95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
HB4629

 

Introduced , by Rep. James H. Meyer

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
See Index

    Amends the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986. Authorizes the creation of Domestic Violence Fatality Review Teams to identify and review the circumstances that led to domestic violence related homicides and identify strategies to prevent future fatalities. Allows, for the limited purpose of domestic violence fatality reviews, the disclosure to Team members of any information deemed confidential, privileged, or prohibited from disclosure by any other Act. Provides that confidential information obtained by a Team shall remain confidential and may not be disclosed by the Team. Provides that the proceedings, records, opinions, and deliberations of a Team shall be privileged. Limits the liability for a Team member or a person providing information to a Team for civil damages arising out of an official act or an omission during the gathering or processing of information by a Team, except for willful or wanton misconduct or acts performed outside the scope of the authority of the Team. Provides that the Office of the Attorney General shall convene a statewide Domestic Violence Fatality Review Advisory Council with specified duties. Amends the Freedom of Information Act. Exempts information gathered by a Team from the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1     AN ACT concerning domestic violence.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986 is
5 amended by adding Article V as follows:
 
6     (750 ILCS 60/Art. V heading new)
7
ARTICLE V
8
FATALITY REVIEW TEAMS

 
9     (750 ILCS 60/501 new)
10     Sec. 501. Short title. This Article may be cited as the
11 Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team Law.
 
12     (750 ILCS 60/505 new)
13     Sec. 505. Purpose. The purpose of this Article is to allow
14 creation of teams to identify and review the circumstances that
15 led to domestic violence-related homicides and identify
16 strategies to prevent future fatalities.
 
17     (750 ILCS 60/510 new)
18     Sec. 510. Domestic Violence Fatality Review Teams.
19     (a) A county or group of counties or a municipality with a
20 population over 2,000,000 may establish a Domestic Violence

 

 

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1 Fatality Review Team. The Team shall identify intimate partner
2 violence-related homicides, review the circumstances that led
3 to those deaths, and identify strategies to prevent future
4 fatalities. For the purposes of this Article, "intimate
5 partners" include: (i) spouses or former spouses; (ii) persons
6 who have or allegedly have a child in common; and (iii) persons
7 who have or had a dating or engagement relationship.
8     (b) Teams may determine which intimate partner
9 violence-related homicides to review, but may not review cases
10 under investigation by law enforcement or while an action is
11 pending in criminal or civil court.
12     (c) Teams may be comprised of members who serve on an
13 ongoing basis and members who serve on a case-specific basis.
14     (d) Teams shall include, but are not limited to,
15 representatives from the following:
16         (1) coroners or medical examiners;
17         (2) judges and courts;
18         (3) the investigating law enforcement agency;
19         (4) prosecutors;
20         (5) a local domestic violence agency;
21         (6) health care professionals or emergency response
22     personnel; and
23         (7) child welfare representatives.
24     (e) Teams may also include, but are not limited to, the
25 following:
26         (1) mental health treatment providers;

 

 

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1         (2) corrections and domestic partner abuse
2     intervention providers;
3         (3) representatives from domestic violence programs;
4         (4) representatives from an area institution of higher
5     education;
6         (5) city council members;
7         (6) survivors of domestic violence;
8         (7) county commissioners;
9         (8) local members of the clergy; and
10         (9) a family member of a decedent whose death resulted
11     from domestic abuse.
12     (f) Teams shall have access to all appropriate information
13 and records in possession of public and private agencies that
14 are relevant to the review of a domestic violence fatality.
15 This access includes, but is not limited to, access to victims
16 and perpetrators' medical, dental, and mental health records,
17 pathologists reports, coroners and medical examiners' records,
18 direct service records, records of law enforcement agencies,
19 records from the Department of Corrections and parole and
20 probation departments, reports from states and governments,
21 court records and information, and employment records. For the
22 limited purpose of domestic violence fatality reviews, this
23 subsection (f) permits the disclosure to Team members of any
24 information deemed confidential, privileged, or prohibited
25 from disclosure by any other Act. Release of confidential
26 communication between domestic violence advocates and a

 

 

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1 domestic violence victim shall follow subsection (d) of Section
2 227 of this Act, which allows for the waiver of privilege
3 afforded to guardians or executors or administrators of the
4 estate of the domestic violence victim.
 
5     (750 ILCS 60/515 new)
6     Sec. 515. Information; confidentiality. Meetings of
7 Domestic Violence Fatality Review Teams shall be closed to the
8 public and not subject to the Open Meetings Act. Confidential
9 information obtained by a Team shall remain confidential and
10 may not be disclosed by the Team. The proceedings, records,
11 opinions, and deliberations of a Team are privileged and are
12 not subject to discovery, subpoena, the Freedom of Information
13 Act, or introduction into evidence in any civil action in any
14 manner that would directly or indirectly identify specific
15 persons or cases reviewed by the Team. Release of confidential
16 communications between domestic violence advocates and a
17 domestic violence victim shall follow the provisions of
18 subsection (d) of Section 227 of this Act, which allows for the
19 waiver of privilege afforded to guardians or executors or
20 administrators of the estate of the domestic violence victim.
 
21     (750 ILCS 60/520 new)
22     Sec. 520. Liability. No member of a Team and no person
23 providing information to a Team is liable for civil damages
24 arising out of an official act or omission during the gathering

 

 

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1 or processing of information by a Team, except for acts or
2 omissions that constitute willful or wanton misconduct on the
3 part of the member or person providing information, or acts
4 performed outside the scope of the authority of the Team.
 
5     (750 ILCS 60/525 new)
6     Sec. 525. Statewide coordination.
7     (a) The Office of the Attorney General shall convene a
8 statewide Domestic Violence Fatality Review Advisory Council
9 including, but not limited to, representatives from the
10 following professions:
11         (1) coroners or medical examiners;
12         (2) judges and courts;
13         (3) law enforcement;
14         (4) prosecutors;
15         (5) domestic violence programs and partner abuse
16     intervention programs; and
17         (6) health care.
18     The Council shall advise regarding the development and
19 implementation of Domestic Violence Fatality Review Teams.
20     (b) Domestic Violence Fatality Review Teams shall report
21 annually to the Office of the Attorney General for compilation.
22     (c) The Council shall also study the feasibility of an
23 electronic database of orders of protection issued in Illinois,
24 accessible only to law enforcement personnel, prosecutors,
25 prosecutorial staff, judges, and court personnel.
 

 

 

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1     (750 ILCS 60/530 new)
2     Sec. 530. Report to General Assembly. A biennial statewide
3 report on Domestic Violence Fatality Review Teams shall be
4 issued by the Office of the Attorney General and the Advisory
5 Council to the Illinois General Assembly in December of
6 even-numbered years. The annual report in December of 2010
7 shall contain a recommendation as to whether or not the
8 domestic violence review process provided for in this Article
9 should continue or be terminated.
 
10     Section 10. The Freedom of Information Act is amended by
11 changing Section 7 as follows:
 
12     (5 ILCS 140/7)  (from Ch. 116, par. 207)
13     Sec. 7. Exemptions.
14     (1) The following shall be exempt from inspection and
15 copying:
16         (a) Information specifically prohibited from
17     disclosure by federal or State law or rules and regulations
18     adopted under federal or State law.
19         (b) Information that, if disclosed, would constitute a
20     clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, unless
21     the disclosure is consented to in writing by the individual
22     subjects of the information. The disclosure of information
23     that bears on the public duties of public employees and

 

 

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1     officials shall not be considered an invasion of personal
2     privacy. Information exempted under this subsection (b)
3     shall include but is not limited to:
4             (i) files and personal information maintained with
5         respect to clients, patients, residents, students or
6         other individuals receiving social, medical,
7         educational, vocational, financial, supervisory or
8         custodial care or services directly or indirectly from
9         federal agencies or public bodies;
10             (ii) personnel files and personal information
11         maintained with respect to employees, appointees or
12         elected officials of any public body or applicants for
13         those positions;
14             (iii) files and personal information maintained
15         with respect to any applicant, registrant or licensee
16         by any public body cooperating with or engaged in
17         professional or occupational registration, licensure
18         or discipline;
19             (iv) information required of any taxpayer in
20         connection with the assessment or collection of any tax
21         unless disclosure is otherwise required by State
22         statute;
23             (v) information revealing the identity of persons
24         who file complaints with or provide information to
25         administrative, investigative, law enforcement or
26         penal agencies; provided, however, that identification

 

 

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1         of witnesses to traffic accidents, traffic accident
2         reports, and rescue reports may be provided by agencies
3         of local government, except in a case for which a
4         criminal investigation is ongoing, without
5         constituting a clearly unwarranted per se invasion of
6         personal privacy under this subsection; and
7             (vi) the names, addresses, or other personal
8         information of participants and registrants in park
9         district, forest preserve district, and conservation
10         district programs.
11         (c) Records compiled by any public body for
12     administrative enforcement proceedings and any law
13     enforcement or correctional agency for law enforcement
14     purposes or for internal matters of a public body, but only
15     to the extent that disclosure would:
16             (i) interfere with pending or actually and
17         reasonably contemplated law enforcement proceedings
18         conducted by any law enforcement or correctional
19         agency;
20             (ii) interfere with pending administrative
21         enforcement proceedings conducted by any public body;
22             (iii) deprive a person of a fair trial or an
23         impartial hearing;
24             (iv) unavoidably disclose the identity of a
25         confidential source or confidential information
26         furnished only by the confidential source;

 

 

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1             (v) disclose unique or specialized investigative
2         techniques other than those generally used and known or
3         disclose internal documents of correctional agencies
4         related to detection, observation or investigation of
5         incidents of crime or misconduct;
6             (vi) constitute an invasion of personal privacy
7         under subsection (b) of this Section;
8             (vii) endanger the life or physical safety of law
9         enforcement personnel or any other person; or
10             (viii) obstruct an ongoing criminal investigation.
11         (d) Criminal history record information maintained by
12     State or local criminal justice agencies, except the
13     following which shall be open for public inspection and
14     copying:
15             (i) chronologically maintained arrest information,
16         such as traditional arrest logs or blotters;
17             (ii) the name of a person in the custody of a law
18         enforcement agency and the charges for which that
19         person is being held;
20             (iii) court records that are public;
21             (iv) records that are otherwise available under
22         State or local law; or
23             (v) records in which the requesting party is the
24         individual identified, except as provided under part
25         (vii) of paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this
26         Section.

 

 

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1         "Criminal history record information" means data
2     identifiable to an individual and consisting of
3     descriptions or notations of arrests, detentions,
4     indictments, informations, pre-trial proceedings, trials,
5     or other formal events in the criminal justice system or
6     descriptions or notations of criminal charges (including
7     criminal violations of local municipal ordinances) and the
8     nature of any disposition arising therefrom, including
9     sentencing, court or correctional supervision,
10     rehabilitation and release. The term does not apply to
11     statistical records and reports in which individuals are
12     not identified and from which their identities are not
13     ascertainable, or to information that is for criminal
14     investigative or intelligence purposes.
15         (e) Records that relate to or affect the security of
16     correctional institutions and detention facilities.
17         (f) Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations,
18     memoranda and other records in which opinions are
19     expressed, or policies or actions are formulated, except
20     that a specific record or relevant portion of a record
21     shall not be exempt when the record is publicly cited and
22     identified by the head of the public body. The exemption
23     provided in this paragraph (f) extends to all those records
24     of officers and agencies of the General Assembly that
25     pertain to the preparation of legislative documents.
26         (g) Trade secrets and commercial or financial

 

 

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1     information obtained from a person or business where the
2     trade secrets or information are proprietary, privileged
3     or confidential, or where disclosure of the trade secrets
4     or information may cause competitive harm, including:
5             (i) All information determined to be confidential
6         under Section 4002 of the Technology Advancement and
7         Development Act.
8             (ii) All trade secrets and commercial or financial
9         information obtained by a public body, including a
10         public pension fund, from a private equity fund or a
11         privately held company within the investment portfolio
12         of a private equity fund as a result of either
13         investing or evaluating a potential investment of
14         public funds in a private equity fund. The exemption
15         contained in this item does not apply to the aggregate
16         financial performance information of a private equity
17         fund, nor to the identity of the fund's managers or
18         general partners. The exemption contained in this item
19         does not apply to the identity of a privately held
20         company within the investment portfolio of a private
21         equity fund, unless the disclosure of the identity of a
22         privately held company may cause competitive harm.
23     Nothing contained in this paragraph (g) shall be construed
24 to prevent a person or business from consenting to disclosure.
25         (h) Proposals and bids for any contract, grant, or
26     agreement, including information which if it were

 

 

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1     disclosed would frustrate procurement or give an advantage
2     to any person proposing to enter into a contractor
3     agreement with the body, until an award or final selection
4     is made. Information prepared by or for the body in
5     preparation of a bid solicitation shall be exempt until an
6     award or final selection is made.
7         (i) Valuable formulae, computer geographic systems,
8     designs, drawings and research data obtained or produced by
9     any public body when disclosure could reasonably be
10     expected to produce private gain or public loss. The
11     exemption for "computer geographic systems" provided in
12     this paragraph (i) does not extend to requests made by news
13     media as defined in Section 2 of this Act when the
14     requested information is not otherwise exempt and the only
15     purpose of the request is to access and disseminate
16     information regarding the health, safety, welfare, or
17     legal rights of the general public.
18         (j) Test questions, scoring keys and other examination
19     data used to administer an academic examination or
20     determined the qualifications of an applicant for a license
21     or employment.
22         (k) Architects' plans, engineers' technical
23     submissions, and other construction related technical
24     documents for projects not constructed or developed in
25     whole or in part with public funds and the same for
26     projects constructed or developed with public funds, but

 

 

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1     only to the extent that disclosure would compromise
2     security, including but not limited to water treatment
3     facilities, airport facilities, sport stadiums, convention
4     centers, and all government owned, operated, or occupied
5     buildings.
6         (l) Library circulation and order records identifying
7     library users with specific materials.
8         (m) Minutes of meetings of public bodies closed to the
9     public as provided in the Open Meetings Act until the
10     public body makes the minutes available to the public under
11     Section 2.06 of the Open Meetings Act.
12         (n) Communications between a public body and an
13     attorney or auditor representing the public body that would
14     not be subject to discovery in litigation, and materials
15     prepared or compiled by or for a public body in
16     anticipation of a criminal, civil or administrative
17     proceeding upon the request of an attorney advising the
18     public body, and materials prepared or compiled with
19     respect to internal audits of public bodies.
20         (o) Information received by a primary or secondary
21     school, college or university under its procedures for the
22     evaluation of faculty members by their academic peers.
23         (p) Administrative or technical information associated
24     with automated data processing operations, including but
25     not limited to software, operating protocols, computer
26     program abstracts, file layouts, source listings, object

 

 

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1     modules, load modules, user guides, documentation
2     pertaining to all logical and physical design of
3     computerized systems, employee manuals, and any other
4     information that, if disclosed, would jeopardize the
5     security of the system or its data or the security of
6     materials exempt under this Section.
7         (q) Documents or materials relating to collective
8     negotiating matters between public bodies and their
9     employees or representatives, except that any final
10     contract or agreement shall be subject to inspection and
11     copying.
12         (r) Drafts, notes, recommendations and memoranda
13     pertaining to the financing and marketing transactions of
14     the public body. The records of ownership, registration,
15     transfer, and exchange of municipal debt obligations, and
16     of persons to whom payment with respect to these
17     obligations is made.
18         (s) The records, documents and information relating to
19     real estate purchase negotiations until those negotiations
20     have been completed or otherwise terminated. With regard to
21     a parcel involved in a pending or actually and reasonably
22     contemplated eminent domain proceeding under the Eminent
23     Domain Act, records, documents and information relating to
24     that parcel shall be exempt except as may be allowed under
25     discovery rules adopted by the Illinois Supreme Court. The
26     records, documents and information relating to a real

 

 

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1     estate sale shall be exempt until a sale is consummated.
2         (t) Any and all proprietary information and records
3     related to the operation of an intergovernmental risk
4     management association or self-insurance pool or jointly
5     self-administered health and accident cooperative or pool.
6         (u) Information concerning a university's adjudication
7     of student or employee grievance or disciplinary cases, to
8     the extent that disclosure would reveal the identity of the
9     student or employee and information concerning any public
10     body's adjudication of student or employee grievances or
11     disciplinary cases, except for the final outcome of the
12     cases.
13         (v) Course materials or research materials used by
14     faculty members.
15         (w) Information related solely to the internal
16     personnel rules and practices of a public body.
17         (x) Information contained in or related to
18     examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by,
19     on behalf of, or for the use of a public body responsible
20     for the regulation or supervision of financial
21     institutions or insurance companies, unless disclosure is
22     otherwise required by State law.
23         (y) Information the disclosure of which is restricted
24     under Section 5-108 of the Public Utilities Act.
25         (z) Manuals or instruction to staff that relate to
26     establishment or collection of liability for any State tax

 

 

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1     or that relate to investigations by a public body to
2     determine violation of any criminal law.
3         (aa) Applications, related documents, and medical
4     records received by the Experimental Organ Transplantation
5     Procedures Board and any and all documents or other records
6     prepared by the Experimental Organ Transplantation
7     Procedures Board or its staff relating to applications it
8     has received.
9         (bb) Insurance or self insurance (including any
10     intergovernmental risk management association or self
11     insurance pool) claims, loss or risk management
12     information, records, data, advice or communications.
13         (cc) Information and records held by the Department of
14     Public Health and its authorized representatives relating
15     to known or suspected cases of sexually transmissible
16     disease or any information the disclosure of which is
17     restricted under the Illinois Sexually Transmissible
18     Disease Control Act.
19         (dd) Information the disclosure of which is exempted
20     under Section 30 of the Radon Industry Licensing Act.
21         (ee) Firm performance evaluations under Section 55 of
22     the Architectural, Engineering, and Land Surveying
23     Qualifications Based Selection Act.
24         (ff) Security portions of system safety program plans,
25     investigation reports, surveys, schedules, lists, data, or
26     information compiled, collected, or prepared by or for the

 

 

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1     Regional Transportation Authority under Section 2.11 of
2     the Regional Transportation Authority Act or the St. Clair
3     County Transit District under the Bi-State Transit Safety
4     Act.
5         (gg) Information the disclosure of which is restricted
6     and exempted under Section 50 of the Illinois Prepaid
7     Tuition Act.
8         (hh) Information the disclosure of which is exempted
9     under the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act.
10         (ii) Beginning July 1, 1999, information that would
11     disclose or might lead to the disclosure of secret or
12     confidential information, codes, algorithms, programs, or
13     private keys intended to be used to create electronic or
14     digital signatures under the Electronic Commerce Security
15     Act.
16         (jj) Information contained in a local emergency energy
17     plan submitted to a municipality in accordance with a local
18     emergency energy plan ordinance that is adopted under
19     Section 11-21.5-5 of the Illinois Municipal Code.
20         (kk) Information and data concerning the distribution
21     of surcharge moneys collected and remitted by wireless
22     carriers under the Wireless Emergency Telephone Safety
23     Act.
24         (ll) Vulnerability assessments, security measures, and
25     response policies or plans that are designed to identify,
26     prevent, or respond to potential attacks upon a community's

 

 

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1     population or systems, facilities, or installations, the
2     destruction or contamination of which would constitute a
3     clear and present danger to the health or safety of the
4     community, but only to the extent that disclosure could
5     reasonably be expected to jeopardize the effectiveness of
6     the measures or the safety of the personnel who implement
7     them or the public. Information exempt under this item may
8     include such things as details pertaining to the
9     mobilization or deployment of personnel or equipment, to
10     the operation of communication systems or protocols, or to
11     tactical operations.
12         (mm) Maps and other records regarding the location or
13     security of generation, transmission, distribution,
14     storage, gathering, treatment, or switching facilities
15     owned by a utility or by the Illinois Power Agency.
16         (nn) Law enforcement officer identification
17     information or driver identification information compiled
18     by a law enforcement agency or the Department of
19     Transportation under Section 11-212 of the Illinois
20     Vehicle Code.
21         (oo) Records and information provided to a residential
22     health care facility resident sexual assault and death
23     review team or the Executive Council under the Abuse
24     Prevention Review Team Act.
25         (pp) Information provided to the predatory lending
26     database created pursuant to Article 3 of the Residential

 

 

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1     Real Property Disclosure Act, except to the extent
2     authorized under that Article.
3         (qq) Defense budgets and petitions for certification
4     of compensation and expenses for court appointed trial
5     counsel as provided under Sections 10 and 15 of the Capital
6     Crimes Litigation Act. This subsection (qq) shall apply
7     until the conclusion of the trial of the case, even if the
8     prosecution chooses not to pursue the death penalty prior
9     to trial or sentencing.
10         (rr) Information contained in or related to proposals,
11     bids, or negotiations related to electric power
12     procurement under Section 1-75 of the Illinois Power Agency
13     Act and Section 16-111.5 of the Public Utilities Act that
14     is determined to be confidential and proprietary by the
15     Illinois Power Agency or by the Illinois Commerce
16     Commission.
17         (ss) Information gathered by a Domestic Violence
18     Fatality Review Team under Article V of the Illinois
19     Domestic Violence Act of 1986.
20     (2) This Section does not authorize withholding of
21 information or limit the availability of records to the public,
22 except as stated in this Section or otherwise provided in this
23 Act.
24 (Source: P.A. 94-280, eff. 1-1-06; 94-508, eff. 1-1-06; 94-664,
25 eff. 1-1-06; 94-931, eff. 6-26-06; 94-953, eff. 6-27-06;
26 94-1055, eff. 1-1-07; 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 95-481, eff.

 

 

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1 8-28-07.)

 

 

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1 INDEX
2 Statutes amended in order of appearance
3     750 ILCS 60/Art. V heading
4     new
5     750 ILCS 60/501 new
6     750 ILCS 60/505 new
7     750 ILCS 60/510 new
8     750 ILCS 60/515 new
9     750 ILCS 60/520 new
10     750 ILCS 60/525 new
11     750 ILCS 60/530 new
12     5 ILCS 140/7 from Ch. 116, par. 207