Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB5651
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Full Text of HB5651  103rd General Assembly

HB5651 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

 


 
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB5651

 

Introduced 2/9/2024, by Rep. Justin Slaughter

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
50 ILCS 705/6.1
50 ILCS 705/9.2
50 ILCS 705/10.2

    Amends the Illinois Police Training Act. Provides that the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board shall ensure that no law enforcement officer is certified or provided a valid waiver if that law enforcement officer has been convicted of, found guilty of, or entered a plea of guilty to any specified misdemeanor (or similar offense in another state) on or after the respective effective date of any amendatory changes adding the charged misdemeanor to the provisions (rather than on or after the effective date of Public Act 101-652). Provides that the information that the Illinois State Police must process, retain, and additionally provide and disseminate to the Board from the full Illinois Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS) and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database concerning criminal charges, arrests, convictions, and their disposition, that have been filed against a basic academy applicant, law enforcement activation applicant (rather than a law enforcement applicant), or law enforcement officer whose fingerprint identification cards are on file or maintained by the Illinois State Police. Provides that law enforcement agencies and the Illinois State Police shall notify the Board of any final determination of a willful violation of department, agency, or Illinois State Police policy, official misconduct, or violation of law within 10 days of the action when the determination leads to a suspension of at least 10 days, dismissal, discharge, or termination (rather than when the determination leads to a suspension of at least 10 days). Provides that no law enforcement agency may knowingly employ a person, or certify a retired law enforcement officer qualified under federal law to carry a concealed weapon unless the required criminal background investigation has been completed in the full Illinois Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS) and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. Effective immediately.


LRB103 38556 AWJ 68692 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB5651LRB103 38556 AWJ 68692 b

1    AN ACT concerning government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Police Training Act is amended by
5changing Sections 6.1, 9.2, and 10.2 as follows:
 
6    (50 ILCS 705/6.1)
7    Sec. 6.1. Automatic decertification of full-time and
8part-time law enforcement officers.
9    (a) The Board must review law enforcement officer conduct
10and records to ensure that no law enforcement officer is
11certified or provided a valid waiver if that law enforcement
12officer has been convicted of, found guilty of, entered a plea
13of guilty to, or entered a plea of nolo contendere to, a felony
14offense under the laws of this State or any other state which
15if committed in this State would be punishable as a felony. The
16Board must also ensure that no law enforcement officer is
17certified or provided a valid waiver if that law enforcement
18officer has been convicted of, found guilty of, or entered a
19plea of guilty to, on or after the respective effective dates
20of any amendatory changes adding the charged misdemeanor to
21this subsection, January 1, 2022 (the effective date of Public
22Act 101-652) of any misdemeanor specified in this Section or
23if committed in any other state would be an offense similar to

 

 

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1Section 11-1.50, 11-6, 11-6.5, 11-6.6, 11-9.1, 11-9.1B, 11-14,
211-14.1, 11-30, 12-2, 12-3.2, 12-3.4, 12-3.5, 16-1, 17-1,
317-2, 26.5-1, 26.5-2, 26.5-3, 28-3, 29-1, any misdemeanor in
4violation of any Section of Part E of Title III of the Criminal
5Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, or subsection (a) of
6Section 17-32 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code
7of 2012, or to Section 5 or 5.2 of the Cannabis Control Act, or
8any felony or misdemeanor in violation of federal law or the
9law of any state that is the equivalent of any of the offenses
10specified therein. The Board must appoint investigators to
11enforce the duties conferred upon the Board by this Act.
12    (a-1) For purposes of this Section, a person is "convicted
13of, or entered a plea of guilty to, plea of nolo contendere to,
14found guilty of" regardless of whether the adjudication of
15guilt or sentence is withheld or not entered thereon. This
16includes sentences of supervision, conditional discharge, or
17first offender probation, or any similar disposition provided
18for by law.
19    (b) It is the responsibility of the sheriff or the chief
20executive officer of every law enforcement agency or
21department within this State to report to the Board any
22arrest, conviction, finding of guilt, plea of guilty, or plea
23of nolo contendere to, of any officer for an offense
24identified in this Section, regardless of whether the
25adjudication of guilt or sentence is withheld or not entered
26thereon, this includes sentences of supervision, conditional

 

 

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1discharge, or first offender probation.
2    (c) It is the duty and responsibility of every full-time
3and part-time law enforcement officer in this State to report
4to the Board within 14 days, and the officer's sheriff or chief
5executive officer, of the officer's arrest, conviction, found
6guilty of, or plea of guilty for an offense identified in this
7Section. Any full-time or part-time law enforcement officer
8who knowingly makes, submits, causes to be submitted, or files
9a false or untruthful report to the Board must have the
10officer's certificate or waiver immediately decertified or
11revoked.
12    (d) Any person, or a local or State agency, or the Board is
13immune from liability for submitting, disclosing, or releasing
14information of arrests, convictions, or pleas of guilty in
15this Section as long as the information is submitted,
16disclosed, or released in good faith and without malice. The
17Board has qualified immunity for the release of the
18information.
19    (e) Any full-time or part-time law enforcement officer
20with a certificate or waiver issued by the Board who is
21convicted of, found guilty of, or entered a plea of guilty to,
22or entered a plea of nolo contendere to any offense described
23in this Section immediately becomes decertified or no longer
24has a valid waiver. The decertification and invalidity of
25waivers occurs as a matter of law. Failure of a convicted
26person to report to the Board the officer's conviction as

 

 

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1described in this Section or any continued law enforcement
2practice after receiving a conviction is a Class 4 felony.
3    For purposes of this Section, a person is considered to
4have been "convicted of, found guilty of, or entered a plea of
5guilty to, plea of nolo contendere to" regardless of whether
6the adjudication of guilt or sentence is withheld or not
7entered thereon, including sentences of supervision,
8conditional discharge, first offender probation, or any
9similar disposition as provided for by law.
10    (f) The Board's investigators shall be law enforcement
11officers as defined in Section 2 of this Act. The Board shall
12not waive the training requirement unless the investigator has
13had a minimum of 5 years experience as a sworn officer of a
14local, State, or federal law enforcement agency. An
15investigator shall not have been terminated for good cause,
16decertified, had his or her law enforcement license or
17certificate revoked in this or any other jurisdiction, or been
18convicted of any of the conduct listed in subsection (a). Any
19complaint filed against the Board's investigators shall be
20investigated by the Illinois State Police.
21    (g) The Board must request and receive information and
22assistance from any federal, state, local, or private
23enforcement agency as part of the authorized criminal
24background investigation. The Illinois State Police must
25process, retain, and additionally provide and disseminate
26information to the Board from the full Illinois Law

 

 

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1Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS) and the National
2Crime Information Center (NCIC) database concerning criminal
3charges, arrests, convictions, and their disposition, that
4have been filed against a basic academy applicant, law
5enforcement activation applicant, or law enforcement officer
6whose fingerprint identification cards are on file or
7maintained by the Illinois State Police. The Federal Bureau of
8Investigation must provide the Board any criminal history
9record information contained in its files pertaining to law
10enforcement officers or any applicant to a Board certified
11basic law enforcement academy as described in this Act based
12on fingerprint identification. The Board must make payment of
13fees to the Illinois State Police for each fingerprint card
14submission in conformance with the requirements of paragraph
1522 of Section 55a of the Civil Administrative Code of
16Illinois.
17    (g-5) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the
18contrary, the changes to this Section made by this amendatory
19Act of the 102nd General Assembly and Public Act 101-652 shall
20apply prospectively only from July 1, 2022.
21(Source: P.A. 101-187, eff. 1-1-20; 101-652, eff. 1-1-22;
22102-538, eff. 8-20-21; 102-694, eff. 1-7-22.)
 
23    (50 ILCS 705/9.2)
24    Sec. 9.2. Officer professional conduct database;
25transparency.

 

 

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1    (a) All law enforcement agencies and the Illinois State
2Police shall notify the Board of any final determination of a
3willful violation of department, agency, or the Illinois State
4Police policy, official misconduct, or violation of law within
510 days when:
6        (1) the determination leads to a suspension of at
7    least 10 days, dismissal, discharge, or termination;
8        (2) any infraction that would trigger an official or
9    formal investigation under a law enforcement agency or the
10    Illinois State Police policy;
11        (3) there is an allegation of misconduct or regarding
12    truthfulness as to a material fact, bias, or integrity; or
13        (4) the officer resigns or retires during the course
14    of an investigation and the officer has been served notice
15    that the officer is under investigation.
16    Agencies and the Illinois State Police may report to the
17Board any conduct they deem appropriate to disseminate to
18another law enforcement agency regarding a law enforcement
19officer.
20    The agency or the Illinois State Police shall report to
21the Board within 10 days of a final determination and final
22exhaustion of any administrative appeal, or the law
23enforcement officer's resignation or retirement, and shall
24provide information regarding the nature of the violation.
25This notification shall not necessarily trigger certification
26review.

 

 

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1    A law enforcement agency and the Illinois State Police
2shall be immune from liability for a disclosure made as
3described in this subsection, unless the disclosure would
4constitute intentional misrepresentation or gross negligence.
5    (b) Within 14 days after receiving notification from a law
6enforcement agency or the Illinois State Police, the Board
7must notify the law enforcement officer of the report and the
8officer's right to provide a statement regarding the reported
9violation. The law enforcement officer shall have 14 days from
10receiving notice to provide a written objection contesting
11information included in the agency's report. The objection
12must be filed with the Board on a form prescribed by the Board
13and a copy must be served on the law enforcement agency. The
14objection shall remain in the database with the reported
15violation.
16    (c) The Board shall maintain a database readily available
17to any chief administrative officer, or the officer's
18designee, of a law enforcement agency and the Illinois State
19Police that shall show for each law enforcement officer: (i)
20dates of certification, decertification, and inactive status;
21(ii) each sustained instance of departmental misconduct that
22lead to a suspension at least 10 days or any infraction that
23would trigger an official or formal investigation under the
24law enforcement agency policy, any allegation of misconduct
25regarding truthfulness as to a material fact, bias, or
26integrity, or any other reported violation, the nature of the

 

 

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1violation, the reason for the final decision of discharge or
2dismissal, and any statement provided by the officer; (iii)
3date of separation from employment from any local or state law
4enforcement agency; (iv) the reason for separation from
5employment, including, but not limited to: whether the
6separation was based on misconduct or occurred while the law
7enforcement agency was conducting an investigation of the
8certified individual for a violation of an employing agency's
9rules, policy or procedure or other misconduct or improper
10action.
11        (1) This database shall also be accessible to the
12    State's Attorney of any county in this State and the
13    Attorney General for the purpose of complying with
14    obligations under Brady v. Maryland (373 U.S. 83) or
15    Giglio v. United States (405 U.S. 150). This database
16    shall also be accessible to the chief administrative
17    officer of any law enforcement agency for the purposes of
18    hiring law enforcement officers. This database shall not
19    be accessible to anyone not listed in this subsection.
20        (2) Before a law enforcement agency may appoint a law
21    enforcement officer or a person seeking a certification as
22    a law enforcement officer in this State, the chief
23    administrative officer or designee must check the Officer
24    Professional Conduct Database, contact each person's
25    previous law enforcement employers, and document the
26    contact. This documentation must be available for review

 

 

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1    by the Board for a minimum of five years after the law
2    enforcement officer's termination, retirement,
3    resignation or separation with that agency.
4        (3) The database, documents, materials, or other
5    information in the possession or control of the Board that
6    are obtained by or disclosed to the Board under this
7    subsection shall be confidential by law and privileged,
8    shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject
9    to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private
10    civil action when sought from the Board. However, the
11    Board is authorized to use such documents, materials, or
12    other information in furtherance of any regulatory or
13    legal action brought as part of the Board's official
14    duties. The Board shall not disclose the database or make
15    such documents, materials, or other information it has
16    obtained or that has been disclosed to it to the public.
17    Neither the Board nor any person who received documents,
18    materials or other information shared under this
19    subsection shall be required to testify in any private
20    civil action concerning the database or any confidential
21    documents, materials, or information subject to this
22    subsection.
23    (d) The Board shall maintain a searchable database of law
24enforcement officers accessible to the public that shall
25include: (i) the law enforcement officer's employing agency;
26(ii) the date of the officer's initial certification and the

 

 

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1officer's current certification status; and (iii) any
2sustained complaint of misconduct that resulted in
3decertification and the date thereof; provided, however, that
4information shall not be included in the database that would
5allow the public to ascertain the home address of an officer or
6another person; provided further, that information regarding
7an officer's or another person's family member shall not be
8included in the database. The Board shall make the database
9publicly available on its website.
10    (e) The Board shall maintain a searchable database of all
11completed investigations against law enforcement officers
12related to decertification. The database shall identify each
13law enforcement officer by a confidential and anonymous number
14and include: (i) the law enforcement officer's employing
15agency; (ii) the date of the incident referenced in the
16complaint; (iii) the location of the incident; (iv) the race
17and ethnicity of each officer involved in the incident; (v)
18the age, gender, race and ethnicity of each person involved in
19the incident, if known; (vi) whether a person in the
20complaint, including a law enforcement officer, was injured,
21received emergency medical care, was hospitalized or died as a
22result of the incident; (vii) the law enforcement agency or
23other entity assigned to conduct an investigation of the
24incident; (viii) when the investigation was completed; (ix)
25whether the complaint was sustained; and (x) the type of
26misconduct investigated; provided, however, that the Board

 

 

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1shall redact or withhold such information as necessary to
2prevent the disclosure of the identity of an officer. The
3Board shall make the database publicly available on its
4website.
5    (e-1) An investigation is complete when the investigation
6has either been terminated or the decertification action,
7including the administrative review process, has been
8completed, whichever is later.
9    (e-2) At any time, a law enforcement officer shall have
10access to the law enforcement officer's own records on file
11with the Board, as it pertains to the databases in this
12Section.
13    (f) Annual report. The Board shall submit an annual report
14to the Governor, Attorney General, President and Minority
15Leader of the Senate, and the Speaker and Minority Leader of
16the House of Representatives on or before March 1, 2023, and
17every year thereafter indicating:
18        (1) the number of complaints received in the preceding
19    calendar year, including but not limited to the race,
20    gender, and type of discretionary decertification
21    complaints received;
22        (2) the number of investigations initiated in the
23    preceding calendar year since the date of the last report;
24        (3) the number of investigations concluded in the
25    preceding calendar year;
26        (4) the number of investigations pending as of the

 

 

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1    last date of the preceding calendar year;
2        (5) the number of hearings held in the preceding
3    calendar year; and
4        (6) the number of officers decertified in the
5    preceding calendar year.
6    The annual report shall be publicly available on the
7website of the Board.
8    (g) Nothing in this Section shall exempt a law enforcement
9agency from which the Board has obtained data, documents,
10materials, or other information or that has disclosed data,
11documents, materials, or other information to the Board from
12disclosing public records in accordance with the Freedom of
13Information Act.
14    (h) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,
15the changes made to this Section by this amendatory Act of the
16102nd General Assembly and Public Act 101-652 take effect July
171, 2022.
18(Source: P.A. 101-652, eff. 1-1-22; 102-694, eff. 1-7-22.)
 
19    (50 ILCS 705/10.2)
20    Sec. 10.2. Criminal background investigations.
21    (a) On and after March 14, 2002 (the effective date of
22Public Act 92-533), an applicant for employment as a peace
23officer, or for annual certification as a retired law
24enforcement officer qualified under federal law to carry a
25concealed weapon, shall authorize an investigation to

 

 

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1determine if the applicant has been convicted of any criminal
2offense that disqualifies the person as a peace officer.
3    (b) No law enforcement agency may knowingly employ a
4person, or certify a retired law enforcement officer qualified
5under federal law to carry a concealed weapon, unless (i) a
6criminal background investigation of that person has been
7completed in the full Illinois Law Enforcement Agencies Data
8System (LEADS) and the National Crime Information Center
9(NCIC) database and (ii) that investigation reveals no
10convictions of or pleas of guilty to offenses specified in
11subsection (a) of Section 6.1 of this Act.
12(Source: P.A. 101-187, eff. 1-1-20; 101-652, eff. 1-1-22;
13102-558, eff. 8-20-21; 102-694, eff. 1-7-22.)
 
14    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
15becoming law.