(735 ILCS 5/8-802.2) (from Ch. 110, par. 8-802.2)

Sec. 8-802.2. Confidentiality of statements made to personnel counseling victims of violent crimes.

(a) Purpose. This Section is intended to protect victims of violent crimes from public disclosure of statements they make in confidence to counselors of organizations established to help them. Because of the fear and trauma that often results from violent crimes, many victims hesitate to seek help even where it is available and may therefore lack the psychological support necessary to report the crime and aid police in preventing future crimes.

(b) Definitions. As used in this Act, "violent crimes" include, but are not limited to, any felony in which force or threat of force was used against the victim or any misdemeanor which results in death or great bodily harm to the victim.

(c) Confidentiality. Where any victim of a violent crime makes a statement relating to the crime or its circumstances during the course of therapy or consultation to any counselor, employee or volunteer of a victim aid organization, the statement or contents thereof shall not be disclosed by the organization or any of its personnel unless the maker of the statement consents in writing or unless otherwise directed pursuant to this Section.

If in any judicial proceeding, a party alleges that such statements are necessary to the determination of any issue before the court and written consent to disclosure has not been given, the party may ask the court to consider the relevance and admissibility of the statements. In such a case, the court shall hold a hearing in camera on the relevance of the statements. If the court finds them relevant and admissible to the issue, the court shall order the statements to be disclosed.

(Source: P.A. 86-538.)

(735 ILCS 5/8-802.3)

Sec. 8-802.3. Informant's privilege.

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), if an individual (i) submits information concerning a criminal act to a law enforcement agency or to a community organization that acts as an intermediary in reporting to law enforcement and (ii) requests anonymity, then the identity of that individual is privileged and confidential and is not subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in a proceeding.

(b) There is no privilege under subsection (a) if a court, after a hearing in camera, finds that the party seeking discovery or the proponent of the evidence has shown that:

(1) the identity of an individual who submits information concerning a criminal act is sought or offered in a court proceeding involving a felony or misdemeanor;

(2) the evidence is not otherwise available; and

(3) nondisclosure infringes upon a constitutional right of an accused, or there is a need for the evidence that substantially outweighs the interest in protecting confidentiality.

(b-5) Except as provided in this subsection or under subsection (j) of Supreme Court Rule 412, if a defendant's counsel seeks to discover the identity of an informant, then the defendant's counsel shall file a motion with the court alleging a good faith factual basis for believing that the prior representation of the informant creates a serious potential for an actual conflict of interest. Upon such filing, the court: (1) may deny the motion for lack of factual basis; or (2) if it finds a sufficiently alleged factual basis, shall conduct an in camera hearing with the informant, outside the presence of all counsel, to ascertain whether an actual conflict of interest exists. A transcript of the in camera proceeding shall be made and sealed. After the in camera hearing, the court shall: (i) deny the motion if there is no basis to conclude that a serious potential for an actual conflict exists; or (ii) inform the petitioning counsel that his or her continued representation is a conflict. If the court concludes that a conflict exists, it shall notify the counsel of the nature of the conflict, subject to any condition of nondisclosure that the court deems appropriate.

(c) The court may impose such sanctions as are necessary to enforce its order.

(Source: P.A. 101-436, eff. 8-20-19.)

(735 ILCS 5/8-803) (from Ch. 110, par. 8-803)

Sec. 8-803. Clergy. A clergyman or practitioner of any religious denomination accredited by the religious body to which he or she belongs, shall not be compelled to disclose in any court, or to any administrative board or agency, or to any public officer, a confession or admission made to him or her in his or her professional character or as a spiritual advisor in the course of the discipline enjoined by the rules or practices of such religious body or of the religion which he or she professes, nor be compelled to divulge any information which has been obtained by him or her in such professional character or as such spiritual advisor.

(Source: P.A. 82-280.)

(735 ILCS 5/8-803.5)

Sec. 8-803.5. Union agent and union member.

(a) Except when required in subsection (b) of this Section, a union agent, during the agency or representative relationship or after termination of the agency or representative relationship with the bargaining unit member, shall not be compelled to disclose, in any court or to any administrative board or agency arbitration or proceeding, whether civil or criminal, any information he or she may have acquired in attending to his or her professional duties or while acting in his or her representative capacity.

(b) A union agent may use or reveal information obtained during the course of fulfilling his or her professional representative duties:

(1) to the extent it appears necessary to prevent the commission of a crime that is likely to result in a clear, imminent risk of serious physical injury or death of another person;

(2) in actions, civil or criminal, against the union agent in his or her personal or official representative capacity, or against the local union or subordinate body thereof or international union or affiliated or subordinate body thereof or any agent thereof in their personal or official representative capacities;

(3) when required by court order; or

(4) when, after full disclosure has been provided, the written or oral consent of the bargaining unit member has been obtained or, if the bargaining unit member is deceased or has been adjudged incompetent by a court of competent jurisdiction, the written or oral consent of the bargaining unit member's estate.

(c) In the event of a conflict between the application of this Section and any federal or State labor law to a specific situation, the provisions of the federal or State labor law shall control.

(Source: P.A. 94-22, eff. 1-1-06.)

(735 ILCS 5/8-804)

Sec. 8-804. Confidential advisor.

(a) This Section is intended to protect students at higher education institutions in this State who are survivors of sexual violence from public disclosure of communications they make in confidence to confidential advisors. Because of the fear, stigma, and trauma that often result from incidents of sexual violence, many survivors hesitate to report or seek help, even when it is available at no cost to them. As a result, they not only fail to receive needed medical care and emergency counseling, but may lack the psychological support necessary to report the incident of sexual violence to the higher education institution or law enforcement.

(b) In this Section:

"Confidential advisor" means a person who is employed or contracted by a higher education institution to provide emergency and ongoing support to survivors of sexual violence with the training, duties, and responsibilities described in Section 20 of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Higher Education Act.

"Higher education institution" means a public university, a public community college, or an independent, not-for-profit or for-profit higher education institution located in this State.

"Sexual violence" means physical sexual acts attempted or perpetrated against a person's will or when a person is incapable of giving consent, including without limitation rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, sexual abuse, and sexual coercion.

"Survivor" means a student who has experienced sexual violence while enrolled at a higher education institution.

(c) All communications between a confidential advisor and a survivor pertaining to an incident of sexual violence shall remain confidential, unless the survivor consents to the disclosure of the communication in writing, the disclosure falls within one of the exceptions outlined in subsection (d) of this Section, or failure to disclose the communication would violate State or federal law. Communications include all records kept by the confidential advisor in the course of providing the survivor with services related to the incident of sexual violence.

(d) The confidential advisor may disclose confidential communications between the confidential advisor and the survivor if failure to disclose would result in a clear, imminent risk of serious physical injury to or death of the survivor or another person.

The confidential advisor shall have no obligation to report crimes to the higher education institution or law enforcement, except to report to the Title IX coordinator, as defined by Title IX of the federal Education Amendments of 1972, on a monthly basis the number and type of incidents of sexual violence reported exclusively to the confidential advisor in accordance with the higher education institution's reporting requirements under subsection (b) of Section 9.21 of the Board of Higher Education Act and under federal law.

If, in any judicial proceeding, a party alleges that the communications are necessary to the determination of any issue before the court and written consent to disclosure has not been given, the party may ask the court to consider ordering the disclosure of the communications. In such a case, communications may be disclosed if the court finds, after in camera examination of the communication, that the communication is relevant, probative, and not unduly prejudicial or inflammatory or is otherwise clearly admissible; that other evidence is demonstrably unsatisfactory as evidence of the facts sought to be established by the communication or communications; and that disclosure is more important to the interests of substantial justice than protection from injury to the confidential advisor-survivor relationship, to the survivor, or to any other individual whom disclosure is likely to harm.

(e) This privilege shall not preclude an individual from asserting a greater privilege under federal or State law that applies.

(Source: P.A. 99-426, eff. 8-21-15.)

(735 ILCS 5/21-103.8)

Sec. 21-103.8. Impounding court file.

(a) A petitioner may file a motion to have the petitioner's court file impounded. The motion shall include a statement, verified under oath as provided under Section 1-109 of this Code, that the person believes that public disclosure would be a hardship and have a negative impact on the person's health or safety to include, but not be limited to, that the person is transgender, an adoptee, a survivor of domestic or intimate partner abuse, a survivor of gender-based violence, a survivor of human trafficking, a refugee, a person who has been granted special immigrant status by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, a person who has survived reparative or conversion therapy, or a person who has been granted asylum in this country. The petitioner may attach to the statement any supporting documents including relevant court orders, although self attestation shall suffice as acceptable documentation.

(b) If the petitioner files a statement attesting that disclosure of the petitioner's address would put the petitioner or any member of the petitioner's family or household at risk or reveal the confidential address of a shelter for domestic violence victims, that address may be omitted from all documents filed with the court, and the petitioner may designate an alternative address for service.

(c) If a court grants a motion to impound the file under this Section, it is still required under subsection (d) of Section 21-101 that the name change be reported to the Illinois State Police, and the Illinois State Police must update any criminal history transcript or offender registration for each person 18 years of age or older to include the change of name as well as the person's former name.

(Source: P.A. 103-1063, eff. 3-1-25.)

(735 ILCS 5/804.5)

(This Section will be renumbered as Section 8-804.5 in a revisory bill.)

Sec. 804.5. Parties to a restorative justice practice.

(a) This Section is intended to encourage the use of restorative justice practices by providing a privilege for participation in such practices and ensuring that anything said or done during the practice, or in anticipation of or as a follow-up to the practice, is privileged and may not be used in any future proceeding unless the privilege is waived by the informed consent of the party or parties covered by the privilege. The General Assembly affords this privilege in recognition of restorative justice as a powerful tool in addressing the needs of victims, offenders, and the larger community in the process of repairing the fabric of community peace. The General Assembly encourages residents of this State to employ restorative justice practices, not only in justiciable matters, but in all aspects of life and law.

(b) As used in this Section:

"Circle" means a versatile restorative practice that can be used proactively, to develop relationships and build community, or reactively, to respond to wrongdoing, conflicts, and problems.

"Conference" means a structured meeting between offenders, victims, and both parties' family and friends, in which they deal with the consequences of a crime or wrongdoing and decide how best to repair the harm.

"Facilitator" means a person who is trained to facilitate a restorative justice practice.

"Party" means a person, including a facilitator, an individual who has caused harm, an individual who has been harmed, a community member, and any other participant, who voluntarily consents to participate with others who have agreed to participate in a restorative justice practice.

"Proceeding" means any legal action subject to this Code, including, but not limited to, civil, criminal, juvenile, or administrative hearings.

"Restorative justice practice" or "practice" means a gathering, such as a conference or circle, in which parties who have caused harm or who have been harmed and community stakeholders collectively gather to identify and repair harm to the extent possible, address trauma, reduce the likelihood of further harm, and strengthen community ties by focusing on the needs and obligations of all parties involved through a participatory process.

(c) Anything said or done during or in preparation for a restorative justice practice or as a follow-up to that practice, or the fact that the practice has been planned or convened, is privileged and cannot be referred to, used, or admitted in any civil, criminal, juvenile, or administrative proceeding unless the privilege is waived, during the proceeding or in writing, by the party or parties protected by the privilege. Privileged information is not subject to discovery or disclosure in any judicial or extrajudicial proceedings.

Any waiver of privilege is limited to the participation and communication of the waiving party only, and the participation or communications of any other participant remain privileged unless waived by the other participant.

(d) Evidence that is otherwise admissible or subject to discovery does not become inadmissible or protected from discovery solely because it was discussed or used in a restorative justice practice.

(e) The legitimacy of a restorative justice practice, if challenged in any civil, juvenile, criminal, or administrative proceeding, shall be determined by a judge. In a hearing conducted pursuant to this subsection, the judge may consider information that would otherwise be privileged to the extent that the information is probative of the issue.

(f) The privilege afforded by this Section does not apply if:

(1) disclosure is necessary to prevent death, great bodily harm, or the commission of a crime;

(2) necessary to comply with another law; or

(3) a court, tribunal, or administrative body requires a report on a restorative justice practice, but such report shall be limited to the fact that a practice has taken place, an opinion regarding the success of the practice, and whether further restorative justice practices are expected.

(g) This Section applies to all restorative justice practices that are convened on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly.

(Source: P.A. 102-100, eff. 7-15-21.)

(735 ILCS 5/Art. VIII Pt. 9 heading) Part 9. Reporter's Privilege

(735 ILCS 5/8-901) (from Ch. 110, par. 8-901)

Sec. 8-901. Source of information. No court may compel any person to disclose the source of any information obtained by a reporter except as provided in Part 9 of Article VIII of this Act.

(Source: P.A. 84-398.)

(735 ILCS 5/8-902) (from Ch. 110, par. 8-902)

Sec. 8-902. Definitions. As used in this Act:

(a) "Reporter" means any person regularly engaged in the business of collecting, writing or editing news for publication through a news medium on a full-time or part-time basis; and includes any person who was a reporter at the time the information sought was procured or obtained.

(b) "News medium" means any newspaper or other periodical issued at regular intervals whether in print or electronic format and having a general circulation; a news service whether in print or electronic format; a radio station; a television station; a television network; a community antenna television service; and any person or corporation engaged in the making of news reels or other motion picture news for public showing.

(c) "Source" means the person or means from or through which the news or information was obtained.

(Source: P.A. 92-335, eff. 8-10-01.)