Bill Text: IL HB4753 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Creates the Homicide Victims' Families' Rights Act. Provides for the review of the case file of open unresolved murders. Defines "open unresolved murder" as any criminal activity in which death occurred more than 3 years prior to the date of the application for review of the case file under the Act, for which all probative investigative leads have been exhausted, and for which no likely perpetrator has been identified. Provides that the person or persons performing the review shall not have previously investigated the murder. Provides that only one case review shall be undertaken at any one time with respect to the same murder victim. Provides that each law enforcement agency shall develop a written application to be used for persons to request a case file review. Provides that the applicable agency shall conduct a full reinvestigation of the murder if the review of the case file concludes that a full reinvestigation of the murder would result in probative investigative leads. Provides for the compilation and publication of specified information and statistics regarding open unresolved murders by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. Provides that each law enforcement agency shall employ or designate a minimum number of family liaison officers proportionate to the average number of homicides in the agency's jurisdiction within the previous 5 years of the date of employment with the maximum ratio of 40 homicides per each family liaison officer employed. Each agency may establish a lower ratio for hiring of family liaison officers. Establishes the duties and training for family liaison officers. Amends the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Act to make conforming changes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 26-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-01 - Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Sonya M. Harper [HB4753 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB4753-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB4753 Introduced , by Rep. Kam Buckner SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
New Act
20 ILCS 3930/7 from Ch. 38, par. 210-7
Creates the Homicide Victims' Families' Rights Act. Provides for the review of the case file of open unresolved murders. Defines "open unresolved murder" as any criminal activity in which death occurred more than 3 years prior to the date of the application for review of the case file under the Act, for which all probative investigative leads have been exhausted, and for which no likely perpetrator has been identified. Provides that the person or persons performing the review shall not have previously investigated the murder. Provides that only one case review shall be undertaken at any one time with respect to the same murder victim. Provides that each law enforcement agency shall develop a written application to be used for persons to request a case file review. Provides that the applicable agency shall conduct a full reinvestigation of the murder if the review of the case file concludes that a full reinvestigation of the murder would result in probative investigative leads. Provides for the compilation and publication of specified information and statistics regarding open unresolved murders by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. Provides that each law enforcement agency shall employ or designate a minimum number of family liaison officers proportionate to the average number of homicides in the agency's jurisdiction within the previous 5 years of the date of employment with the maximum ratio of 40 homicides per each family liaison officer employed. Each agency may establish a lower ratio for hiring of family liaison officers. Establishes the duties and training for family liaison officers. Amends the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Act to make conforming changes.
LRB103 37094 RLC 67212 b
A BILL FOR
HB4753 LRB103 37094 RLC 67212 b
AN ACT concerning homicide victims.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Homicide Victims' Families' Rights Act.
Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
"Agency" means a law enforcement entity of this State or a
unit of local government that is vested by law or ordinance
with the duty to maintain public order and to enforce criminal
laws or ordinances.
"Applicable agency" means a law enforcement agency that is
investigating or has investigated the murder of the victim.
"Open unresolved murder" means any criminal activity in
which death occurred more than 3 years prior to the date of the
application under subsection (a) of Section 10, for which all
probative investigative leads have been exhausted, and for
which no likely perpetrator has been identified.
"Designated person" means (i) an immediate family member
or (ii) a similarly situated person as the Attorney General
shall by rule define.
"Immediate family member" means a parent, parent-in-law,
grandparent, grandparent-in-law, sibling, spouse, child,
stepchild, foster parent, or guardian of a murder victim.

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"Victim" means the victim of a murder.
Section 10. Case file review.
(a) An applicable agency shall review the case file
regarding an open unresolved murder upon written application
by a designated person to determine if a full reinvestigation
would result in probative investigative leads.
(b) The case file review shall include, but is not limited
to:
(1) an analysis of what investigative steps or
follow-up steps may have been missed in the initial
investigation;
(2) an assessment of whether witnesses should be
interviewed or re-interviewed;
(3) an examination of physical evidence to see if all
appropriate forensic testing and analysis was performed in
the first instance or if additional testing might produce
information relevant to the investigation; and
(4) a modernization of the file to bring it up to
current investigative standards to the extent it would
help develop probative leads.
(c) The person or persons performing the review required
by subsection (a) shall not have previously investigated the
murder. This subsection (c) does not apply to law enforcement
agencies located in counties or municipalities that have less
than 35,000 inhabitants.

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(d) The applicable agency shall confirm in writing receipt
of a request made under subsection (a).
(e) Only one case review shall be undertaken at any one
time with respect to the same open unresolved murder victim.
(f) No later than 6 months after the receipt of the written
application submitted pursuant to subsection (a), the
applicable agency shall conclude its case file review and
reach a conclusion whether a full reinvestigation under
Section 25 is warranted.
(g) The applicable agency may extend the limit in
subsection (f) for periods not to exceed 6 months if the agency
makes a finding that the number of case files to be reviewed
make it impracticable to comply with said limit without
unreasonably taking resources from other law enforcement
activities.
For cases for which the time limit in subsection (f) is
extended, the applicable agency shall provide notice and an
explanation of its reasoning to the designated person who
filed the written application under this Section.
Section 15. Application. Each agency shall develop a
written application to be used for designated persons to
request a case file review under Section 10.
Section 20. Notice. Each agency shall provide notice of
the rights under this Act to designated persons as soon as is

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practicable after being made aware of a murder.
Section 25. Full reinvestigation.
(a) The applicable agency shall conduct a full
reinvestigation of the open unresolved murder if the review of
the case file required by Section 10 concludes that a full
reinvestigation of the open unresolved murder would result in
probative investigative leads.
(b) A full reinvestigation shall include analyzing all
evidence regarding the open unresolved murder at issue for the
purpose of developing probative investigative leads as to the
perpetrator.
(c) The person or persons performing the full
reinvestigation required by subsection (a) shall not have
previously investigated the murder, except for the case file
review pursuant to Section 10.
(d) Only one full reinvestigation shall be undertaken at
any one time with respect to the same open unresolved murder
victim.
Section 30. Consultation and updates.
(a) The applicable agency shall consult with the
designated person who filed the written application under
Section 10 and provide him or her with periodic updates during
the case file review and full reinvestigation.
(b) The applicable agency shall meet with the designated

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person and discuss the evidence to explain to the designated
person who filed the written application under Section 10 its
decision whether to engage in the full reinvestigation
provided for under Section 25 at the conclusion of the case
file review.
Section 35. Subsequent reviews.
(a) If a case file review is completed and a conclusion is
reached not to conduct a full reinvestigation, no additional
case file review shall be undertaken for a period of 5 years,
unless there is newly discovered, materially significant
evidence.
(b) If a full reinvestigation is done and a suspect is not
identified at its conclusion, no additional case file review
or full reinvestigation shall be undertaken for a period of 5
years, unless there is newly discovered, materially
significant new evidence.
Section 36. Family liaison officers.
(a) Each agency shall employ or designate a minimum number
of family liaison officers proportionate to the average number
of homicides in the agency's jurisdiction within the previous
5 years of the date of employment with the maximum ratio of 40
homicides per each family liaison officer employed. Each
agency may establish a lower ratio for hiring of family
liaison officers.

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(b) The primary purpose of a family liaison officer is
that of an investigator. A family liaison officer's role is to
gather evidence and information from the family to contribute
to the investigation and preserve its integrity. The family
liaison officer shall also provide support and information, in
a sensitive and compassionate manner, securing confidence and
trust of families of victims of crime (primarily homicide),
road fatality, mass disaster, or other critical incident,
ensuring family members are given timely information in
accordance with the needs of the investigation.
(c) The family liaison officer shall:
(1) establish and maintain a supportive and ethical
relationship with the family, building trust, in line with
local and national guidance to gathering information and
evidence;
(2) act as a single point of contact between families
and investigation teams when a homicide occurs to enable
information to be shared which may assist in the
investigation;
(3) collect best evidence to enable identification of
a reported missing person (high risk of criminality or
vulnerability) or identify the deceased, and consider
potential future viewing requirements and postmortem with
the family to further the investigation;
(4) provide information regarding additional services
available for families, including providing information

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about open unresolved murders to support agencies, and
explain criminal justice and coroner's procedures, so that
they can access all available services and support;
(5) contact the family at least once every 30 days for
the first 6 months the case is open then once per quarter
until the case becomes inactive. The family liaison
officer shall work closely with the lead investigator to
obtain substantive updates on the case prior to contacting
the family. The lead investigator has discretion over any
information shared with the family and shall communicate
with the family liaison accordingly. If the family liaison
officer is contacted by the family regarding an open case
at any time, the family liaison officer shall return the
call within 5 business days with all relevant information
regarding a police investigation, in line with the
strategy of the chief investigating officer or lead
investigator so that they are informed of progress;
(6) obtain victimology and family personal statements
and any other material to enable the gathering of evidence
and to support the investigative process;
(7) document any requests or complaints, or both, made
by the family, to be forwarded for the consideration of
the chief investigating officer or lead investigator;
(8) record all contact with the family to ensure
compliance with this Act, the Criminal Identification Act,
the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Act, the Missing

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Children Records Act, the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, the
Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963, the Rights of Crime
Victims and Witnesses Act, and the Police and Community
Relations Improvement Act to maintain the integrity of the
investigation;
(9) liaise between families and the coroner or medical
examiner and chief investigating officer or lead
investigator in relation to the Illinois Anatomical Gift
Act; and
(10) track the case files required in Section 10, the
date of review of the case file, confirm the receipt of the
request of the case file, provide notice to the family if
an extension of review has been made, and consult with the
family on the investigation of the case.
(d) A family liaison officer may not be assigned to work
patrol or attached to other special units while designated as
a family liaison officer.
(e) The training of all family liaison officers shall
include instruction on victim-centered, trauma-informed
investigation as established by the Illinois Law Enforcement
Training Standards Board.
(f) Except in emergencies or other exigent circumstances,
a family liaison officer shall exclusively investigate
homicide cases.
Section 40. Data collection; annual report.

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(a) Beginning 3 years after the effective date of this
Act, the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority
annually shall publish statistics regarding the number of open
unresolved murders. The statistics published under this
subsection at a minimum shall be broken down by the degree of
murder, the type of weapon used in the murder, the location of
the murder and by agency, in addition to the criteria set forth
in subsection (b).
(b) Each applicable agency annually shall submit data to
the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority regarding
the open unresolved murders within its jurisdiction,
including, but not limited to, the number of requests received
under subsection (a) of Section 10, the number of extensions
granted and an explanation of reasons provided under
subsection (g) of Section 10, the number of full
reinvestigations initiated and closed under Section 25, and
the number of suspects identified, arrested, charged, and
convicted for each open unresolved murder investigated by the
applicable agency under this Act during the year reported. The
data shall also include what cases are being solved and which
cases are not being solved, identifying the age, race, and
ethnicity of the victim whose case is being solved and not
being solved and the cases that are being solved by
exceptional means.
(c) The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority
shall submit an annual report to the General Assembly and the

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Governor compiling the information received by the Authority
under subsection (b).
Section 45. Procedures to promote compliance.
(a) Not later than one year after the effective date of
this Act, the head of each agency shall adopt rules to enforce
the rights of designated persons and to ensure compliance by
responsible officials with the obligations described in this
Act.
(b) The rules adopted under subsection (a) shall:
(1) designate an administrative authority within the
agency to receive and investigate complaints relating to
the provision or violation of the rights of designated
persons;
(2) require a course of training for employees of the
agency regarding the rights provided under this Act;
(3) contain disciplinary sanctions, including
suspension or termination from employment, for employees
of the agency who willfully or wantonly fail to comply
with this Act;
(4) establish a process for investigations into the
conduct of persons no longer employed by a law enforcement
agency when a complaint is filed and a process for
referrals for prosecution to the appropriate State's
Attorney; and
(5) provide that the head of the agency, or the

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designee of the head of the agency, shall be the final
arbiter of the complaint, and that there shall be no
judicial review of the final decision of the head of the
agency by a complainant.
Section 50. Withholding information. Nothing in this Act
shall require an agency to provide information that would
endanger the safety of any person, unreasonably impede an
ongoing investigation, violate a court order, or violate legal
obligations regarding privacy.
Section 55. Multiple agencies.
(a) If there is more than one possible applicable agency,
each applicable agency shall coordinate its case file review
or full reinvestigation such that there is only one joint case
file review or full reinvestigation occurring at a time in
compliance with subsection (e) of Section 10 or subsection (d)
of Section 25, as applicable.
(b) If an immediate family member believes there was bias
demonstrated in the handling of the initial case, any case
file review, or any full reinvestigation by any of the
possible applicable agencies, the family member may
communicate that concern to the Attorney General. The Attorney
General shall review the allegations made by the immediate
family member to determine whether, in the interest of
justice, another law enforcement agency should conduct the

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case file review or the full reinvestigation, as applicable.
Section 60. Applicability. This Act applies to murders
occurring on or after January 1, 1970.
Section 100. The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Act
is amended by changing Section 7 as follows:
(20 ILCS 3930/7) (from Ch. 38, par. 210-7)
Sec. 7. Powers and duties. The Authority shall have the
following powers, duties, and responsibilities:
(a) To develop and operate comprehensive information
systems for the improvement and coordination of all
aspects of law enforcement, prosecution, and corrections;
(b) To define, develop, evaluate, and correlate State
and local programs and projects associated with the
improvement of law enforcement and the administration of
criminal justice;
(c) To act as a central repository and clearing house
for federal, state, and local research studies, plans,
projects, proposals, and other information relating to all
aspects of criminal justice system improvement and to
encourage educational programs for citizen support of
State and local efforts to make such improvements;
(d) To undertake research studies to aid in
accomplishing its purposes;

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(e) To monitor the operation of existing criminal
justice information systems in order to protect the
constitutional rights and privacy of individuals about
whom criminal history record information has been
collected;
(f) To provide an effective administrative forum for
the protection of the rights of individuals concerning
criminal history record information;
(g) To issue regulations, guidelines, and procedures
which ensure the privacy and security of criminal history
record information consistent with State and federal laws;
(h) To act as the sole administrative appeal body in
the State of Illinois to conduct hearings and make final
determinations concerning individual challenges to the
completeness and accuracy of criminal history record
information;
(i) To act as the sole, official, criminal justice
body in the State of Illinois to conduct annual and
periodic audits of the procedures, policies, and practices
of the State central repositories for criminal history
record information to verify compliance with federal and
state laws and regulations governing such information;
(j) To advise the Authority's Statistical Analysis
Center;
(k) To apply for, receive, establish priorities for,
allocate, disburse, and spend grants of funds that are

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made available by and received on or after January 1, 1983
from private sources or from the United States pursuant to
the federal Crime Control Act of 1973, as amended, and
similar federal legislation, and to enter into agreements
with the United States government to further the purposes
of this Act, or as may be required as a condition of
obtaining federal funds;
(l) To receive, expend, and account for such funds of
the State of Illinois as may be made available to further
the purposes of this Act;
(m) To enter into contracts and to cooperate with
units of general local government or combinations of such
units, State agencies, and criminal justice system
agencies of other states for the purpose of carrying out
the duties of the Authority imposed by this Act or by the
federal Crime Control Act of 1973, as amended;
(n) To enter into contracts and cooperate with units
of general local government outside of Illinois, other
states' agencies, and private organizations outside of
Illinois to provide computer software or design that has
been developed for the Illinois criminal justice system,
or to participate in the cooperative development or design
of new software or systems to be used by the Illinois
criminal justice system;
(o) To establish general policies concerning criminal
justice information systems and to promulgate such rules,

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regulations, and procedures as are necessary to the
operation of the Authority and to the uniform
consideration of appeals and audits;
(p) To advise and to make recommendations to the
Governor and the General Assembly on policies relating to
criminal justice information systems;
(q) To direct all other agencies under the
jurisdiction of the Governor to provide whatever
assistance and information the Authority may lawfully
require to carry out its functions;
(r) To exercise any other powers that are reasonable
and necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of the
Authority under this Act and to comply with the
requirements of applicable federal law or regulation;
(s) To exercise the rights, powers, and duties which
have been vested in the Authority by the Illinois Uniform
Conviction Information Act;
(t) (Blank);
(u) To exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested
in the Authority by the Illinois Public Safety Agency
Network Act;
(v) To provide technical assistance in the form of
training to local governmental entities within Illinois
requesting such assistance for the purposes of procuring
grants for gang intervention and gang prevention programs
or other criminal justice programs from the United States

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Department of Justice;
(w) To conduct strategic planning and provide
technical assistance to implement comprehensive trauma
recovery services for violent crime victims in underserved
communities with high levels of violent crime, with the
goal of providing a safe, community-based, culturally
competent environment in which to access services
necessary to facilitate recovery from the effects of
chronic and repeat exposure to trauma. Services may
include, but are not limited to, behavioral health
treatment, financial recovery, family support and
relocation assistance, and support in navigating the legal
system; and
(x) To coordinate statewide violence prevention
efforts and assist in the implementation of trauma
recovery centers and analyze trauma recovery services. The
Authority shall develop, publish, and facilitate the
implementation of a 4-year statewide violence prevention
plan, which shall incorporate public health, public
safety, victim services, and trauma recovery centers and
services; and
(y) To compile and publish information regarding open
unresolved murders as provided in Section 40 of the
Homicide Victims' Families' Rights Act.
The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly
shall be satisfied by filing copies of the report as required

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