Criminal Justice

Amends the Driver Education Act of the School Code. Provides that driver education course instruction shall demonstrate the proper actions to be taken during a law enforcement traffic stop by drivers and passengers (instead of just the proper actions to be taken during a law enforcement traffic stop). Provides that, beginning with the 2027-2028 school year, the traffic stop instruction shall include the constitutional rights of drivers and passengers during a traffic stop, including, but not limited to, the right to remain silent, the right to refuse consent to a vehicle search unless law enforcement has lawful cause, the right to respectfully ask if one is free to leave, and the right to refuse to answer questions regarding immigration status, citizenship, or national origin, which instruction may be offered in a culturally responsive manner that reflects and affirms the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and needs of students in order to enhance understanding and support safe, informed interactions during traffic stops.

Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Provides that a petitioner may not be denied a protective order because the petitioner or the respondent is a minor or solely upon the basis that the respondent or petitioner is incarcerated in a penal institution at the time of the issuance of the order. Amends the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986. Provides that a petition for an order of protection may be filed by: (i) a crime victim who was abused by an family or household member before the incarceration of the offender in a penal institution, and the offender is incarcerated in a penal institution at the time of the filing of the petition; or (ii) any person who has previously suffered abuse by a family or household member convicted of domestic battery, aggravated domestic battery, aggravated battery; any other offense that would constitute domestic violence; or a violent crime as defined in the Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act committed against another person. Effective immediately.

Appropriates moneys from the General Revenue Fund to the Office of the State Appellate Defender for its ordinary and contingent expenses. Effective July 1, 2026.

Amends the Delinquent Minors Article of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. Adds a Part concerning Fitness to Stand Trial. Specifies the unfitness standard for a minor. Sets forth procedures to raise the issue of the unfitness of a minor. Specifies the burden of proof and a presumption. Provides requirements for a fitness evaluation and hearing to determine the fitness of a minor. Provides the requirements for the services to attain fitness, the period to obtain fitness, initial and subsequent progress reports, periodic hearings, and in-court assistance to render a minor fit. Specifies time credit and sentencing guidelines for a minor who attains fitness. Provides for the legal disposition of a minor if fitness cannot be attained. Creates the Juvenile Discharge Hearing Task Force to examine the juvenile discharge hearing process, compare Illinois' process with those of other states with juvenile fitness standards, and recommend reforms to the process that ensures minors receive meaningful treatment for existing mental health needs. Provides that the recommendations shall include statutory language to update the juvenile hearing discharge process and whether the juvenile discharge hearing should take place on the same timeframe as discharge hearings for adult offenders. Provides that the Task Force may meet in person or virtually and shall issue a written report of its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly on or before July 1, 2027. Repeals task force provisions on January 1, 2028. Contains other provisions. Contains a severability provision. Effective July 1, 2026.

Amends the Illinois State Police Law. Provides that the Division of Patrol shall enforce the motor carrier safety provisions of the Illinois Vehicle Code and serve as the lead State agency for administering the commercial vehicle safety plan of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Adds human trafficking, sexual assault, and sexual abuse in-service training requirements for Illinois State Police officers. Provides that the Division of Statewide 9-1-1 shall cooperate with federal and State authorities that are engaged in aeronautics and that request to use the Illinois State Police's radio network system. Provides that the State Police shall maintain a statewide statistical police contact recordkeeping system (rather than develop a separate statewide statistical police recordkeeping system) for the study of juvenile delinquency. Provides that, with the permission (rather than written permission) of a child's parent or guardian, the Illinois State police may collect (rather than retain) the fingerprints or DNA (rather than only the fingerprint record) of the child. Specifies that the fingerprints or DNA may be retained by the child's parent or guardian and later used for specified purposes. Amends the Intergovernmental Drug Laws Enforcement Act. Provides that a Metropolitan Enforcement Group may enforce crimes concerning terrorism and threats to public officials and human service providers. Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. In provisions concerning criminal prosecutions for violations of the Cannabis Control Act, the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, or the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act and criminal prosecutions for reckless homicide, or driving under the influence of alcohol, other drug, or combination of both, or in any civil action held under a statutory summary suspension or revocation hearing, deletes provisions requiring specified information to be attached to laboratory report from the Illinois State Police, Division of Forensic Services. Amends the Freedom from Drone Surveillance Act. In provisions requiring the chief executive officer of a law enforcement agency to report the use of a drone to the State's Attorney under specified circumstances, adds language allowing the report to be made by the chief executive officer's designee. Makes other and conforming changes. Effective immediately.

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Creates the End-of-life Care Peer Support Program. Provides that the program is available to terminally ill persons committed to the Department of Corrections. Provides that the program shall be administered by the Department of Corrections in partnership with certain health care providers. Provides that individual patients may accept or decline care or participation in the program. Provides that individual patients shall define the scope of peer support, including the option to opt out of certain aspects of support. Provides that patient care plans shall be developed with the individual patient, the patient's peer support attendants, and the interdisciplinary team. Provides that participating patients shall be subject to the least restrictive security measures possible, with access to comfort items such as blankets, memorabilia, music, and books. Provides that participating patients shall have the following rights: (1) the right to dignity, privacy, respect, and culturally competent care; (2) the right to request peer support services; (3) the right to refuse services; and (4) the right to request family visitation. Provides that all participants in the program, including patients and peer support attendants, shall have access to grief counseling and mental health care services as needed. Provides that the program shall be funded through: (1) the Individual Benefit Fund; (2) direct appropriations from the General Revenue Fund; and (3) federal appropriations if applicable.

Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Creates the offense of unlawful restraint for civil immigration enforcement. Provides that a person commits the offense when he or she knowingly and without express legal authority from an immigration agent: (1) detains another for the purpose of civil immigration enforcement; (2) by force or threat of imminent force transfers another person from one place to another with the intent to detain the other person for civil immigration enforcement; (3) by deceit or enticement induces another person to transfer from one place to another with intent to detain the other person for civil immigration enforcement; or (4) uses a deadly weapon while detaining or transferring another person from one place to another with the intent to detain the other person for civil immigration enforcement. Provides that the offense does not apply to any immigration agent. Provides that a violation is a Class 4 felony, except when the person uses a deadly weapon while detaining or transferring another person from one place to another with the intent to detain the other person for civil immigration enforcement, a violation is a Class 3 felony.

Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that, in addition to any other disposition authorized by law, the court shall order any person arrested for patronizing a person engaged in the sex trade to participate in the Buyer Accountability Program and pay a fee of $1,000. Provides for the distribution of the fees. Establishes an education program to be known as the Buyer Accountability Program, which shall consist of an instructional program on prostitution and human trafficking schemes offered in one or more locations throughout the State. Establishes who may establish the program in various areas of the State. Provides that the program shall include information intended to increase the person's awareness of: (1) the causes of prostitution and its relationship to human trafficking; (2) the health and safety risks connected with prostitution, including its impact on the community; (3) the consequences of convictions for prostitution or human trafficking, including penalties for subsequent convictions on both patronizers and victims; and (4) the pervasiveness of human trafficking as well as the long-term physical and psychological harms of prostitution and human trafficking on its victims. Provides that a program must be approved by the Attorney General. Provides that the Attorney General shall notify the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts that the program has been established and approved by the Attorney General.

Creates the Illinois Biometric Surveillance Act. Provides that law enforcement agencies may not obtain, retain, possess, access, request, use, or enter into an agreement with a third party, State or local government agency, or federal agency to obtain, retain, possess, access request, or use a biometric identification system. Provides a private right of action and for enforcement by the Attorney General. Amends the Illinois Identification Card Act and the Illinois Vehicle Code to provide that the Secretary of State may not provide facial recognition search services except for verification of an individual's identity when issuing a mobile driver's license or identification card.

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that the court shall sentence the defendant to a term of natural life imprisonment for first degree murder if the defendant, at the time of the commission of the murder, had attained the age of 18, and is found guilty of the first degree murder of a child under the age of 5 who is determined by the court, upon testimony of a physician, to have died from abusive head trauma caused by the defendant. Provides that "abusive head trauma" includes shaken baby syndrome. Defines "abusive head trauma" and "shaken baby syndrome".