HB5651 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 38556 AWJ 68692 b

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.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning government.

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

Section 5. The Illinois Police Training Act is amended by changing Sections 6.1, 9.2, and 10.2 as follows:

(50 ILCS 705/6.1)

Sec. 6.1. Automatic decertification of full-time and part-time law enforcement officers.

(a) The Board must review law enforcement officer conduct and records to 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, entered a plea of guilty to, or entered a plea of nolo contendere to, a felony offense under the laws of this State or any other state which if committed in this State would be punishable as a felony. The Board must also 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, on or after the respective effective dates of any amendatory changes adding the charged misdemeanor to this subsection, January 1, 2022 (the effective date of Public Act 101-652) of any misdemeanor specified in this Section or if committed in any other state would be an offense similar to Section 11-1.50, 11-6, 11-6.5, 11-6.6, 11-9.1, 11-9.1B, 11-14, 11-14.1, 11-30, 12-2, 12-3.2, 12-3.4, 12-3.5, 16-1, 17-1, 17-2, 26.5-1, 26.5-2, 26.5-3, 28-3, 29-1, any misdemeanor in violation of any Section of Part E of Title III of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, or subsection (a) of Section 17-32 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, or to Section 5 or 5.2 of the Cannabis Control Act, or any felony or misdemeanor in violation of federal law or the law of any state that is the equivalent of any of the offenses specified therein. The Board must appoint investigators to enforce the duties conferred upon the Board by this Act.

(a-1) For purposes of this Section, a person is "convicted of, or entered a plea of guilty to, plea of nolo contendere to, found guilty of" regardless of whether the adjudication of guilt or sentence is withheld or not entered thereon. This includes sentences of supervision, conditional discharge, or first offender probation, or any similar disposition provided for by law.

(b) It is the responsibility of the sheriff or the chief executive officer of every law enforcement agency or department within this State to report to the Board any arrest, conviction, finding of guilt, plea of guilty, or plea of nolo contendere to, of any officer for an offense identified in this Section, regardless of whether the adjudication of guilt or sentence is withheld or not entered thereon, this includes sentences of supervision, conditional discharge, or first offender probation.

(c) It is the duty and responsibility of every full-time and part-time law enforcement officer in this State to report to the Board within 14 days, and the officer's sheriff or chief executive officer, of the officer's arrest, conviction, found guilty of, or plea of guilty for an offense identified in this Section. Any full-time or part-time law enforcement officer who knowingly makes, submits, causes to be submitted, or files a false or untruthful report to the Board must have the officer's certificate or waiver immediately decertified or revoked.

(d) Any person, or a local or State agency, or the Board is immune from liability for submitting, disclosing, or releasing information of arrests, convictions, or pleas of guilty in this Section as long as the information is submitted, disclosed, or released in good faith and without malice. The Board has qualified immunity for the release of the information.

(e) Any full-time or part-time law enforcement officer with a certificate or waiver issued by the Board who is convicted of, found guilty of, or entered a plea of guilty to, or entered a plea of nolo contendere to any offense described in this Section immediately becomes decertified or no longer has a valid waiver. The decertification and invalidity of waivers occurs as a matter of law. Failure of a convicted person to report to the Board the officer's conviction as described in this Section or any continued law enforcement practice after receiving a conviction is a Class 4 felony.

For purposes of this Section, a person is considered to have been "convicted of, found guilty of, or entered a plea of guilty to, plea of nolo contendere to" regardless of whether the adjudication of guilt or sentence is withheld or not entered thereon, including sentences of supervision, conditional discharge, first offender probation, or any similar disposition as provided for by law.

(f) The Board's investigators shall be law enforcement officers as defined in Section 2 of this Act. The Board shall not waive the training requirement unless the investigator has had a minimum of 5 years experience as a sworn officer of a local, State, or federal law enforcement agency. An investigator shall not have been terminated for good cause, decertified, had his or her law enforcement license or certificate revoked in this or any other jurisdiction, or been convicted of any of the conduct listed in subsection (a). Any complaint filed against the Board's investigators shall be investigated by the Illinois State Police.

(g) The Board must request and receive information and assistance from any federal, state, local, or private enforcement agency as part of the authorized criminal background investigation. The Illinois State Police must process, retain, and additionally provide and disseminate information 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, or law enforcement officer whose fingerprint identification cards are on file or maintained by the Illinois State Police. The Federal Bureau of Investigation must provide the Board any criminal history record information contained in its files pertaining to law enforcement officers or any applicant to a Board certified basic law enforcement academy as described in this Act based on fingerprint identification. The Board must make payment of fees to the Illinois State Police for each fingerprint card submission in conformance with the requirements of paragraph 22 of Section 55a of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois.

(g-5) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the changes to this Section made by this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly and Public Act 101-652 shall apply prospectively only from July 1, 2022.

(Source: P.A. 101-187, eff. 1-1-20; 101-652, eff. 1-1-22; 102-538, eff. 8-20-21; 102-694, eff. 1-7-22.)

(50 ILCS 705/9.2)

Sec. 9.2. Officer professional conduct database; transparency.

(a) All law enforcement agencies and the Illinois State Police shall notify the Board of any final determination of a willful violation of department, agency, or the Illinois State Police policy, official misconduct, or violation of law within 10 days when:

(1) the determination leads to a suspension of at least 10 days, dismissal, discharge, or termination;

(2) any infraction that would trigger an official or formal investigation under a law enforcement agency or the Illinois State Police policy;

(3) there is an allegation of misconduct or regarding truthfulness as to a material fact, bias, or integrity; or

(4) the officer resigns or retires during the course of an investigation and the officer has been served notice that the officer is under investigation.

Agencies and the Illinois State Police may report to the Board any conduct they deem appropriate to disseminate to another law enforcement agency regarding a law enforcement officer.

The agency or the Illinois State Police shall report to the Board within 10 days of a final determination and final exhaustion of any administrative appeal, or the law enforcement officer's resignation or retirement, and shall provide information regarding the nature of the violation. This notification shall not necessarily trigger certification review.

A law enforcement agency and the Illinois State Police shall be immune from liability for a disclosure made as described in this subsection, unless the disclosure would constitute intentional misrepresentation or gross negligence.

(b) Within 14 days after receiving notification from a law enforcement agency or the Illinois State Police, the Board must notify the law enforcement officer of the report and the officer's right to provide a statement regarding the reported violation. The law enforcement officer shall have 14 days from receiving notice to provide a written objection contesting information included in the agency's report. The objection must be filed with the Board on a form prescribed by the Board and a copy must be served on the law enforcement agency. The objection shall remain in the database with the reported violation.

(c) The Board shall maintain a database readily available to any chief administrative officer, or the officer's designee, of a law enforcement agency and the Illinois State Police that shall show for each law enforcement officer: (i) dates of certification, decertification, and inactive status; (ii) each sustained instance of departmental misconduct that lead to a suspension at least 10 days or any infraction that would trigger an official or formal investigation under the law enforcement agency policy, any allegation of misconduct regarding truthfulness as to a material fact, bias, or integrity, or any other reported violation, the nature of the violation, the reason for the final decision of discharge or dismissal, and any statement provided by the officer; (iii) date of separation from employment from any local or state law enforcement agency; (iv) the reason for separation from employment, including, but not limited to: whether the separation was based on misconduct or occurred while the law enforcement agency was conducting an investigation of the certified individual for a violation of an employing agency's rules, policy or procedure or other misconduct or improper action.

(1) This database shall also be accessible to the State's Attorney of any county in this State and the Attorney General for the purpose of complying with obligations under Brady v. Maryland (373 U.S. 83) or Giglio v. United States (405 U.S. 150). This database shall also be accessible to the chief administrative officer of any law enforcement agency for the purposes of hiring law enforcement officers. This database shall not be accessible to anyone not listed in this subsection.

(2) Before a law enforcement agency may appoint a law enforcement officer or a person seeking a certification as a law enforcement officer in this State, the chief administrative officer or designee must check the Officer Professional Conduct Database, contact each person's previous law enforcement employers, and document the contact. This documentation must be available for review by the Board for a minimum of five years after the law enforcement officer's termination, retirement, resignation or separation with that agency.

(3) The database, documents, materials, or other information in the possession or control of the Board that are obtained by or disclosed to the Board under this subsection shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action when sought from the Board. However, the Board is authorized to use such documents, materials, or other information in furtherance of any regulatory or legal action brought as part of the Board's official duties. The Board shall not disclose the database or make such documents, materials, or other information it has obtained or that has been disclosed to it to the public. Neither the Board nor any person who received documents, materials or other information shared under this subsection shall be required to testify in any private civil action concerning the database or any confidential documents, materials, or information subject to this subsection.

(d) The Board shall maintain a searchable database of law enforcement officers accessible to the public that shall include: (i) the law enforcement officer's employing agency; (ii) the date of the officer's initial certification and the officer's current certification status; and (iii) any sustained complaint of misconduct that resulted in decertification and the date thereof; provided, however, that information shall not be included in the database that would allow the public to ascertain the home address of an officer or another person; provided further, that information regarding an officer's or another person's family member shall not be included in the database. The Board shall make the database publicly available on its website.

(e) The Board shall maintain a searchable database of all completed investigations against law enforcement officers related to decertification. The database shall identify each law enforcement officer by a confidential and anonymous number and include: (i) the law enforcement officer's employing agency; (ii) the date of the incident referenced in the complaint; (iii) the location of the incident; (iv) the race and ethnicity of each officer involved in the incident; (v) the age, gender, race and ethnicity of each person involved in the incident, if known; (vi) whether a person in the complaint, including a law enforcement officer, was injured, received emergency medical care, was hospitalized or died as a result of the incident; (vii) the law enforcement agency or other entity assigned to conduct an investigation of the incident; (viii) when the investigation was completed; (ix) whether the complaint was sustained; and (x) the type of misconduct investigated; provided, however, that the Board shall redact or withhold such information as necessary to prevent the disclosure of the identity of an officer. The Board shall make the database publicly available on its website.

(e-1) An investigation is complete when the investigation has either been terminated or the decertification action, including the administrative review process, has been completed, whichever is later.

(e-2) At any time, a law enforcement officer shall have access to the law enforcement officer's own records on file with the Board, as it pertains to the databases in this Section.

(f) Annual report. The Board shall submit an annual report to the Governor, Attorney General, President and Minority Leader of the Senate, and the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives on or before March 1, 2023, and every year thereafter indicating:

(1) the number of complaints received in the preceding calendar year, including but not limited to the race, gender, and type of discretionary decertification complaints received;

(2) the number of investigations initiated in the preceding calendar year since the date of the last report;

(3) the number of investigations concluded in the preceding calendar year;

(4) the number of investigations pending as of the last date of the preceding calendar year;

(5) the number of hearings held in the preceding calendar year; and

(6) the number of officers decertified in the preceding calendar year.

The annual report shall be publicly available on the website of the Board.

(g) Nothing in this Section shall exempt a law enforcement agency from which the Board has obtained data, documents, materials, or other information or that has disclosed data, documents, materials, or other information to the Board from disclosing public records in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act.

(h) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the changes made to this Section by this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly and Public Act 101-652 take effect July 1, 2022.

(Source: P.A. 101-652, eff. 1-1-22; 102-694, eff. 1-7-22.)

(50 ILCS 705/10.2)

Sec. 10.2. Criminal background investigations.

(a) On and after March 14, 2002 (the effective date of Public Act 92-533), an applicant for employment as a peace officer, or for annual certification as a retired law enforcement officer qualified under federal law to carry a concealed weapon, shall authorize an investigation to determine if the applicant has been convicted of any criminal offense that disqualifies the person as a peace officer.

(b) 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 (i) a criminal background investigation of that person has been completed in the full Illinois Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS) and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database and (ii) that investigation reveals no convictions of or pleas of guilty to offenses specified in subsection (a) of Section 6.1 of this Act.

(Source: P.A. 101-187, eff. 1-1-20; 101-652, eff. 1-1-22; 102-558, eff. 8-20-21; 102-694, eff. 1-7-22.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.