Criminal Justice

Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides for enhanced penalties for aggravated assault or aggravated battery of emergency department staff of a health care facility. Defines "emergency department staff" as any clinical or nonclinical staff present in the emergency department or emergency room of a health care facility who may come in contact with patients, including, but not limited to, physicians, nurses, nonphysician providers, technicians, security staff, patient transporters, respiratory therapists, housekeeping personnel, secretaries, and pharmacists. Defines "health care facility" as a facility, hospital, or establishment licensed or organized under the Ambulatory Surgical Treatment Center Act, the University of Illinois Hospital Act, the Hospital Licensing Act, the Nursing Home Care Act, the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act, or the Community Living Facilities Licensing Act. Effective immediately.

Amends the Illinois State Police Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Provides that the Illinois State Police shall develop a coordinated program for an emergency alert system to notify people when an active shooter situation is occurring in the State. Provides that, on the request of a local law enforcement agency or as the Illinois State Police determines appropriate to assist a local law enforcement agency regarding an active shooter, the Illinois State Police shall activate the alert system and notify appropriate participants in the alert system if the local law enforcement agency or the Illinois State Police determines that the situation meets certain specified criteria. Provides that the Illinois State Police may adopt rules to implement the provisions.

Creates the Public Official Body Camera Act. Provides that the State Board of Elections shall develop rules for the use of body cameras by public officials of the State. Specifies requirements concerning the use of body cameras. Provides that recordings made with the use of a body camera worn by a public official are subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act only to the extent recordings or portions of recordings are responsive to the request. Provides that the recordings may be used as evidence in any administrative, judicial, legislative, or disciplinary proceeding. Provides that, if a court or other finder of fact finds by a preponderance of the evidence that a recording was intentionally not captured, destroyed, altered, or intermittently captured in violation of the Act, then the court or other finder of fact shall consider or be instructed to consider that violation in weighing the evidence, unless the State or public official provides a reasonable justification. Makes conforming changes to the Freedom of Information Act.

Amends the Emergency Telephone System Act. Provides that a law enforcement agency that encrypts police scanner transmissions must provide, by license or otherwise, real-time access to those transmissions to broadcast stations, broadcasting stations, radio broadcast stations, and newspapers. Effective January 1, 2026.

Amends the School Code. Requires the State Board of Education to establish the School Resource Officer Grant Program to fund salaries and any other costs associated with the hiring of an active or a retired law enforcement officer as a school resource officer. In a provision concerning school resource officers, provides that a school or school district that hires an active or a retired law enforcement officer as a school resource officer shall be reimbursed for salary and additional costs through the School Resource Officer Grant Program.

Amends the Illinois State Police Act. Modifies the definition of "duty to intervene" in provisions regarding discretionary termination of Illinois State Police officers. Provides that a member of the Illinois State Police shall not discipline or retaliate in any way against an officer for exercising the officer's duty to intervene, for reporting unconstitutional or unlawful conduct, or for failing to follow what the officer reasonably believes is an unconstitutional or unlawful directive. Amends the Illinois Police Training Act to make similar changes, except that the Law Enforcement Training Standards Board must adopt rules prohibiting members of law enforcement agencies from retaliating. Removes language providing that an individual has no property interest in law enforcement certification at the time of initial certification or at any time thereafter, including, but not limited to, after decertification or after the officer's certification has been deemed inactive. Amends the Local Records Act. Provides that records concerning the automatic expungement of misconduct records where an officer has been found not to have committed any wrongdoing or the complaint was found to be frivolous shall be permanently retained and may not be destroyed. Amends the Police and Community Relations Improvement Act. Repeals provisions allowing a person to file notice of an anonymous complaint to the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board of any conduct the person believes a law enforcement officer has committed.

Amends the Criminal Code of 2012 and the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that certain offenses for which the use of a firearm requires the court to add 15 years, 20 years, or 25 years or up to a term of natural life to the sentence, makes the additional sentences discretionary with the court. Deletes provisions that permit the court in those cases to impose a term of natural life imprisonment upon the defendant. Provides that the court may impose the additional sentences only if the defendant was personally armed with the firearm and was personally displaying the firearm. Provides that the penalty for aggravated criminal sexual assault in which the defendant personally discharged the firearm in the commission of the offense is a Class X felony for which up to 20 years may (rather than 20 years shall) be added to the term of imprisonment imposed by the court and up to 25 years may be added (rather than 25 years or up to a term of natural life imprisonment shall be added) to the term of imprisonment imposed by the court if the discharge proximately caused great bodily harm, permanent disability, permanent disfigurement, or death to another person; Provides that the penalty for home invasion is a Class X felony for which up to 20 years may (rather than 20 years shall) be added to the term of imprisonment imposed by the court if the defendant personally discharged a firearm during the commission of the offense.

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Changes the sentence credits of committed persons serving a term of imprisonment in the Department of Corrections for various offenses. Provides that the sentence credit allotments shall apply to committed persons incarcerated before the effective date of the amendatory Act, and the Department of Corrections shall award sentence credit for periods of incarceration prior to the effective date of the amendatory Act accordingly. Provides that committed persons who wish to receive sentence credit for educational, vocational, substance abuse, behavior modification programs, life skills courses, re-entry planning, and correctional industry programs accumulated prior to the effective date of the amendatory Act in an amount specified in the provision to a committed person serving a sentence for an offense committed after June 19, 1998, if the Department determines that the committed person is entitled to this sentence credit, based upon: (1) documentation provided by the Department that the committed person engaged in any full-time substance abuse programs, correctional industry assignments, educational programs, behavior modification programs, life skills courses, or re-entry planning provided by the Department and satisfactorily completed the assigned program as determined by the standards of the Department during the committed person's current term of incarceration; or (2) the committed person's own testimony in the form of an affidavit or documentation, or a third party's documentation or testimony in the form of an affidavit that the committed person likely engaged in any full-time substance abuse programs, correctional industry assignments, educational programs, behavior modification programs, life skills courses, or re-entry planning provided by the Department and satisfactorily completed the assigned program as determined by the standards of the Department during the committed person's current term of incarceration. Effective July 1, 2026.

Amends the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act. Requires the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to issue cannabis delivery organization licenses. Contains provisions regarding applications for cannabis delivery organization licenses. Requires the Department to develop a system to score applications for cannabis delivery licenses. Provides that applicants must qualify as social equity applicants in order to be awarded a cannabis delivery organization license. Requires applicants to pay a $500 application fee and a prorated fee of $500 prior to receiving a license, to be deposited into the Cannabis Regulation Fund. Contains requirements and prohibitions for cannabis delivery organizations. Provides that cannabis delivery organizations may obtain cannabis products from any cannabis business organization licensed in the State. Contains requirements for the issuance of cannabis delivery agent identification cards. Requires the Department to conduct a background check through the Illinois State Police of certain officers, board members, and agents of cannabis delivery organizations. Contains provisions regarding the renewal of cannabis delivery organization licenses and agent identification cards. Contains other provisions.

Creates the Amber Alert Plus Act. Defines "Amber Alert Plus" as a notification system designed to issue and coordinate alerts with respect to Black youth, including young women and girls, who are reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances, who are reported missing and are at risk, who are reported missing and are developmentally disabled or cognitively impaired, or who have been abducted. Provides for procedures for law enforcement agencies to request activation of an Amber Alert Plus by the Illinois State Police if the law enforcement agency determines that an Amber Alert Plus would be an effective tool in the investigation of missing or abducted Black youth, including listing factors for the agency to consider. Allows use of a changeable message sign under specified circumstances. Provides that radio, television, cable, satellite, and social media systems are encouraged, but not required, to cooperate with disseminating the Amber Alert Plus or the information contained in an Amber Alert Plus. Amends the Video Gaming Act. Provides that the Illinois Gaming Board, in its discretion, may require video gaming terminals to display Amber Alert and Amber Alert Plus (rather than only Amber Alert) messages if the Board makes a finding that it would be economically and technically feasible and pose no risk to the integrity and security of the central communications system and video gaming terminals.