Bill Text: IL SB2156 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Engrossed

---

Bill Title: Amends the Property Tax Code. Makes changes concerning the following: claims for refunds; billing; tax deeds; the maximum income limitation under the Low-Income Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption; subdivisions; eligibility under the Energy Assistance Act; multi-township assessors; tax certificates; and affordable housing programs. Amends the Fox Waterway Agency Act. Allows the Agency to impose property taxes, subject to referendum approval. Effective immediately.

Sponsorship: Broadly Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2025-10-14 - Chief Sponsor Changed to Sen. David Koehler [SB2156 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-SB2156-Engrossed.html

---

SB2156 Engrossed LRB104 10595 RLC 20671 b
AN ACT concerning government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Unified Code of Corrections is amended by
adding Section 3-2.5-105 as follows:
(730 ILCS 5/3-2.5-105 new)
Sec. 3-2.5-105. Child First Reform Task Force.
(a) The Child First Reform Task Force is created. The
purpose of the Task Force is to review and study the current
state of juvenile detention centers across the State. The Task
Force shall consider the conditions and administration of
individual juvenile detention centers, identify the resources
needed to consistently meet the minimum standards set by the
Department of Juvenile Justice and the Administrative Office
of the Illinois Courts, evaluate complaints arising out of
juvenile detention centers, identify best practices to provide
detention center care, propose community-based alternatives to
juvenile detention, and advise on the creation of the Youth
Advisory Agency with youth justice advisors and district youth
advisory offices in each circuit court district. The Task
Force shall also make recommendations for policy changes at
the Department of Juvenile Justice to support child-first
directives aligned with the policies and practices established

SB2156 Engrossed - 2 - LRB104 10595 RLC 20671 b
in the Convention on the Rights of the Child that was adopted
by the United Nations General Assembly on November 20, 1989,
and became effective as an international treaty on September
2, 1990.
(b) The Task Force shall consist of the following members:
(1) A member of the Senate appointed by the President
of the Senate.
(2) A member of the Senate appointed by the Minority
Leader of the Senate.
(3) A member of the House appointed by the Speaker of
the House.
(4) A member of the House appointed by the Minority
Leader of the House.
(5) A member appointed by the Director of Juvenile
Justice.
(6) A member appointed by the Director of Human
Rights.
(7) A member appointed by the Independent Juvenile
Ombudsperson.
(8) A member appointed by the Independent Juvenile
Ombudsperson who represents an organization that advocates
for a community-based rehabilitation or systems impacted
individuals.
(9) A member appointed by the Independent Juvenile
Ombudsperson who represents an organization that advocates
for juvenile justice reform.

SB2156 Engrossed - 3 - LRB104 10595 RLC 20671 b
(10) Two members appointed by the Illinois Juvenile
Justice Commission.
(11) A member appointed by the Director of the
Governor's Office of Management and Budget.
(12) One member appointed by the Lieutenant Governor
who is a member of a county board of a county operating a
county detention facility.
(13) One member appointed by the Lieutenant Governor
who is a juvenile detention officer, probation officer, or
other facility employee at a county detention facility who
makes the determination on whether to detain a juvenile at
the county detention facility.
(14) A member appointed by the Lieutenant Governor
from the Justice, Equity, and Opportunity Initiative.
(15) Two members appointed by the Director of Juvenile
Justice who are over the age of 18 and who have served any
amount of time in a county juvenile detention facility.
(16) A member appointed by the Director of the
Illinois State Police.
(17) A member appointed by the Secretary of Human
Services.
The Task Force may include 2 additional members appointed
by the Illinois Supreme Court.
(c) Appointments to the Task Force shall be made within 90
days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the
104th General Assembly. Members shall serve without

SB2156 Engrossed - 4 - LRB104 10595 RLC 20671 b
compensation.
(d) The Task Force shall meet at the call of a co-chair at
least quarterly to fulfill its duties. The members of the Task
Force shall select 2 co-chairs from among themselves at their
first meeting.
(e) The Task Force shall:
(1) engage community organizations, interested groups,
and members of the public for the purpose of assessing:
(A) community-based alternatives to detention and
the adoption and implementation of such alternatives;
(B) the needs of juveniles detained in county
detention facilities;
(C) strategic planning for a transition away from
juvenile detention facilities;
(D) the establishment of more accountability
between county facilities and the Department of
Juvenile Justice, or if there would be a benefit for
the State in operating detention centers for persons
awaiting sentencing or court determination, in lieu of
counties providing this service, when in extreme cases
the county detention center is unable to pass minimum
standards ;
(E) evidence-based best practices regarding the
delivery of services within detention centers,
including healthcare and education;
(F) the integration of restorative practices into

SB2156 Engrossed - 5 - LRB104 10595 RLC 20671 b
the juvenile detention system, focusing on healing,
accountability, and community restoration;
(G) the implementation of child-first directives
within the Department of Juvenile Justice and
throughout the State;
(H) strategic planning for creating a Youth
Advisory Agency with district youth advisory offices
in each circuit court district;
(I) the implementation of youth justice advisors
within the Youth Advisory Agency to guide juveniles
through the juvenile justice process, including
through interactions with law enforcement, the courts,
and community-based alternatives to detention;
(J) how county juvenile detention facilities are
currently funded;
(K) how to encourage the Illinois Supreme Court
and relevant authorities to require, as a consistent
part of continuing education, training on child-first
directives, child rights, and the unique needs of
minors in the justice system; and
(L) the establishment of training requirements by
the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board
for law enforcement on child-first directives, child
rights, and the unique needs of minors in the justice
system;
(2) review available research and data on the benefits

SB2156 Engrossed - 6 - LRB104 10595 RLC 20671 b
of community-based alternatives to detention versus the
benefits of juvenile detention;
(3) review Administrative Office of the Illinois
Courts, Department of Juvenile Justice, and Independent
Ombudsperson monitoring reports to identify specific
instances of non-compliance arising out of county juvenile
detention facilities and patterns of noncompliance
Statewide; and
(4) make recommendations or suggestions for changes to
the County Shelter Care and Detention Home Act and the
Unified Code of Corrections, including changes and
improvements to the juvenile detention system.
(f) On or before January 1, 2026, the Task Force shall
publish a final report of its findings and non-binding
recommendations. The report shall, at a minimum, detail
findings and recommendations related to the duties of the Task
Force and the following:
(1) the process and standards used to determine
whether a juvenile will be detained in a county facility;
(2) information and recommendations on detention
facility standards, including how to ensure compliance
with minimum standards, which facilities are chronically
noncompliant and the reasons for noncompliance, including
specific instances of noncompliance, and penalties for
noncompliance;
(3) strategic planning suggestions to transition away

SB2156 Engrossed - 7 - LRB104 10595 RLC 20671 b
from juvenile detention;
(4) how county juvenile detention facilities are
currently funded;
(5) recommendations on whether to establish more
accountability between county facilities and the
Department of Juvenile Justice, or whether the operation
of all detention centers should be transferred to the
Department of Juvenile Justice;
(6) how to incorporate restorative practices into the
juvenile justice system;
(7) implementing child-first directives throughout the
State;
(8) strategic planning suggestions on creating a Youth
Advisory Agency with youth justice advisors and district
youth advisory offices in each circuit court district;
(9) recommendations on the duties of youth justice
advisors and the role they will serve in assisting
juveniles through the juvenile justice process, including
through interactions with law enforcement, the courts, and
community-based alternatives to detention, and
recommendations on how many youth justice advisors to
staff for each circuit court district;
(10) strategic planning suggestions to encourage the
Illinois Supreme Court and relevant authorities to
require, as a consistent part of continuing education,
training on child-first directives, child rights, and the

SB2156 Engrossed - 8 - LRB104 10595 RLC 20671 b
unique needs of minors in the justice system; and
(11) strategic planning to require the Illinois Law
Enforcement Training Standards Board to establish training
for law enforcement on child-first directives, child
rights, and the unique needs of minors in the justice
system.
The final report shall be submitted to the General
Assembly, the Offices of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor,
the Chief Judge of each circuit court operating a county
detention facility, the county board of each county operating
a county detention facility, and the Office of the Attorney
General.
(g) The Department of Juvenile Justice shall provide
administrative support for the Task Force.
(h) This Section is repealed on January 1, 2028.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.