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Illinois Compiled Statutes

Information maintained by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Updating the database of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) is an ongoing process. Recent laws may not yet be included in the ILCS database, but they are found on this site as Public Acts soon after they become law. For information concerning the relationship between statutes and Public Acts, refer to the Guide.

Because the statute database is maintained primarily for legislative drafting purposes, statutory changes are sometimes included in the statute database before they take effect. If the source note at the end of a Section of the statutes includes a Public Act that has not yet taken effect, the version of the law that is currently in effect may have already been removed from the database and you should refer to that Public Act to see the changes made to the current law.

CIVIL PROCEDURE
(735 ILCS 5/) Code of Civil Procedure.

735 ILCS 5/8-802.3

    (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

    (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

    (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

    (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 5/804.5

    (735 ILCS 5/804.5)
    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

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

735 ILCS 5/8-901

    (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

    (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.)

735 ILCS 5/8-903

    (735 ILCS 5/8-903) (from Ch. 110, par. 8-903)
    Sec. 8-903. Application to court. (a) In any case, except a libel or slander case, where a person claims the privilege conferred by Part 9 of Article VIII of this Act, the person or party, body or officer seeking the information so privileged may apply in writing to the circuit court serving the county where the hearing, action or proceeding in which the information is sought for an order divesting the person named therein of such privilege and ordering him or her to disclose his or her source of the information.
    (b) In libel or slander cases where a person claims the privilege conferred by Part 9 of Article VIII of this Act, the plaintiff may apply in writing to the court for an order divesting the person named therein of such privilege and ordering him or her to disclose his or her source of information.
(Source: P.A. 84-398.)

735 ILCS 5/8-904

    (735 ILCS 5/8-904) (from Ch. 110, par. 8-904)
    Sec. 8-904. Contents of application. The application provided in Section 8-903 of this Act shall allege: the name of the reporter and of the news medium with which he or she was connected at the time the information sought was obtained; the specific information sought and its relevancy to the proceedings; and, either, a specific public interest which would be adversely affected if the factual information sought were not disclosed, or, in libel or slander cases, the necessity of disclosure of the information sought to the proof of plaintiff's case. Additionally, in libel or slander cases, the plaintiff must include in the application provided in Section 8-903 a prima facie showing of falsity of the alleged defamation and actual harm or injury due to the alleged defamation.
(Source: P.A. 84-398.)

735 ILCS 5/8-905

    (735 ILCS 5/8-905) (from Ch. 110, par. 8-905)
    Sec. 8-905. Civil Proceeding. All proceedings in connection with obtaining an adjudication upon the application not otherwise provided in Part 9 of Article VIII of this Act shall be as in other civil cases.
(Source: P.A. 82-280.)