SB2760 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB098 18658 NHT 53801 b

98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
SB2760

Introduced 1/28/2014, by Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

105 ILCS 5/22-80 new

Amends the School Code. Provides that (i) prior to being asked any question or being requested to make any statement while in the presence of a police officer, a student must be informed of the right not to answer any question or to make any statement in the presence of a police officer; (ii) prior to being asked any question or being requested to make any statement while in the presence of a police officer, a student must be informed of the right to have a parent, a guardian, or an attorney present during such questioning or request for a statement; (iii) prior to being asked any question or being requested to make any statement while in the presence of a police officer, a student must be informed that any information given in the presence of a police officer may result in an arrest and in the issuing of a summons and may be used in school discipline and in criminal prosecution; (iv) prior to the presence of a police officer during the questioning of a student or of a request for a statement, the school principal shall approve the presence of the police officer during the questioning of or while making a request for any statement from the student; and (v) prior to the presence of a police officer during the questioning of or while making a request for any statement from a student, a parent or guardian of the student must be given notification of the opportunity to be present during the questioning. Sets forth provisions concerning the notification, school principal and police officer consultation, and tracking and reporting data. Effective July 1, 2014.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning education.

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

Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section 22-80 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/22-80 new)

Sec. 22-80. Student Bill of Rights.

(a) It is the policy of this State to eliminate the criminalization of minor instances of student misconduct in schools, to prevent police questioning and police presence during questioning of students in schools without prior explanation to the students of their right to refuse to answer questions, and to provide parents with reasonable opportunities to be present during police questioning and police presence during questioning of students in schools. Pursuant to these purposes, it is the policy of this State to ensure that school administrators carefully consider the needs of each student when determining whether to involve a school resource officer or another sworn police officer in a student disciplinary matter. It is also the policy of this State that providing the rights specified in this Section to individual students be balanced with the need for schools to maintain the safety of all students.

(b) In this Section:

"Dangerous misconduct" means action by a student that poses a substantial risk of imminent harm to the student or to other persons. Examples of such actions are possessing a firearm, possessing an explosive substance or device, possessing a knife with a blade in excess of 3 inches, and possessing a controlled substance in a quantity that indicates an intent to sell pursuant to State law.

"Police officer" means any sworn police officer, including without limitation a sworn officer known as a school resource officer or known by any other term for a sworn officer assigned to a school.

"Notification" means use of a telephone call, voice mail, text, e-mail or any other means known by the school to be a means to contact a person and by using all such means until at least one means is successful or until all are tried without success.

"Opportunity to be present" means a point in time no sooner than 48 hours after notification.

"Presence of a police officer" means any situation in which a police officer is in the physical presence of a student or when a police officer can, by any means, see a student or hear a statement made by a student.

"School" means a public school.

"Student" means a public school student.

(c) Prior to being asked any question or being requested to make any statement while in the presence of a police officer, a student must be informed of the right not to answer any question or to make any statement in the presence of a police officer.

(d) Prior to being asked any question or being requested to make any statement while in the presence of a police officer, a student must be informed of the right to have a parent, a guardian, or an attorney present during such questioning or request for a statement.

(e) Prior to being asked any question or being requested to make any statement while in the presence of a police officer, a student must be informed that any information given in the presence of a police officer may result in an arrest and in the issuing of a summons and may be used in school discipline and in criminal prosecution.

(f) Prior to the presence of a police officer during the questioning of a student or of a request for a statement, the school principal shall approve the presence of the police officer during the questioning of or while making a request for any statement from the student.

(g) Prior to the presence of a police officer during the questioning of or while making a request for any statement from a student, a parent or guardian of the student must be given notification of the opportunity to be present during the questioning, except that, in the case of dangerous misconduct, the parent or guardian must be given notification of the opportunity to be present no later than simultaneous with the initiation of the questioning or with the request for a statement.

(h) Except in the case of conduct that involves a continuing threat of harm to students or property and information to mitigate or eliminate the possible harm can be obtained by questioning, a parent, guardian, or attorney shall have up to 48 hours after notification to be present when a student is questioned or asked to make a statement in the presence of a police officer, and the student must not be questioned or asked to make a statement until the sooner of the presence of a parent, guardian, or attorney or 48 hours have elapsed after notification to the parent or guardian.

(i) Prior to the arrest of or the issuing of a summons to a student accused of misconduct in school, the school principal and the police officer shall consult together to discuss whether an arrest or issuing of a summons is necessary and in the best interests of the student and of the school.

(j) Schools shall track arrests, summonses, and notifications. Before July 1, 2015 and before each July 1 thereafter, each school district shall submit to its school board a report with data from the preceding school year that includes all of the following:

(1) The number of notifications made by the school.

(2) The number of students charged for crimes committed on school property.

(3) The race, age, ethnicity, and disability status of each student arrested or issued a summons for each charge.

(4) The offense for which the student, identified only by his or her race, age, ethnicity, and disability status, has been arrested.

No student's name or identifiable information other than the information listed in this subsection (j) may be included in the report. The school board shall electronically submit this report to the State Board of Education on or before August 1 of each year.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2014.