HB2521eng 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB2521 Engrossed LRB104 09890 LNS 19960 b

AN ACT concerning education.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Interscholastic Athletic Organization Act is amended by adding Section 1.3 as follows:

(105 ILCS 25/1.3 new)

Sec. 1.3. Criminal history records check.

(a) An association or other entity that has, as one of its purposes, promoting, sponsoring, regulating, or in any manner providing for interscholastic athletics or any form of athletic competition among schools and students within this State shall require applicants for licensure as an official to authorize a fingerprint-based criminal history records check to determine if such applicants have been convicted of any disqualifying, enumerated criminal or drug offenses in subsection (c) or have been convicted, within 7 years of the application for employment with the school district, of any other felony under the laws of this State or of any offense committed or attempted in any other state or against the laws of the United States that, if committed or attempted in this State, would have been punishable as a felony under the laws of this State.

Authorization for the check shall be furnished by the applicant to the association or entity, unless the applicant has previously authorized the check in a prior year's application through a school district, regional office of education, or such an association. The association or entity may require the applicant to furnish authorization for the check to the regional superintendent of the educational service region in which the applicant resides. Upon receipt of this authorization, the appropriate regional superintendent shall submit the applicant's name, sex, race, date of birth, social security number, fingerprint images, and other identifiers, as prescribed by the Illinois State Police, to the Illinois State Police.

The regional superintendent submitting the requisite information to the Illinois State Police shall promptly notify the association or entity in which the applicant is seeking licensure as an official that the check of the applicant has been requested. The Illinois State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall furnish, pursuant to a fingerprint-based criminal history records check, records of convictions, forever and hereafter, until expunged, to the executive director for the association or entity that requested the check. The applicant may be charged a fee not to exceed the cost of the inquiry.

(b) The association executive or the association executive's designee shall further perform a check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database, as authorized by the Sex Offender Community Notification Law, for each applicant. The check of the Statewide Sex Offender Database must be conducted by the association once every 5 years that an applicant remains licensed by the association.

(c) The association executive or the association executive's designee shall further perform a check of the Statewide Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Database, as authorized by the Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Community Notification Law, for each applicant. The check of the Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Database must be conducted by the association executive or the association executive's designee once every 5 years that an applicant remains licensed by the association.

Pending full clearance of all background check requirements, the prospective official must be supervised at all times by an individual who received a qualifying result on all background check components.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2026.