Full Text of SB0920 102nd General Assembly
SB0920enr 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning government.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Department of State Police Law of the
Civil | 5 | | Administrative Code of Illinois is amended by adding Section | 6 | | 2605-615 as follows: | 7 | | (20 ILCS 2605/2605-615 new) | 8 | | Sec. 2605-615. Illinois Forensic Science Commission. | 9 | | (a) Creation. There is created within the Illinois State | 10 | | Police the Illinois Forensic Science Commission. | 11 | | (b) Duties and purpose. The Commission shall: | 12 | | (1) Provide guidance to ensure the efficient delivery | 13 | | of forensic services and the sound practice of forensic | 14 | | science. | 15 | | (2) Provide a forum for discussions between forensic | 16 | | science stakeholders to improve communication and | 17 | | coordination and to monitor the important issues impacting | 18 | | all stakeholders. | 19 | | (3) Take a systems-based approach in reviewing all | 20 | | aspects of the delivery of forensic services and the sound | 21 | | practice of forensic science with the goal of reducing or | 22 | | eliminating the factors and inefficiencies that contribute | 23 | | to backlogs and errors, with a focus on education and |
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| 1 | | training, funding, hiring, procurement, and other aspects | 2 | | identified by the Commission. | 3 | | (4) Review significant non-conformities with the sound | 4 | | practice of forensic science documented by each publicly | 5 | | funded forensic laboratory and offer recommendations for | 6 | | the correction thereof. | 7 | | (5) Subject to appropriation, provide educational, | 8 | | research, and professional training opportunities for | 9 | | practicing forensic scientists, police officers, judges, | 10 | | State's Attorneys and Assistant State's Attorneys, Public | 11 | | Defenders, and defense attorneys comporting with the sound | 12 | | practice of forensic science. | 13 | | (6) Collect and analyze information related to the | 14 | | impact of current laws, rules, policies, and practices on | 15 | | forensic crime laboratories and the practice of forensic | 16 | | science; evaluate the impact of those laws, rules, | 17 | | policies, and practices on forensic crime laboratories and | 18 | | the practice of forensic science; identify new policies | 19 | | and approaches, together with changes in science, and | 20 | | technology; and make recommendations for changes to those | 21 | | laws, rules, policies, and practices that will yield | 22 | | better results in the criminal justice system consistent | 23 | | with the sound practice of forensic science. | 24 | | (7) Perform such other studies or tasks pertaining to | 25 | | forensic crime laboratories as may be requested by the | 26 | | General Assembly by resolution or the Governor, and |
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| 1 | | perform such other functions as may be required by law or | 2 | | as are necessary to carry out the purposes and goals of the | 3 | | Commission prescribed in this Section. | 4 | | (8) Ensure that adequate resources and facilities are | 5 | | available for carrying out the changes proposed in | 6 | | legislation, rules, or policies and that rational | 7 | | priorities are established for the use of those resources. | 8 | | To do so, the Commission may prepare statements to the | 9 | | Governor and General Assembly identifying the fiscal and | 10 | | practical effects of proposed legislation, rules, or | 11 | | policy changes. Such statements may include, but are not | 12 | | limited to: the impact on present levels of staffing and | 13 | | resources; a professional opinion on the practical value | 14 | | of the change or changes; the increase or decrease the | 15 | | number of crime laboratories; the increase or decrease the | 16 | | cost of operating crime laboratories; the impact on | 17 | | efficiencies and caseloads; other information, including | 18 | | but not limited to, facts, data, research, and science | 19 | | relevant to the legislation, rule, or policy; the direct | 20 | | or indirect alteration in any process involving or used by | 21 | | crime laboratories of such proposed legislation, rules, or | 22 | | policy changes; an analysis of the impact, either directly | 23 | | or indirectly, on the technology, improvements, or | 24 | | practices of forensic analyses for use in criminal | 25 | | proceedings; together with the direct or indirect impact | 26 | | on headcount, space, equipment, instruments, |
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| 1 | | accreditation, the volume of cases for analysis, | 2 | | scientific controls, and quality assurance. | 3 | | (c) Members. The Commission shall be composed of the | 4 | | Director of the Illinois State Police, or his or her designee, | 5 | | together with the following members appointed for a term of 4 | 6 | | years by the Governor with the advice and consent of the | 7 | | Senate: | 8 | | (1) One crime laboratory director or administrator | 9 | | from each publicly funded forensic laboratory system. | 10 | | (2) One member with experience in the admission of | 11 | | forensic evidence in trials from a statewide association | 12 | | representing prosecutors. | 13 | | (3) One member with experience in the admission of | 14 | | forensic evidence in trials from a statewide association | 15 | | representing criminal defense attorneys. | 16 | | (4) Three forensic scientists with bench work | 17 | | background from various forensic disciplines (e.g., DNA, | 18 | | chemistry, pattern evidence, etc.). | 19 | | (5) One retired circuit court judge or associate | 20 | | circuit court judge with criminal trial experience, | 21 | | including experience in the admission of forensic evidence | 22 | | in trials. | 23 | | (6) One academic specializing in the field of forensic | 24 | | sciences. | 25 | | (7) One or more community representatives (e.g., | 26 | | victim advocates, innocence project organizations, sexual |
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| 1 | | assault examiners, etc.). | 2 | | The Governor shall designate one of the members of the | 3 | | Commission to serve as the chair of the Commission. The | 4 | | members of the Commission shall elect from their number such | 5 | | other officers as they may determine. Members of the | 6 | | Commission shall serve without compensation, but may be | 7 | | reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in the performance | 8 | | of their duties from funds appropriated for that purpose. | 9 | | (d) Subcommittees. The Commission may form subcommittees | 10 | | to study specific issues identified under paragraph (3) of | 11 | | subsection (b), including, but not limited to, subcommittees | 12 | | on education and training, procurement, funding and hiring. Ad | 13 | | hoc subcommittees may also be convened to address other | 14 | | issues. Such subcommittees shall meet as needed to complete | 15 | | their work, and shall report their findings back to the | 16 | | Commission. Subcommittees shall include members of the | 17 | | Commission, and may also include non-members such as forensic | 18 | | science stakeholders and subject matter experts. | 19 | | (e) Meetings. The Commission shall meet quarterly, at the | 20 | | call of the chairperson. Facilities for meeting, whether | 21 | | remotely or in person, shall be provided for the Commission by | 22 | | the Illinois State Police. | 23 | | (f) Reporting by publicly funded forensic laboratories. | 24 | | All State and local publicly funded forensic laboratory | 25 | | systems, including, but not limited to, the DuPage County | 26 | | Forensic Science Center, the Northeastern Illinois Regional |
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| 1 | | Crime Laboratory, and the Illinois State Police, shall | 2 | | annually provide to the Commission a report summarizing its | 3 | | significant non-conformities with the efficient delivery of | 4 | | forensic services and the sound practice of forensic science. | 5 | | The report will identify:
each significant non-conformity or | 6 | | deficient method;
how the non-conformity or deficient method | 7 | | was detected;
the nature and extent of the non-conformity or | 8 | | deficient method;
all corrective actions implemented to | 9 | | address the non-conformity or deficient method;
and an | 10 | | analysis of the effectiveness of the corrective actions taken. | 11 | | (g) Definition. As used in this Section, "Commission" | 12 | | means the Illinois Forensic Science Commission.
| 13 | | Section 10. The Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 is | 14 | | amended by adding Sections 111-9 and 116-6 as follows: | 15 | | (725 ILCS 5/111-9 new) | 16 | | Sec. 111-9. Notification to forensic laboratories. Unless | 17 | | the Supreme Court shall by Rule provide otherwise, upon | 18 | | disposition, withdrawal, or dismissal of any charge, the | 19 | | State's Attorney shall promptly notify the forensic laboratory | 20 | | or laboratories in possession of evidence, reports, or other | 21 | | materials or information related to that charge. Notification | 22 | | may be given by any reasonable means under the circumstances, | 23 | | including, but not limited to, the Illinois State Police | 24 | | Laboratory Information Management System, email, or telephone. |
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| 1 | | Section 15. The Sexual Assault Evidence Submission Act is | 2 | | amended by changing Section 50 as follows: | 3 | | (725 ILCS 202/50) | 4 | | Sec. 50. Sexual assault evidence tracking system. | 5 | | (a) On June 26, 2018, the Sexual Assault Evidence Tracking | 6 | | and Reporting Commission issued its report as required under | 7 | | Section 43. It is the intention of the General Assembly in | 8 | | enacting the provisions of this amendatory Act of the 101st | 9 | | General Assembly to implement the recommendations of the | 10 | | Sexual Assault Evidence Tracking and Reporting Commission set | 11 | | forth in that report in a manner that utilizes the current | 12 | | resources of law enforcement agencies whenever possible and | 13 | | that is adaptable to changing technologies and circumstances. | 14 | | (a-1) Due to the complex nature of a statewide tracking | 15 | | system for sexual assault evidence and
to ensure all | 16 | | stakeholders, including, but not limited to, victims and their | 17 | | designees, health care facilities, law enforcement agencies, | 18 | | forensic labs, and State's Attorneys offices are integrated, | 19 | | the Commission recommended the purchase of an
electronic | 20 | | off-the-shelf tracking system. The system must be able to | 21 | | communicate with all
stakeholders and provide real-time | 22 | | information to a victim or his or her designee on the status
of | 23 | | the evidence that was collected. The sexual assault evidence | 24 | | tracking system must: |
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| 1 | | (1) be electronic and web-based; | 2 | | (2) be administered by the Department of State Police; | 3 | | (3) have help desk availability at all times; | 4 | | (4) ensure the law enforcement agency contact | 5 | | information is accessible to the
victim or his or her | 6 | | designee through the tracking system, so there is contact
| 7 | | information for questions; | 8 | | (5) have the option for external connectivity to | 9 | | evidence management systems,
laboratory information | 10 | | management systems, or other electronic data
systems | 11 | | already in existence by any of the stakeholders to | 12 | | minimize additional
burdens or tasks on stakeholders; | 13 | | (6) allow for the victim to opt in for automatic | 14 | | notifications when status updates are
entered in the | 15 | | system, if the system allows; | 16 | | (7) include at each step in the process, a brief | 17 | | explanation of the general purpose of that
step and a | 18 | | general indication of how long the step may take to | 19 | | complete; | 20 | | (8) contain minimum fields for tracking and reporting, | 21 | | as follows: | 22 | | (A) for sexual assault evidence kit vendor fields: | 23 | | (i) each sexual evidence kit identification | 24 | | number provided to each health care
facility; and | 25 | | (ii) the date the sexual evidence kit was sent | 26 | | to the health care
facility. |
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| 1 | | (B) for health care
facility fields: | 2 | | (i) the date sexual assault evidence was | 3 | | collected; and | 4 | | (ii) the date notification was made to the law | 5 | | enforcement agency that the sexual assault | 6 | | evidence was collected. | 7 | | (C) for law enforcement agency fields: | 8 | | (i) the date the law enforcement agency took | 9 | | possession of the sexual assault evidence from the | 10 | | health care facility,
another law enforcement | 11 | | agency, or victim if he or she did not go through a | 12 | | health care facility; | 13 | | (ii) the law enforcement agency complaint | 14 | | number; | 15 | | (iii) if the law enforcement agency that takes | 16 | | possession of the sexual assault evidence from a | 17 | | health care facility is not the law enforcement | 18 | | agency
with jurisdiction in which the offense | 19 | | occurred, the date when the law enforcement agency
| 20 | | notified the law enforcement agency having | 21 | | jurisdiction that the agency has sexual assault | 22 | | evidence required under subsection (c) of Section | 23 | | 20 of the Sexual Assault Incident Procedure Act; | 24 | | (iv) an indication if the victim consented for | 25 | | analysis of the sexual assault evidence; | 26 | | (v) if the victim did not consent for analysis |
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| 1 | | of the sexual assault evidence, the date
on which | 2 | | the law enforcement agency is no longer required | 3 | | to store the sexual assault evidence; | 4 | | (vi) a mechanism for the law enforcement | 5 | | agency to document why the sexual assault evidence | 6 | | was not
submitted to the laboratory for analysis, | 7 | | if applicable; | 8 | | (vii) the date the law enforcement agency | 9 | | received the sexual assault evidence results back | 10 | | from the laboratory; | 11 | | (viii) the date statutory notifications were | 12 | | made to the victim or documentation of why | 13 | | notification
was not made; and | 14 | | (ix) the date the law enforcement agency | 15 | | turned over the case information to the State's
| 16 | | Attorney office, if applicable. | 17 | | (D) for forensic lab fields: | 18 | | (i) the date the sexual assault evidence is | 19 | | received from the law enforcement agency by the | 20 | | forensic lab
for analysis; | 21 | | (ii) the laboratory case number, visible to | 22 | | the law enforcement agency and State's Attorney | 23 | | office; and | 24 | | (iii) the date the laboratory completes the | 25 | | analysis of the sexual assault evidence. | 26 | | (E) for State's Attorney office fields: |
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| 1 | | (i) the date the State's Attorney office | 2 | | received the sexual assault evidence results from | 3 | | the laboratory, if
applicable; and | 4 | | (ii) the disposition or status of the case. | 5 | | (a-2) The Commission also developed guidelines for secure | 6 | | electronic access to a tracking
system for a victim, or his or | 7 | | her designee to access information on the status of the | 8 | | evidence
collected. The Commission recommended minimum | 9 | | guidelines in order to
safeguard confidentiality of the | 10 | | information contained within this statewide tracking
system. | 11 | | These recommendations are that the sexual assault evidence | 12 | | tracking system must: | 13 | | (1) allow for secure access, controlled by an | 14 | | administering body who can restrict user
access and allow | 15 | | different permissions based on the need of that particular | 16 | | user
and health care facility users may include | 17 | | out-of-state border hospitals, if
authorized by the | 18 | | Department of State Police to obtain this State's kits | 19 | | from vendor; | 20 | | (2) provide for users, other than victims, the ability | 21 | | to provide for any individual who
is granted access to the | 22 | | program their own unique user ID and password; | 23 | | (3) provide for a mechanism for a victim to enter the | 24 | | system and only access
his or her own information; | 25 | | (4) enable a sexual assault evidence to be tracked and | 26 | | identified through the unique sexual assault evidence kit |
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| 1 | | identification
number or barcode that the vendor applies | 2 | | to each sexual assault evidence kit per the Department of | 3 | | State Police's contract; | 4 | | (5) have a mechanism to inventory unused kits provided | 5 | | to a health care facility from the vendor; | 6 | | (6) provide users the option to either scan the bar | 7 | | code or manually enter the sexual assault evidence kit | 8 | | number
into the tracking program; | 9 | | (7) provide a mechanism to create a separate unique | 10 | | identification number for cases in
which a sexual evidence | 11 | | kit was not collected, but other evidence was collected; | 12 | | (8) provide the ability to record date, time, and user | 13 | | ID whenever any user accesses the
system; | 14 | | (9) provide for real-time entry and update of data; | 15 | | (10) contain report functions including: | 16 | | (A) health care facility compliance with | 17 | | applicable laws; | 18 | | (B) law enforcement agency compliance with | 19 | | applicable laws; | 20 | | (C) law enforcement agency annual inventory of | 21 | | cases to each State's Attorney office; and | 22 | | (D) forensic lab compliance with applicable laws; | 23 | | and | 24 | | (11) provide automatic notifications to the law | 25 | | enforcement agency when: | 26 | | (A) a health care facility has collected sexual |
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| 1 | | assault evidence; | 2 | | (B) unreleased sexual assault evidence that is | 3 | | being stored by the law enforcement agency has met the | 4 | | minimum
storage requirement by law; and | 5 | | (C) timelines as required by law are not met for a | 6 | | particular case, if not
otherwise documented. | 7 | | (b) The Department may shall develop rules to implement a | 8 | | sexual assault evidence tracking system that conforms with | 9 | | subsections (a-1) and (a-2) of this Section. The Department | 10 | | shall design the criteria for the sexual assault evidence | 11 | | tracking system so that, to the extent reasonably possible, | 12 | | the system can use existing technologies and products, | 13 | | including, but not limited to, currently available tracking | 14 | | systems. The sexual assault evidence tracking system shall be | 15 | | operational and shall begin tracking and reporting sexual | 16 | | assault evidence no later than one year after the effective | 17 | | date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly. The | 18 | | Department may adopt additional rules as it deems necessary to | 19 | | ensure that the sexual assault evidence tracking system | 20 | | continues to be a useful tool for law enforcement. | 21 | | (c) A treatment hospital, a treatment hospital with | 22 | | approved pediatric transfer, an out-of-state hospital approved | 23 | | by the Department of Public Health to receive transfers of | 24 | | Illinois sexual assault survivors, or an approved pediatric | 25 | | health care facility defined in Section 1a of the Sexual | 26 | | Assault Survivors Emergency Treatment Act shall participate in |
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| 1 | | the sexual assault evidence tracking system created under this | 2 | | Section and in accordance with rules adopted under subsection | 3 | | (b), including, but not limited to, the collection of sexual | 4 | | assault evidence and providing information regarding that | 5 | | evidence, including, but not limited to, providing notice to | 6 | | law enforcement that the evidence has been collected. | 7 | | (d) The operations of the sexual assault evidence tracking | 8 | | system shall be funded by moneys appropriated for that purpose | 9 | | from the State Crime Laboratory Fund and funds provided to the | 10 | | Department through asset forfeiture, together with such other | 11 | | funds as the General Assembly may appropriate. | 12 | | (e) To ensure that the sexual assault evidence tracking | 13 | | system is operational, the Department may adopt emergency | 14 | | rules to implement the provisions of this Section under | 15 | | subsection (ff) of Section 5-45 of the Illinois Administrative | 16 | | Procedure Act. | 17 | | (f) Information, including, but not limited to, evidence | 18 | | and records in the sexual assault evidence tracking system is | 19 | | exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
| 20 | | (Source: P.A. 101-377, eff. 8-16-19.) | 21 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 22 | | becoming law. |
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