, in line with
14    local and national guidance to gathering information and
15    evidence;
16        (2) act as a single point of contact between families
17    and investigation teams when a homicide occurs to enable
18    information to be shared which may assist in the
19    investigation;
20        (3) collect best evidence to enable identification of
21    a reported missing person (high risk of criminality or
22    vulnerability) or identify the deceased, and consider
23    potential future viewing requirements and postmortem with
24    the family to further the investigation;
25        (4) provide information regarding additional services
26    available for families, including providing information

 

 

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1    about open unresolved murders to support agencies, and
2    explain criminal justice and coroner's procedures, so that
3    they can access all available services and support;
4        (5) contact the family at least once every 30 days for
5    the first 6 months the case is open then once per quarter
6    until the case becomes inactive. The family liaison
7    officer shall work closely with the lead investigator to
8    obtain substantive updates on the case prior to contacting
9    the family. The lead investigator has discretion over any
10    information shared with the family and shall communicate
11    with the family liaison accordingly. If the family liaison
12    officer is contacted by the family regarding an open case
13    at any time, the family liaison officer shall return the
14    call within 5 business days with all relevant information
15    regarding a police investigation, in line with the
16    strategy of the chief investigating officer or lead
17    investigator so that they are informed of progress;
18        (6) obtain victimology and family personal statements
19    and any other material to enable the gathering of evidence
20    and to support the investigative process;
21        (7) document any requests or complaints, or both, made
22    by the family, to be forwarded for the consideration of
23    the chief investigating officer or lead investigator;
24        (8) record all contact with the family to ensure
25    compliance with this Act, the Criminal Identification Act,
26    the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Act, the Missing

 

 

HB4753- 8 -LRB103 37094 RLC 67212 b

1    Children Records Act, the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, the
2    Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963, the Rights of Crime
3    Victims and Witnesses Act, and the Police and Community
4    Relations Improvement Act to maintain the integrity of the
5    investigation;
6        (9) liaise between families and the coroner or medical
7    examiner and chief investigating officer or lead
8    investigator in relation to the Illinois Anatomical Gift
9    Act; and
10        (10) track the case files required in Section 10, the
11    date of review of the case file, confirm the receipt of the
12    request of the case file, provide notice to the family if
13    an extension of review has been made, and consult with the
14    family on the investigation of the case.
15    (d) A family liaison officer may not be assigned to work
16patrol or attached to other special units while designated as
17a family liaison officer.
18    (e) The training of all family liaison officers shall
19include instruction on victim-centered, trauma-informed
20investigation as established by the Illinois Law Enforcement
21Training Standards Board.
22    (f) Except in emergencies or other exigent circumstances,
23a family liaison officer shall exclusively investigate
24homicide cases.
 
25    Section 40. Data collection; annual report.

 

 

HB4753- 9 -LRB103 37094 RLC 67212 b

1    (a) Beginning 3 years after the effective date of this
2Act, the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority
3annually shall publish statistics regarding the number of open
4unresolved murders. The statistics published under this
5subsection at a minimum shall be broken down by the degree of
6murder, the type of weapon used in the murder, the location of
7the murder and by agency, in addition to the criteria set forth
8in subsection (b).
9    (b) Each applicable agency annually shall submit data to
10the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority regarding
11the open unresolved murders within its jurisdiction,
12including, but not limited to, the number of requests received
13under subsection (a) of Section 10, the number of extensions
14granted and an explanation of reasons provided under
15subsection (g) of Section 10, the number of full
16reinvestigations initiated and closed under Section 25, and
17the number of suspects identified, arrested, charged, and
18convicted for each open unresolved murder investigated by the
19applicable agency under this Act during the year reported. The
20data shall also include what cases are being solved and which
21cases are not being solved, identifying the age, race, and
22ethnicity of the victim whose case is being solved and not
23being solved and the cases that are being solved by
24exceptional means.
25    (c) The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority
26shall submit an annual report to the General Assembly and the

 

 

HB4753- 10 -LRB103 37094 RLC 67212 b

1Governor compiling the information received by the Authority
2under subsection (b).
 
3    Section 45. Procedures to promote compliance.
4    (a) Not later than one year after the effective date of
5this Act, the head of each agency shall adopt rules to enforce
6the rights of designated persons and to ensure compliance by
7responsible officials with the obligations described in this
8Act.
9    (b) The rules adopted under subsection (a) shall:
10        (1) designate an administrative authority within the
11    agency to receive and investigate complaints relating to
12    the provision or violation of the rights of designated
13    persons;
14        (2) require a course of training for employees of the
15    agency regarding the rights provided under this Act;
16        (3) contain disciplinary sanctions, including
17    suspension or termination from employment, for employees
18    of the agency who willfully or wantonly fail to comply
19    with this Act;
20        (4) establish a process for investigations into the
21    conduct of persons no longer employed by a law enforcement
22    agency when a complaint is filed and a process for
23    referrals for prosecution to the appropriate State's
24    Attorney; and
25        (5) provide that the head of the agency, or the

 

 

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1    designee of the head of the agency, shall be the final
2    arbiter of the complaint, and that there shall be no
3    judicial review of the final decision of the head of the
4    agency by a complainant.
 
5    Section 50. Withholding information. Nothing in this Act
6shall require an agency to provide information that would
7endanger the safety of any person, unreasonably impede an
8ongoing investigation, violate a court order, or violate legal
9obligations regarding privacy.
 
10    Section 55. Multiple agencies.
11    (a) If there is more than one possible applicable agency,
12each applicable agency shall coordinate its case file review
13or full reinvestigation such that there is only one joint case
14file review or full reinvestigation occurring at a time in
15compliance with subsection (e) of Section 10 or subsection (d)
16of Section 25, as applicable.
17    (b) If an immediate family member believes there was bias
18demonstrated in the handling of the initial case, any case
19file review, or any full reinvestigation by any of the
20possible applicable agencies, the family member may
21communicate that concern to the Attorney General. The Attorney
22General shall review the allegations made by the immediate
23family member to determine whether, in the interest of
24justice, another law enforcement agency should conduct the

 

 

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1case file review or the full reinvestigation, as applicable.
 
2    Section 60. Applicability. This Act applies to murders
3occurring on or after January 1, 1970.
 
4    Section 100. The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Act
5is amended by changing Section 7 as follows:
 
6    (20 ILCS 3930/7)  (from Ch. 38, par. 210-7)
7    Sec. 7. Powers and duties. The Authority shall have the
8following powers, duties, and responsibilities:
9        (a) To develop and operate comprehensive information
10    systems for the improvement and coordination of all
11    aspects of law enforcement, prosecution, and corrections;
12        (b) To define, develop, evaluate, and correlate State
13    and local programs and projects associated with the
14    improvement of law enforcement and the administration of
15    criminal justice;
16        (c) To act as a central repository and clearing house
17    for federal, state, and local research studies, plans,
18    projects, proposals, and other information relating to all
19    aspects of criminal justice system improvement and to
20    encourage educational programs for citizen support of
21    State and local efforts to make such improvements;
22        (d) To undertake research studies to aid in
23    accomplishing its purposes;

 

 

HB4753- 13 -LRB103 37094 RLC 67212 b

1        (e) To monitor the operation of existing criminal
2    justice information systems in order to protect the
3    constitutional rights and privacy of individuals about
4    whom criminal history record information has been
5    collected;
6        (f) To provide an effective administrative forum for
7    the protection of the rights of individuals concerning
8    criminal history record information;
9        (g) To issue regulations, guidelines, and procedures
10    which ensure the privacy and security of criminal history
11    record information consistent with State and federal laws;
12        (h) To act as the sole administrative appeal body in
13    the State of Illinois to conduct hearings and make final
14    determinations concerning individual challenges to the
15    completeness and accuracy of criminal history record
16    information;
17        (i) To act as the sole, official, criminal justice
18    body in the State of Illinois to conduct annual and
19    periodic audits of the procedures, policies, and practices
20    of the State central repositories for criminal history
21    record information to verify compliance with federal and
22    state laws and regulations governing such information;
23        (j) To advise the Authority's Statistical Analysis
24    Center;
25        (k) To apply for, receive, establish priorities for,
26    allocate, disburse, and spend grants of funds that are

 

 

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1    made available by and received on or after January 1, 1983
2    from private sources or from the United States pursuant to
3    the federal Crime Control Act of 1973, as amended, and
4    similar federal legislation, and to enter into agreements
5    with the United States government to further the purposes
6    of this Act, or as may be required as a condition of
7    obtaining federal funds;
8        (l) To receive, expend, and account for such funds of
9    the State of Illinois as may be made available to further
10    the purposes of this Act;
11        (m) To enter into contracts and to cooperate with
12    units of general local government or combinations of such
13    units, State agencies, and criminal justice system
14    agencies of other states for the purpose of carrying out
15    the duties of the Authority imposed by this Act or by the
16    federal Crime Control Act of 1973, as amended;
17        (n) To enter into contracts and cooperate with units
18    of general local government outside of Illinois, other
19    states' agencies, and private organizations outside of
20    Illinois to provide computer software or design that has
21    been developed for the Illinois criminal justice system,
22    or to participate in the cooperative development or design
23    of new software or systems to be used by the Illinois
24    criminal justice system;
25        (o) To establish general policies concerning criminal
26    justice information systems and to promulgate such rules,

 

 

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1    regulations, and procedures as are necessary to the
2    operation of the Authority and to the uniform
3    consideration of appeals and audits;
4        (p) To advise and to make recommendations to the
5    Governor and the General Assembly on policies relating to
6    criminal justice information systems;
7        (q) To direct all other agencies under the
8    jurisdiction of the Governor to provide whatever
9    assistance and information the Authority may lawfully
10    require to carry out its functions;
11        (r) To exercise any other powers that are reasonable
12    and necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of the
13    Authority under this Act and to comply with the
14    requirements of applicable federal law or regulation;
15        (s) To exercise the rights, powers, and duties which
16    have been vested in the Authority by the Illinois Uniform
17    Conviction Information Act;
18        (t) (Blank);
19        (u) To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested
20    in the Authority by the Illinois Public Safety Agency
21    Network Act;
22        (v) To provide technical assistance in the form of
23    training to local governmental entities within Illinois
24    requesting such assistance for the purposes of procuring
25    grants for gang intervention and gang prevention programs
26    or other criminal justice programs from the United States

 

 

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1    Department of Justice;
2        (w) To conduct strategic planning and provide
3    technical assistance to implement comprehensive trauma
4    recovery services for violent crime victims in underserved
5    communities with high levels of violent crime, with the
6    goal of providing a safe, community-based, culturally
7    competent environment in which to access services
8    necessary to facilitate recovery from the effects of
9    chronic and repeat exposure to trauma. Services may
10    include, but are not limited to, behavioral health
11    treatment, financial recovery, family support and
12    relocation assistance, and support in navigating the legal
13    system; and
14        (x) To coordinate statewide violence prevention
15    efforts and assist in the implementation of trauma
16    recovery centers and analyze trauma recovery services. The
17    Authority shall develop, publish, and facilitate the
18    implementation of a 4-year statewide violence prevention
19    plan, which shall incorporate public health, public
20    safety, victim services, and trauma recovery centers and
21    services; and
22        (y) To compile and publish information regarding open
23    unresolved murders as provided in Section 40 of the
24    Homicide Victims' Families' Rights Act.
25    The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly
26shall be satisfied by filing copies of the report as required

 

 

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1by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly Organization Act, and
2filing such additional copies with the State Government Report
3Distribution Center for the General Assembly as is required
4under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of the State Library Act.
5(Source: P.A. 99-938, eff. 1-1-18; 100-373, eff. 1-1-18;
6100-575, eff. 1-8-18; 100-621, eff. 7-20-18; 100-1148, eff.
712-10-18.)