Bill Text: IL HB1739 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Amends the Sexual Assault Survivors Emergency Treatment Act. Makes changes to effective and repeal dates. Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Provides that in a prosecution of any violent crime as defined in the Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act, the court may set any conditions it finds just and appropriate on the taking of testimony of a victim who is a child under the age of 18 years or a moderately, severely, or profoundly intellectually disabled person or a person affected by a developmental disability, involving the use of a facility dog in any proceeding involving that offense. Amends the Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act. Provides that the office of the State's Attorney shall consult with the crime victim regarding the State's Attorney's decision not to charge an offense and that the victim has the right to have an attorney, advocate, and other support person of the victim's choice attend this consultation with them. Provides that the office of the State's Attorney shall give the crime victim timely notice of any decision not to pursue charges and consider the safety of the victim when deciding how to give such notice. Provides that no later than January 1, 2023, the Office of the Attorney General shall: (1) designate an administrative authority within the Office of the Attorney General to receive and investigate complaints relating to the provision or violation of the rights of a crime victim; (2) create and administer a course of training for employees and offices of the State of Illinois that fail to comply with provisions of Illinois law pertaining to the treatment of crime victims; and (3) have the authority to make recommendations to employees and offices of the State of Illinois to respond more effectively to the needs of crime victims, including regarding the violation of the rights of a crime victim. Provides for penalties for violations of victim's rights by certain offices and employees. Provides that a prosecuting attorney who seeks to subpoena information or records concerning the victim that are confidential or privileged by law must first request the written consent of the crime victim. Amends the Sexual Assault Evidence Submission Act. In a provision concerning the sexual assault evidence tracking system, provides that the Illinois State Police may (rather than shall) develop rules to implement a sexual assault evidence tracking system. Amends the Sexual Assault Incident Procedure Act. Provides for victim notification under specified circumstances in various provisions. Makes other changes. Effective immediately.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9)

Status: (Passed) 2021-06-25 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 102-0022 [HB1739 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HB1739-Introduced.html

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102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2021 and 2022 HB1739 Introduced , by Rep. Maura Hirschauer SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
210 ILCS 85/6.02 new
725 ILCS 202/50
Amends the Sexual Assault Evidence Submission Act. Provides that health care providers or local law enforcement must notify victims about the tracking system after an Illinois Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit has been analyzed. Amends the Hospital Licensing Act. Provides that a hospital licensed under this Act must comply with the requirements concerning the sexual assault evidence tracking system under the Sexual Assault Evidence Submission Act.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning criminal law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Hospital Licensing Act is amended by adding
Section 6.02 as follows:
(210 ILCS 85/6.02 new)
Sec. 6.02. Sexual Assault Evidence Submission Act. A
hospital licensed under this Act must comply with the
requirements of subsection (c) of Section 50 of the Sexual
Assault Evidence Submission Act.
Section 10. The Sexual Assault Evidence Submission Act is
amended by changing Section 50 as follows:
(725 ILCS 202/50)
Sec. 50. Sexual assault evidence tracking system.
(a) On June 26, 2018, the Sexual Assault Evidence Tracking
and Reporting Commission issued its report as required under
Section 43. It is the intention of the General Assembly in
enacting the provisions of this amendatory Act of the 101st
General Assembly to implement the recommendations of the
Sexual Assault Evidence Tracking and Reporting Commission set
forth in that report in a manner that utilizes the current

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resources of law enforcement agencies whenever possible and
that is adaptable to changing technologies and circumstances.
(a-1) Due to the complex nature of a statewide tracking
system for sexual assault evidence and to ensure all
stakeholders, including, but not limited to, victims and their
designees, health care facilities, law enforcement agencies,
forensic labs, and State's Attorneys offices are integrated,
the Commission recommended the purchase of an electronic
off-the-shelf tracking system. The system must be able to
communicate with all stakeholders and provide real-time
information to a victim or his or her designee on the status of
the evidence that was collected. The sexual assault evidence
tracking system must:
(1) be electronic and web-based;
(2) be administered by the Department of State Police;
(3) have help desk availability at all times;
(4) ensure the law enforcement agency contact
information is accessible to the victim or his or her
designee through the tracking system, so there is contact
information for questions;
(5) have the option for external connectivity to
evidence management systems, laboratory information
management systems, or other electronic data systems
already in existence by any of the stakeholders to
minimize additional burdens or tasks on stakeholders;
(6) allow for the victim to opt in for automatic

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notifications when status updates are entered in the
system, if the system allows;
(7) include at each step in the process, a brief
explanation of the general purpose of that step and a
general indication of how long the step may take to
complete;
(8) contain minimum fields for tracking and reporting,
as follows:
(A) for sexual assault evidence kit vendor fields:
(i) each sexual evidence kit identification
number provided to each health care facility; and
(ii) the date the sexual evidence kit was sent
to the health care facility.
(B) for health care facility fields:
(i) the date sexual assault evidence was
collected; and
(ii) the date notification was made to the law
enforcement agency that the sexual assault
evidence was collected.
(C) for law enforcement agency fields:
(i) the date the law enforcement agency took
possession of the sexual assault evidence from the
health care facility, another law enforcement
agency, or victim if he or she did not go through a
health care facility;
(ii) the law enforcement agency complaint

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number;
(iii) if the law enforcement agency that takes
possession of the sexual assault evidence from a
health care facility is not the law enforcement
agency with jurisdiction in which the offense
occurred, the date when the law enforcement agency
notified the law enforcement agency having
jurisdiction that the agency has sexual assault
evidence required under subsection (c) of Section
20 of the Sexual Assault Incident Procedure Act;
(iv) an indication if the victim consented for
analysis of the sexual assault evidence;
(v) if the victim did not consent for analysis
of the sexual assault evidence, the date on which
the law enforcement agency is no longer required
to store the sexual assault evidence;
(vi) a mechanism for the law enforcement
agency to document why the sexual assault evidence
was not submitted to the laboratory for analysis,
if applicable;
(vii) the date the law enforcement agency
received the sexual assault evidence results back
from the laboratory;
(viii) the date statutory notifications were
made to the victim or documentation of why
notification was not made; and

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(ix) the date the law enforcement agency
turned over the case information to the State's
Attorney office, if applicable.
(D) for forensic lab fields:
(i) the date the sexual assault evidence is
received from the law enforcement agency by the
forensic lab for analysis;
(ii) the laboratory case number, visible to
the law enforcement agency and State's Attorney
office; and
(iii) the date the laboratory completes the
analysis of the sexual assault evidence.
(E) for State's Attorney office fields:
(i) the date the State's Attorney office
received the sexual assault evidence results from
the laboratory, if applicable; and
(ii) the disposition or status of the case.
(a-2) The Commission also developed guidelines for secure
electronic access to a tracking system for a victim, or his or
her designee to access information on the status of the
evidence collected. The Commission recommended minimum
guidelines in order to safeguard confidentiality of the
information contained within this statewide tracking system.
These recommendations are that the sexual assault evidence
tracking system must:
(1) allow for secure access, controlled by an

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administering body who can restrict user access and allow
different permissions based on the need of that particular
user and health care facility users may include
out-of-state border hospitals, if authorized by the
Department of State Police to obtain this State's kits
from vendor;
(2) provide for users, other than victims, the ability
to provide for any individual who is granted access to the
program their own unique user ID and password;
(3) provide for a mechanism for a victim to enter the
system and only access his or her own information;
(4) enable a sexual assault evidence to be tracked and
identified through the unique sexual assault evidence kit
identification number or barcode that the vendor applies
to each sexual assault evidence kit per the Department of
State Police's contract;
(5) have a mechanism to inventory unused kits provided
to a health care facility from the vendor;
(6) provide users the option to either scan the bar
code or manually enter the sexual assault evidence kit
number into the tracking program;
(7) provide a mechanism to create a separate unique
identification number for cases in which a sexual evidence
kit was not collected, but other evidence was collected;
(8) provide the ability to record date, time, and user
ID whenever any user accesses the system;

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(9) provide for real-time entry and update of data;
(10) contain report functions including:
(A) health care facility compliance with
applicable laws;
(B) law enforcement agency compliance with
applicable laws;
(C) law enforcement agency annual inventory of
cases to each State's Attorney office; and
(D) forensic lab compliance with applicable laws;
and
(11) provide automatic notifications to the law
enforcement agency when:
(A) a health care facility has collected sexual
assault evidence;
(B) unreleased sexual assault evidence that is
being stored by the law enforcement agency has met the
minimum storage requirement by law; and
(C) timelines as required by law are not met for a
particular case, if not otherwise documented.
(b) The Department shall develop rules to implement a
sexual assault evidence tracking system that conforms with
subsections (a-1) and (a-2) of this Section. The Department
shall design the criteria for the sexual assault evidence
tracking system so that, to the extent reasonably possible,
the system can use existing technologies and products,
including, but not limited to, currently available tracking

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systems. The sexual assault evidence tracking system shall be
operational and shall begin tracking and reporting sexual
assault evidence no later than one year after the effective
date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly. The
Department may adopt additional rules as it deems necessary to
ensure that the sexual assault evidence tracking system
continues to be a useful tool for law enforcement.
(c) A treatment hospital, a treatment hospital with
approved pediatric transfer, an out-of-state hospital approved
by the Department of Public Health to receive transfers of
Illinois sexual assault survivors, or an approved pediatric
health care facility defined in Section 1a of the Sexual
Assault Survivors Emergency Treatment Act shall participate in
the sexual assault evidence tracking system created under this
Section and in accordance with rules adopted under subsection
(b), including, but not limited to, the collection of sexual
assault evidence and providing information regarding that
evidence, including, but not limited to, providing notice to
law enforcement that the evidence has been collected.
(c-1) Health care providers or local law enforcement must
notify victims about the tracking system after an Illinois
Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit has been analyzed.
(d) The operations of the sexual assault evidence tracking
system shall be funded by moneys appropriated for that purpose
from the State Crime Laboratory Fund and funds provided to the
Department through asset forfeiture, together with such other

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funds as the General Assembly may appropriate.
(e) To ensure that the sexual assault evidence tracking
system is operational, the Department may adopt emergency
rules to implement the provisions of this Section under
subsection (ff) of Section 5-45 of the Illinois Administrative
Procedure Act.
(f) Information, including, but not limited to, evidence
and records in the sexual assault evidence tracking system is
exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
(Source: P.A. 101-377, eff. 8-16-19.)