Bill Text: IL HB5651 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: 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.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-05 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB5651 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB5651-Introduced.html

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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.
LRB103 38556 AWJ 68692 b
A BILL FOR
HB5651 LRB103 38556 AWJ 68692 b
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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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(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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.)