Criminal Justice (Corrections)

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that the Director of Corrections shall establish a 5-year pilot program in 3 institutions or facilities of the Department of Corrections to permit a committed person who has a gang tattoo to have that tattoo removed by a physician, physician assistant, or registered nurse licensed in this State or by a person who has a certificate of registration issued by the Department of Public Health under the Tattoo and Body Piercing Establishment Registration Act to operate a tattoo and body piercing establishment. Provides that the institutions or facilities selected by the Director shall be provided with equipment and sanitary needs to accomplish the removal of the tattoos in a safe manner, including medical-grade cosmetic laser removal equipment. Provides that a committed person in a designated pilot institution or facility of the Department who has a gang tattoo may have that tattoo removed by an authorized person. Provides that if the balance in the committed person's Residents' Benefit Fund is $500 or more, the moneys in the Fund shall be used to pay for the committed person's gang tattoo removal. Provides that if the balance in the committed person's Residents' Benefit Fund is less than $500, the committed person shall receive the tattoo removal free of charge. Provides that the Director shall establish reasonable costs to be charged to a committed person with at least a $500 balance in the committed person' Residents' Benefit Fund who has his or her gang tattoo removed. Defines "gang tattoo" and "tattoo".

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Creates the Tamms Minimum Security Unit Task Force. Provides for membership on the Task Force. Provides that the Task Force shall study the subject of a practical, efficient, and beneficial repurposing of the Tamms Minimum Security Unit and its property for the benefit of the public, including the possibility of providing mental health services, health services, public safety, law enforcement training purposes, fire services, medical training and any other option for repurposing that the Task Force deems appropriate. Provides that each member of the Task Force shall serve without compensation. Provides that the Task Force shall meet 2 times per year or at the call of the Chairperson. Provides that the Department of Corrections shall provide administrative support to the Task Force. Provides that the Task Force shall submit a report to the Governor and the General Assembly on or before December 31, 2027 with its recommendations and is dissolved on January 1, 2028. Repeals these provisions on January 1, 2029. Effective immediately.

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that the sentence credit for various offenses in which the prisoner could receive no more than 7.5 days sentence credit for each month of his or her sentence of imprisonment shall be changed to one day of sentence credit for each day of his or her sentence of imprisonment. Provides that each day of sentence credit shall reduce by one day the prisoner's period of imprisonment or recommitment. Provides that the Department of Corrections and the Department of Juvenile Justice shall recalculate the release dates for sentences under this provision within 6 months after the effective date of the amendatory Act.

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that the rules and regulations of the Department of Corrections shall provide that sentence credit may be provided to an inmate who was held in pre-trial detention prior to his or her current commitment to the Department of Corrections and successfully completed a substance abuse program (rather than a full-time, 60-day or longer substance abuse program), county jail or detention facility work assignments, parenting program, or re-entry planning facilitated (rather than provided) by the county department of corrections or county jail or other provider. Provides that the rules and regulations shall also provide that sentence credit may be provided to a committed person who participated in supervised community work or activities prior to his or her commitment to the Department of Corrections. Provides that the rules and regulations shall also provide that any inmate who was held in pre-trial detention prior to his or her confinement to the Department of Corrections, engaged in self-improvement programs, volunteer work, or work assignments that are not otherwise eligible activities shall receive up to 0.5 days of sentence credit for each day in which the inmate is engaged in these activities.

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that all institutions and facilities of the Department of Corrections shall not deny the distribution of original physical mail to committed persons after such incoming mail has undergone inspection and it has been determined that the mail does not pose a threat to the security or safety of the institution or facility, personnel of the Department, or committed persons. Defines "threat to the security or safety of the institution or facility".

Amends the County Shelter Care and Detention Home Act, the Illinois Local Library Act, the Public Library District Act of 1991, the Village Library Act, the Libraries in Parks Act, the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act, the Nursing Home Care Act, the Child Care Act of 1969, the Illinois Public Aid Code, the Unified Code of Corrections, and the Probation and Probation Officers Act to require the placement of contact information for the 9-8-8 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Amends the School Code. With respect to the comprehensive health education program, provides that a school board shall require each public school serving students in any of grades 6 through 12 to assess courses and seminars available to those students through their regular academic experiences and implement age-appropriate, evidence-based suicide prevention curricula if opportunities for integration exist. Further amends the Unified Code of Corrections. In provisions concerning an inmate's successful transition to the community, provides that release planning shall include access to suicide prevention resources.

Amends the Election Code. Provides that, beginning on January 1, 2028, a person convicted of a felony, or otherwise under sentence in a correctional institution, shall have his or her right to vote restored and shall be eligible to vote not later than 14 days following his or her conviction. Provides that a person who is serving a sentence in a correctional institution starting prior to January 1, 2027 shall have his or her right to vote restored not later than January 14, 2028. Provides that a person may not be denied the right to vote because of a past criminal conviction. Provides that each local election authority shall coordinate with the correctional institution, Illinois Department of Corrections, and other correctional agencies incarcerating eligible voters to facilitate voting by mail for those voters eligible to vote in that election jurisdiction who are incarcerated in the correctional institution. Provides that the Attorney General, any individual aggrieved by a violation of these provisions, any entity whose membership includes individuals aggrieved by a violation of these provisions, any entity whose mission would be frustrated by a violation of these provisions, or any entity that would expend resources in order to fulfill its mission as a result of a violation of these provisions may file an action in a court of competent jurisdiction. Provides that the Act is intended to benefit and protect the rights of individual voters and to provide a remedy for infringing on the rights granted under this Act. Amends the Re-Entering Citizens Civics Education Act. Changes the short title of the Act to the Reintegration and Civic Empowerment Act. Provides that the Department of Corrections shall conduct the civics peer education program each of the 3 sessions not less than twice a month at each correctional institution totaling not less than 6 sessions per month at each correctional institution. Provides that the civics peer education program and workshops must be made available to all committed persons regardless of the date they were first committed or the length of their sentence. Amends the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act and the Unified Code of Corrections to make conforming changes. Effective January 1, 2028.

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections concerning executive clemency. Provides that, upon request, the Department of Corrections shall provide disciplinary records of the petitioner to the State's Attorney of the county in which the conviction had been entered. Provides that any State's Attorney provided disciplinary records of a petitioner is prohibited from disseminating the disciplinary records or their contents. Provides that the records and the information contained in the records may only be disclosed as part of a response to a petition for clemency or during a related clemency hearing. Provides that upon an application for compassionate release, the Department of Corrections shall provide the State's Attorney serving the county in which the applying petitioner's conviction was entered with a copy of the petitioner's complete disciplinary files and complete medical file and any evaluations, whether by prison medical staff or outside medical providers, which form the basis for the petitioner's application for compassionate release. Provides that the records shall remain in the exclusive possession of the State's Attorney and shall not be disclosed other than in hearings on compassionate release or written responses to the petitioner's compassionate release petition.

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that the Act may be referred to as the Corrections Family Notification Act. Provides that the Department of Corrections shall notify all approved visitors of a committed person when that person is: (1) placed in restrictive housing; (2) removed from restrictive housing; (3) housed in a unit subject to lockdown; or (4) returned to normal operations following a lockdown. Establishes the contents of the notification. Provides that no security-sensitive details shall be disclosed. Provides that notification shall be provided via email and SMS text message, if the visitor opts in. Provides that the Department shall maintain an online portal for visitors to update contact information and select preferred notification methods. Provides that notification of the end of confinement or lockdown must be sent within 2 hours of normal operations resuming. Provides that if a notification is sent in error, the Department shall issue a corrected notification within 2 hours of identifying the error. Provides that the Department shall publish an annual report summarizing compliance. Provides that the Department shall adopt rules necessary to implement the provision, including: (1) visitor contact management; (2) communication protocols; and (3) data privacy protections. Effective January 1, 2027.

Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Provides that an eligible offender or an eligible offender's attorney or an attorney associate of the attorney (rather than the State's Attorney of the county in which the defendant was sentenced) may petition the sentencing court or the sentencing court's successor to resentence the offender if the original sentence no longer advances the interests of justice. Provides that the court has 6 months from when a petition was filed to respond to the petition. Provides that the criteria for being an "eligible offender" are that the eligible offender: (1) must have been originally sentenced to 10 or more years in the Department of Corrections by a circuit court of this State; (2) must have been convicted for a crime that is not a violent crime for which the offender is seeking resentencing; (3) must have participated in educational programs, drug programs, or received earned credit through work programs; (4) must have served a minimum of 24 months in the Department of Corrections for the conviction in which the offender is seeking resentencing; (5) must not have violated serious rules or disciplinary standards within the Department of Corrections in the last 24 months prior the filing of the petition; and (6) must have remained in the least restrictive privilege level for privileges within the Department of Corrections for incarcerated persons, one year prior to the petition.