103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB1275

 

Introduced 2/3/2023, by Sen. Robert Peters

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
110 ILCS 1020/0.02 new
110 ILCS 1020/1  from Ch. 144, par. 1951
110 ILCS 1020/1.5 new
110 ILCS 1020/1.10 new
110 ILCS 1020/1.15 new

    Amends the Private College Campus Police Act. Provides that private colleges and universities and private campus police departments are bound by the Act. Provides that counties and municipalities with private campus police departments in their jurisdictions must include sworn officers of private campus police departments in civilian complaint, investigation, and review mechanisms or designate an officer in charge of complaints, investigations, and reviews. Requires the municipality or county in which the private campus police department is located or operates to pass an ordinance articulating the boundaries in which the private campus police department may act. Sets forth what the ordinance must define. Requires the private college or university to indemnify both the governmental entity and its residents and citizens. Provides that if a private campus police department enters into a settlement agreement on behalf of itself, its law enforcement officers, or other employees or independent contractors, the settlement terms shall make any evidence available to the public. Provides that a private college or university and its private campus police department must adhere to the Illinois Police Training Act and are subject to the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board. Requires community information meetings. Effective immediately.


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STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT
MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB1275LRB103 26760 RJT 53123 b

1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Private College Campus Police Act is
5amended by adding Sections 0.02, 1.5, 1.10, and 1.15 and by
6changing Section 1 as follows:
 
7    (110 ILCS 1020/0.02 new)
8    Sec. 0.02. Definitions. In this Act:
9    "Defined campus boundaries" means (i) any building or
10property owned or controlled by an institution within the same
11reasonably contiguous geographic area and used by the
12institution in direct support of, or in a manner related to,
13the institution's educational purposes, including residence
14halls, and (ii) any building or property that is within or
15reasonably contiguous to the area identified in clause (i)
16that is owned by the institution but controlled by another
17person, is frequently used by students, and supports
18institutional purposes, such as a food or other retail vendor.
19"Defined campus boundaries" shall be interpreted in a manner
20consistent with the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus
21Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act and its
22implementation regulations.
23    "Extended patrol boundary" means any area outside of an

 

 

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1institution's defined campus boundaries not covered by the
2federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and
3Campus Crime Statistics Act where a private campus police
4department actively patrols.
5    "Institution", "private college", or "private university"
6means any college or university (i) that is not owned or
7controlled by the State or any political subdivision thereof,
8(ii) that provides a program of education in residence leading
9to a baccalaureate degree or provides a program of education
10in residence for which a baccalaureate degree is a
11prerequisite, leading to an academic or professional degree,
12and (iii) that is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission
13or another nationally recognized accrediting agency.
14    "Patrol" means active monitoring via personnel, in
15cooperation with federal, State, or local law enforcement
16agencies, pursuing suspects originating outside of formal
17campus borders, conducting law enforcement operations outside
18of formal campus borders, or conducting investigations with
19persons or evaluating evidence in areas that directly involve
20an institution's students, staff, other personnel, or property
21occurring outside of formal campus borders.
22    "Private campus police department" means any department of
23a private college or private university whose governing board
24has opted to enable its security personnel to have the same
25powers and authority as a local law enforcement agency under
26Section 1 of this Act.
 

 

 

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1    (110 ILCS 1020/1)  (from Ch. 144, par. 1951)
2    Sec. 1. The Board of Trustees of a private college or
3private university, may appoint persons to be members of a
4campus police department. The Board shall assign duties,
5including the enforcement of college or university
6regulations, and prescribe the oath of office. With respect to
7any such campus police department established for police
8protection, the members of such campus police department shall
9be persons who have successfully completed the Minimum
10Standards Basic Law Enforcement Training Course offered at a
11police training school established under the Illinois Police
12Training Act, as such Act may be now or hereafter amended. All
13members of such campus police departments must also
14successfully complete the Firearms Training for Peace Officers
15established under the Peace Officer and Probation Officer
16Firearm Training Act. Members of the campus police department
17shall have the powers of municipal peace officers and county
18sheriffs, including the power to make arrests under the
19circumstances prescribed in Section 107-2 of the Code of
20Criminal Procedure of 1963, as amended, for violations of
21state statutes or municipal or county ordinances, including
22the ability to regulate and control traffic on the public way
23contiguous to the college or university property, for the
24protection of students, employees, visitors and their
25property, and the property branches, and interests of the

 

 

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1college or university, in the county where the college or
2university is located. Campus police shall have no authority
3to serve civil process.
4    Members of the campus police department at a private
5college or private university shall not be eligible to
6participate in any State, county or municipal retirement fund
7and shall not be reimbursed for training with state funds. The
8uniforms, vehicles, and badges of such officers shall be
9distinctive from those of the local law enforcement agency
10where the main campus is located.
11    The Board of Trustees shall provide liability insurance
12coverage for each member of the campus police department
13without cost to the member, which insures the member against
14any liability which arises out of or in the course of the
15member's employment for no less than $250,000 of coverage,
16unless such indemnification is provided by a program of
17self-insurance.
18    For the purposes of this Section, "private college" or
19"private university" means: (1) any college or university
20which is not owned or controlled by the State or any political
21subdivision thereof, and (2) which provides a program of
22education in residence leading to a baccalaureate degree, or
23which provides a program of education in residence, for which
24the baccalaureate degree is a prerequisite, leading to an
25academic or professional degree, and (3) which is accredited
26by the North Central Association or other nationally

 

 

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1recognized accrediting agency.
2(Source: P.A. 98-725, eff. 1-1-15.)
 
3    (110 ILCS 1020/1.5 new)
4    Sec. 1.5. Construction. Sections 1.10 and 1.15 of this Act
5do not decrease the powers or authority granted under Section
61 of this Act and shall be construed as an extension of Section
71 of this Act.
 
8    (110 ILCS 1020/1.10 new)
9    Sec. 1.10. Requirements.
10    (a) Institutions and private campus police departments are
11bound by this Act.
12    (b) Counties and municipalities with private campus police
13departments in their jurisdictions must include sworn officers
14of private campus police departments in civilian complaint,
15investigation, and review mechanisms or designate an officer
16in charge of complaints, investigations, and reviews.
17    (c) The municipality or county in which the private campus
18police department is located or operates must pass an
19ordinance articulating the boundaries in which the private
20campus police department may act. The ordinance must define
21the campus borders, the extended patrol borders, and the
22policing powers of the private campus police department.
23    (d) The institution must indemnify both the governmental
24entity and its residents and citizens. This indemnification

 

 

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1does not abrogate the rights of the institution to pursue
2criminal or civil charges.
3    (e) If a private campus police department enters into a
4settlement agreement on behalf of itself, its law enforcement
5officers, or other employees or independent contractors, the
6settlement terms shall make any evidence, including, but not
7limited to, video, emails, and body camera footage, or
8otherwise discoverable information under the Freedom of
9Information Act available to the public.
10    (f) To use the powers conferred under Section 1 of this
11Act, an institution and its private campus police department
12must adhere to the Illinois Police Training Act and are
13subject to the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards
14Board.
 
15    (110 ILCS 1020/1.15 new)
16    Sec. 1.15. Community information meetings.
17    (a) A private campus police department shall conduct
18community information meetings for the campus and the public
19at the beginning of each educational instructional period.
20These meetings must be free and open to the public and must be
21held at a public meeting facility, such as a public school
22auditorium or gym. The meetings must cover and explain all of
23the following topics:
24        (1) An explanation of this Act and how it authorizes
25    the private campus police department to exercise policing

 

 

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1    powers over non-affiliated citizens and residents both on
2    and off campus.
3        (2) All the local ordinances that authorize the
4    private campus police department, its operational
5    jurisdiction, and its specific policing powers as written
6    into the ordinance, including its defined campus and
7    extended patrol boundaries.
8        (3) The conditions and circumstances in which the
9    private campus police department interacts with the public
10    or the non-campus population.
11        (4) How to file complaints with the private campus
12    police department and the private college or private
13    university and with local elected officials who can
14    directly address complaints about the private campus
15    police department.
16        (5) A question and answer period.
17    The meetings shall be presented by either locally elected
18representatives of the areas patrolled by the private campus
19police department or representatives from local community
20groups located or served within the patrol area.
21    (b) Notices of meetings under this Section shall be
22delivered electronically or by regular mail and must be
23provided, at a minimum, to:
24        (1) the Attorney General;
25        (2) the legislative offices of the members of the
26    General Assembly who represent the districts covered by

 

 

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1    the private campus police department;
2        (3) county and municipal officials, as appropriate,
3    which may include aldermen, the city attorney, the county
4    State's Attorney, and civilian oversight bodies, such as
5    the Civilian Office of Policy Accountability and the
6    Chicago Police Board;
7        (4) media contacts to which the institution regularly
8    sends news and public service announcements regarding
9    university or college news; and
10        (5) the public through the electronic mailing lists
11    that the institution uses to send notices to the public.
12    (c) Meetings under this Section shall be considered public
13meetings and are subject to the Open Meetings Act.
 
14    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
15becoming law.