SB1796 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 09386 RTM 19445 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
SB1796

Introduced 2/5/2025, by Sen. Julie A. Morrison

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

50 ILCS 706/10-10
50 ILCS 706/10-20
720 ILCS 5/14-3

Amends the Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera Act. Provides that a law enforcement agency shall disclose a recording made with the use of an officer-worn body camera, upon request, to (i) the subject of the encounter captured on the recording, (ii) the legal representative of the subject of the encounter captured on the recording, (iii) the officer who wore the camera that made the recording, (iv) the legal representative of the officer who wore the camera that made the recording, (v) a person who has written permission from the subject of the encounter to receive the recording, or (vi) a person who has written permission from the officer who wore the camera that made the recording to receive the recording. Provides that all recordings made with an officer-worn body camera may (rather than must) be destroyed after 90 days, unless any encounter captured on the recording has been flagged. Makes changes to the definition of "law enforcement officer" in the Act. Amends the Eavesdropping Article to the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that recordings made in accordance with the Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera Act are exempt from the Article. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning local government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera Act is amended by changing Sections 10-10 and 10-20 as follows:

(50 ILCS 706/10-10)

Sec. 10-10. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Badge" means an officer's department issued identification number associated with his or her position as a police officer with that department.

"Board" means the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board created by the Illinois Police Training Act.

"Business offense" means a petty offense for which the fine is in excess of $1,000.

"Community caretaking function" means a task undertaken by a law enforcement officer in which the officer is performing an articulable act unrelated to the investigation of a crime. "Community caretaking function" includes, but is not limited to, participating in town halls or other community outreach, helping a child find his or her parents, providing death notifications, and performing in-home or hospital well-being checks on the sick, elderly, or persons presumed missing. "Community caretaking function" excludes law enforcement-related encounters or activities.

"Fund" means the Law Enforcement Camera Grant Fund.

"In uniform" means a law enforcement officer who is wearing any officially authorized uniform designated by a law enforcement agency, or a law enforcement officer who is visibly wearing articles of clothing, a badge, tactical gear, gun belt, a patch, or other insignia that he or she is a law enforcement officer acting in the course of his or her duties.

"Law enforcement officer" or "officer" means any person employed by a State, county, municipality, special district, college, unit of government, or any other entity authorized by law to employ peace officers or exercise police authority and whose primary duties are who is primarily responsible for the prevention or detection of crime and the enforcement of the laws of this State. "Law enforcement officer" or "officer" does not include administrative personnel or officers who are assigned to administrative duties or functions and who are not assigned to conduct law enforcement-related encounters and activities.

"Law enforcement agency" means all State agencies with law enforcement officers, county sheriff's offices, municipal, special district, college, or unit of local government police departments.

"Law enforcement-related encounters or activities" include, but are not limited to, traffic stops, pedestrian stops, arrests, searches, interrogations, investigations, pursuits, crowd control, traffic control, non-community caretaking interactions with an individual while on patrol, or any other instance in which the officer is enforcing the laws of the municipality, county, or State. "Law enforcement-related encounter or activities" does not include when the officer is completing paperwork alone, is participating in training in a classroom setting, or is only in the presence of another law enforcement officer.

"Minor traffic offense" means a petty offense, business offense, or Class C misdemeanor under the Illinois Vehicle Code or a similar provision of a municipal or local ordinance.

"Officer-worn body camera" means an electronic camera system for creating, generating, sending, receiving, storing, displaying, and processing audiovisual recordings that may be worn about the person of a law enforcement officer.

"Peace officer" has the meaning provided in Section 2-13 of the Criminal Code of 2012.

"Petty offense" means any offense for which a sentence of imprisonment is not an authorized disposition.

"Recording" means the process of capturing data or information stored on a recording medium as required under this Act.

"Recording medium" means any recording medium authorized by the Board for the retention and playback of recorded audio and video including, but not limited to, VHS, DVD, hard drive, cloud storage, solid state, digital, flash memory technology, or any other electronic medium.

(Source: P.A. 102-1104, eff. 12-6-22.)

(50 ILCS 706/10-20)

Sec. 10-20. Requirements.

(a) The Board shall develop basic guidelines for the use of officer-worn body cameras by law enforcement agencies. The guidelines developed by the Board shall be the basis for the written policy which must be adopted by each law enforcement agency which employs the use of officer-worn body cameras. The written policy adopted by the law enforcement agency must include, at a minimum, all of the following:

(1) Cameras must be equipped with pre-event recording, capable of recording at least the 30 seconds prior to camera activation, unless the officer-worn body camera was purchased and acquired by the law enforcement agency prior to July 1, 2015.

(2) Cameras must be capable of recording for a period of 10 hours or more, unless the officer-worn body camera was purchased and acquired by the law enforcement agency prior to July 1, 2015.

(3) Cameras must be turned on at all times when the officer is in uniform and is responding to calls for service or engaged in any law enforcement-related encounter or activity that occurs while the officer is on duty.

(A) If exigent circumstances exist which prevent the camera from being turned on, the camera must be turned on as soon as practicable.

(B) Officer-worn body cameras may be turned off when the officer is inside of a patrol car which is equipped with a functioning in-car camera; however, the officer must turn on the camera upon exiting the patrol vehicle for law enforcement-related encounters.

(C) Officer-worn body cameras may be turned off when the officer is inside a correctional facility or courthouse which is equipped with a functioning camera system.

(4) Cameras must be turned off when:

(A) the victim of a crime requests that the camera be turned off, and unless impractical or impossible, that request is made on the recording;

(B) a witness of a crime or a community member who wishes to report a crime requests that the camera be turned off, and unless impractical or impossible that request is made on the recording;

(C) the officer is interacting with a confidential informant used by the law enforcement agency; or

(D) an officer of the Department of Revenue enters a Department of Revenue facility or conducts an interview during which return information will be discussed or visible.

However, an officer may continue to record or resume recording a victim or a witness, if exigent circumstances exist, or if the officer has reasonable articulable suspicion that a victim or witness, or confidential informant has committed or is in the process of committing a crime. Under these circumstances, and unless impractical or impossible, the officer must indicate on the recording the reason for continuing to record despite the request of the victim or witness.

(4.5) Cameras may be turned off when the officer is engaged in community caretaking functions. However, the camera must be turned on when the officer has reason to believe that the person on whose behalf the officer is performing a community caretaking function has committed or is in the process of committing a crime. If exigent circumstances exist which prevent the camera from being turned on, the camera must be turned on as soon as practicable.

(5) The officer must provide notice of recording to any person if the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy and proof of notice must be evident in the recording. If exigent circumstances exist which prevent the officer from providing notice, notice must be provided as soon as practicable.

(6) (A) For the purposes of redaction or duplicating recordings, access to camera recordings shall be restricted to only those personnel responsible for those purposes. The recording officer or his or her supervisor may not redact, duplicate, or otherwise alter the recording officer's camera recordings. Except as otherwise provided in this Section, the recording officer and his or her supervisor may access and review recordings prior to completing incident reports or other documentation, provided that the supervisor discloses that fact in the report or documentation.

(i) A law enforcement officer shall not have access to or review his or her body-worn camera recordings or the body-worn camera recordings of another officer prior to completing incident reports or other documentation when the officer:

(a) has been involved in or is a witness to an officer-involved shooting, use of deadly force incident, or use of force incidents resulting in great bodily harm;

(b) is ordered to write a report in response to or during the investigation of a misconduct complaint against the officer.

(ii) If the officer subject to subparagraph (i) prepares a report, any report shall be prepared without viewing body-worn camera recordings, and subject to supervisor's approval, officers may file amendatory reports after viewing body-worn camera recordings. Supplemental reports under this provision shall also contain documentation regarding access to the video footage.

(B) The recording officer's assigned field training officer may access and review recordings for training purposes. Any detective or investigator directly involved in the investigation of a matter may access and review recordings which pertain to that investigation but may not have access to delete or alter such recordings.

(7) Recordings made on officer-worn cameras must be retained by the law enforcement agency or by the camera vendor used by the agency, on a recording medium for a period of no less than 90 days.

(A) Under no circumstances shall any recording, except for a non-law enforcement related activity or encounter, made with an officer-worn body camera be altered, erased, or destroyed prior to the expiration of the 90-day storage period. In the event any recording made with an officer-worn body camera is altered, erased, or destroyed prior to the expiration of the 90-day storage period, the law enforcement agency shall maintain, for a period of one year, a written record including (i) the name of the individual who made such alteration, erasure, or destruction, and (ii) the reason for any such alteration, erasure, or destruction.

(B) Following the 90-day storage period, any and all recordings made with an officer-worn body camera may must be destroyed, unless any encounter captured on the recording has been flagged. An encounter is deemed to be flagged when:

(i) a formal or informal complaint has been filed;

(ii) the officer discharged his or her firearm or used force during the encounter;

(iii) death or great bodily harm occurred to any person in the recording;

(iv) the encounter resulted in a detention or an arrest, excluding traffic stops which resulted in only a minor traffic offense or business offense;

(v) the officer is the subject of an internal investigation or otherwise being investigated for possible misconduct;

(vi) the supervisor of the officer, prosecutor, defendant, or court determines that the encounter has evidentiary value in a criminal prosecution; or

(vii) the recording officer requests that the video be flagged for official purposes related to his or her official duties or believes it may have evidentiary value in a criminal prosecution.

(C) Under no circumstances shall any recording made with an officer-worn body camera relating to a flagged encounter be altered or destroyed prior to 2 years after the recording was flagged. If the flagged recording was used in a criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding, the recording shall not be destroyed except upon a final disposition and order from the court.

(D) Nothing in this Act prohibits law enforcement agencies from labeling officer-worn body camera video within the recording medium; provided that the labeling does not alter the actual recording of the incident captured on the officer-worn body camera. The labels, titles, and tags shall not be construed as altering the officer-worn body camera video in any way.

(8) Following the 90-day storage period, recordings may be retained if a supervisor at the law enforcement agency designates the recording for training purposes. If the recording is designated for training purposes, the recordings may be viewed by officers, in the presence of a supervisor or training instructor, for the purposes of instruction, training, or ensuring compliance with agency policies.

(9) Recordings shall not be used to discipline law enforcement officers unless:

(A) a formal or informal complaint of misconduct has been made;

(B) a use of force incident has occurred;

(C) the encounter on the recording could result in a formal investigation under the Uniform Peace Officers' Disciplinary Act; or

(D) as corroboration of other evidence of misconduct.

Nothing in this paragraph (9) shall be construed to limit or prohibit a law enforcement officer from being subject to an action that does not amount to discipline.

(10) The law enforcement agency shall ensure proper care and maintenance of officer-worn body cameras. Upon becoming aware, officers must as soon as practical document and notify the appropriate supervisor of any technical difficulties, failures, or problems with the officer-worn body camera or associated equipment. Upon receiving notice, the appropriate supervisor shall make every reasonable effort to correct and repair any of the officer-worn body camera equipment.

(11) No officer may hinder or prohibit any person, not a law enforcement officer, from recording a law enforcement officer in the performance of his or her duties in a public place or when the officer has no reasonable expectation of privacy. The law enforcement agency's written policy shall indicate the potential criminal penalties, as well as any departmental discipline, which may result from unlawful confiscation or destruction of the recording medium of a person who is not a law enforcement officer. However, an officer may take reasonable action to maintain safety and control, secure crime scenes and accident sites, protect the integrity and confidentiality of investigations, and protect the public safety and order.

(b) Recordings made with the use of an officer-worn body camera are not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, except that, upon request, the law enforcement agency shall disclose, in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, the recording to (i) the subject of the encounter captured on the recording, (ii) the legal representative of the subject of the encounter captured on the recording, (iii) the officer who wore the camera that made the recording, (iv) the legal representative of the officer who wore the camera that made the recording, (v) a person who has written permission from the subject of the encounter to receive the recording, or (vi) a person who has written permission from the officer who wore the camera that made the recording to receive the recording. :

(1) if the subject of the encounter has a reasonable expectation of privacy, at the time of the recording, any recording which is flagged, due to the filing of a complaint, discharge of a firearm, use of force, arrest or detention, or resulting death or bodily harm, shall be disclosed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act if:

(A) the subject of the encounter captured on the recording is a victim or witness; and

(B) the law enforcement agency obtains written permission of the subject or the subject's legal representative;

(2) except as provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection (b), any recording which is flagged due to the filing of a complaint, discharge of a firearm, use of force, arrest or detention, or resulting death or bodily harm shall be disclosed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act; and

(3) upon request, the law enforcement agency shall disclose, in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, the recording to the subject of the encounter captured on the recording or to the subject's attorney, or the officer or his or her legal representative.

For the purposes of paragraph (1) of this subsection (b), the subject of the encounter does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy if the subject was arrested as a result of the encounter. For purposes of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of this subsection (b), "witness" does not include a person who is a victim or who was arrested as a result of the encounter.

Only recordings or portions of recordings responsive to the request shall be available for inspection or reproduction. Any recording disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act shall be redacted to remove identification of any person that appears on the recording and is not the officer, a subject of the encounter, or directly involved in the encounter. Nothing in this subsection (b) shall require the disclosure of any recording or portion of any recording which would be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

(c) Nothing in this Section shall limit access to a camera recording for the purposes of complying with Supreme Court rules or the rules of evidence.

(Source: P.A. 101-652, eff. 7-1-21; 102-28, eff. 6-25-21; 102-687, eff. 12-17-21; 102-694, eff. 1-7-22; 102-1104, eff. 12-6-22.)

Section 10. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by changing Section 14-3 as follows:

(720 ILCS 5/14-3)

Sec. 14-3. Exemptions. The following activities shall be exempt from the provisions of this Article:

(a) Listening to radio, wireless electronic communications, and television communications of any sort where the same are publicly made;

(b) Hearing conversation when heard by employees of any common carrier by wire incidental to the normal course of their employment in the operation, maintenance or repair of the equipment of such common carrier by wire so long as no information obtained thereby is used or divulged by the hearer;

(c) Any broadcast by radio, television or otherwise whether it be a broadcast or recorded for the purpose of later broadcasts of any function where the public is in attendance and the conversations are overheard incidental to the main purpose for which such broadcasts are then being made;

(d) Recording or listening with the aid of any device to any emergency communication made in the normal course of operations by any federal, state or local law enforcement agency or institutions dealing in emergency services, including, but not limited to, hospitals, clinics, ambulance services, fire fighting agencies, any public utility, emergency repair facility, civilian defense establishment or military installation;

(e) Recording the proceedings of any meeting required to be open by the Open Meetings Act, as amended;

(f) Recording or listening with the aid of any device to incoming telephone calls of phone lines publicly listed or advertised as consumer "hotlines" by manufacturers or retailers of food and drug products. Such recordings must be destroyed, erased or turned over to local law enforcement authorities within 24 hours from the time of such recording and shall not be otherwise disseminated. Failure on the part of the individual or business operating any such recording or listening device to comply with the requirements of this subsection shall eliminate any civil or criminal immunity conferred upon that individual or business by the operation of this Section;

(g) With prior notification to the State's Attorney of the county in which it is to occur, recording or listening with the aid of any device to any conversation where a law enforcement officer, or any person acting at the direction of law enforcement, is a party to the conversation and has consented to it being intercepted or recorded under circumstances where the use of the device is necessary for the protection of the law enforcement officer or any person acting at the direction of law enforcement, in the course of an investigation of a forcible felony, a felony offense of involuntary servitude, involuntary sexual servitude of a minor, or trafficking in persons under Section 10-9 of this Code, an offense involving prostitution, solicitation of a sexual act, or pandering, a felony violation of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, a felony violation of the Cannabis Control Act, a felony violation of the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act, any "streetgang related" or "gang-related" felony as those terms are defined in the Illinois Streetgang Terrorism Omnibus Prevention Act, or any felony offense involving any weapon listed in paragraphs (1) through (11) of subsection (a) of Section 24-1 of this Code. Any recording or evidence derived as the result of this exemption shall be inadmissible in any proceeding, criminal, civil or administrative, except (i) where a party to the conversation suffers great bodily injury or is killed during such conversation, or (ii) when used as direct impeachment of a witness concerning matters contained in the interception or recording. The Director of the Illinois State Police shall issue regulations as are necessary concerning the use of devices, retention of tape recordings, and reports regarding their use;

(g-5) (Blank);

(g-6) With approval of the State's Attorney of the county in which it is to occur, recording or listening with the aid of any device to any conversation where a law enforcement officer, or any person acting at the direction of law enforcement, is a party to the conversation and has consented to it being intercepted or recorded in the course of an investigation of child pornography, aggravated child pornography, indecent solicitation of a child, luring of a minor, sexual exploitation of a child, aggravated criminal sexual abuse in which the victim of the offense was at the time of the commission of the offense under 18 years of age, or criminal sexual abuse by force or threat of force in which the victim of the offense was at the time of the commission of the offense under 18 years of age. In all such cases, an application for an order approving the previous or continuing use of an eavesdropping device must be made within 48 hours of the commencement of such use. In the absence of such an order, or upon its denial, any continuing use shall immediately terminate. The Director of the Illinois State Police shall issue rules as are necessary concerning the use of devices, retention of recordings, and reports regarding their use. Any recording or evidence obtained or derived in the course of an investigation of child pornography, aggravated child pornography, indecent solicitation of a child, luring of a minor, sexual exploitation of a child, aggravated criminal sexual abuse in which the victim of the offense was at the time of the commission of the offense under 18 years of age, or criminal sexual abuse by force or threat of force in which the victim of the offense was at the time of the commission of the offense under 18 years of age shall, upon motion of the State's Attorney or Attorney General prosecuting any case involving child pornography, aggravated child pornography, indecent solicitation of a child, luring of a minor, sexual exploitation of a child, aggravated criminal sexual abuse in which the victim of the offense was at the time of the commission of the offense under 18 years of age, or criminal sexual abuse by force or threat of force in which the victim of the offense was at the time of the commission of the offense under 18 years of age be reviewed in camera with notice to all parties present by the court presiding over the criminal case, and, if ruled by the court to be relevant and otherwise admissible, it shall be admissible at the trial of the criminal case. Absent such a ruling, any such recording or evidence shall not be admissible at the trial of the criminal case;

(h) Recordings made simultaneously with the use of an in-car video camera recording of an oral conversation between a uniformed peace officer, who has identified his or her office, and a person in the presence of the peace officer whenever (i) an officer assigned a patrol vehicle is conducting an enforcement stop; or (ii) patrol vehicle emergency lights are activated or would otherwise be activated if not for the need to conceal the presence of law enforcement.

For the purposes of this subsection (h), "enforcement stop" means an action by a law enforcement officer in relation to enforcement and investigation duties, including but not limited to, traffic stops, pedestrian stops, abandoned vehicle contacts, motorist assists, commercial motor vehicle stops, roadside safety checks, requests for identification, or responses to requests for emergency assistance;

(h-5) Recordings of utterances made by a person while in the presence of a uniformed peace officer and while an occupant of a police vehicle including, but not limited to, (i) recordings made simultaneously with the use of an in-car video camera and (ii) recordings made in the presence of the peace officer utilizing video or audio systems, or both, authorized by the law enforcement agency;

(h-10) Recordings made simultaneously with a video camera recording during the use of a taser or similar weapon or device by a peace officer if the weapon or device is equipped with such camera;

(h-15) Recordings made under subsection (h), (h-5), or (h-10) shall be retained by the law enforcement agency that employs the peace officer who made the recordings for a storage period of 90 days, unless the recordings are made as a part of an arrest or the recordings are deemed evidence in any criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding and then the recordings must only be destroyed upon a final disposition and an order from the court. Under no circumstances shall any recording be altered or erased prior to the expiration of the designated storage period. Upon completion of the storage period, the recording medium may be erased and reissued for operational use;

(h-20) Recordings made in accordance with the Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera Act;

(i) Recording of a conversation made by or at the request of a person, not a law enforcement officer or agent of a law enforcement officer, who is a party to the conversation, under reasonable suspicion that another party to the conversation is committing, is about to commit, or has committed a criminal offense against the person or a member of his or her immediate household, and there is reason to believe that evidence of the criminal offense may be obtained by the recording;

(j) The use of a telephone monitoring device by either (1) a corporation or other business entity engaged in marketing or opinion research or (2) a corporation or other business entity engaged in telephone solicitation, as defined in this subsection, to record or listen to oral telephone solicitation conversations or marketing or opinion research conversations by an employee of the corporation or other business entity when:

(i) the monitoring is used for the purpose of service quality control of marketing or opinion research or telephone solicitation, the education or training of employees or contractors engaged in marketing or opinion research or telephone solicitation, or internal research related to marketing or opinion research or telephone solicitation; and

(ii) the monitoring is used with the consent of at least one person who is an active party to the marketing or opinion research conversation or telephone solicitation conversation being monitored.

No communication or conversation or any part, portion, or aspect of the communication or conversation made, acquired, or obtained, directly or indirectly, under this exemption (j), may be, directly or indirectly, furnished to any law enforcement officer, agency, or official for any purpose or used in any inquiry or investigation, or used, directly or indirectly, in any administrative, judicial, or other proceeding, or divulged to any third party.

When recording or listening authorized by this subsection (j) on telephone lines used for marketing or opinion research or telephone solicitation purposes results in recording or listening to a conversation that does not relate to marketing or opinion research or telephone solicitation; the person recording or listening shall, immediately upon determining that the conversation does not relate to marketing or opinion research or telephone solicitation, terminate the recording or listening and destroy any such recording as soon as is practicable.

Business entities that use a telephone monitoring or telephone recording system pursuant to this exemption (j) shall provide current and prospective employees with notice that the monitoring or recordings may occur during the course of their employment. The notice shall include prominent signage notification within the workplace.

Business entities that use a telephone monitoring or telephone recording system pursuant to this exemption (j) shall provide their employees or agents with access to personal-only telephone lines which may be pay telephones, that are not subject to telephone monitoring or telephone recording.

For the purposes of this subsection (j), "telephone solicitation" means a communication through the use of a telephone by live operators:

(i) soliciting the sale of goods or services;

(ii) receiving orders for the sale of goods or services;

(iii) assisting in the use of goods or services; or

(iv) engaging in the solicitation, administration, or collection of bank or retail credit accounts.

For the purposes of this subsection (j), "marketing or opinion research" means a marketing or opinion research interview conducted by a live telephone interviewer engaged by a corporation or other business entity whose principal business is the design, conduct, and analysis of polls and surveys measuring the opinions, attitudes, and responses of respondents toward products and services, or social or political issues, or both;

(k) Electronic recordings, including but not limited to, a motion picture, videotape, digital, or other visual or audio recording, made of a custodial interrogation of an individual at a police station or other place of detention by a law enforcement officer under Section 5-401.5 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 or Section 103-2.1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963;

(l) Recording the interview or statement of any person when the person knows that the interview is being conducted by a law enforcement officer or prosecutor and the interview takes place at a police station that is currently participating in the Custodial Interview Pilot Program established under the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Act;

(m) An electronic recording, including but not limited to, a motion picture, videotape, digital, or other visual or audio recording, made of the interior of a school bus while the school bus is being used in the transportation of students to and from school and school-sponsored activities, when the school board has adopted a policy authorizing such recording, notice of such recording policy is included in student handbooks and other documents including the policies of the school, notice of the policy regarding recording is provided to parents of students, and notice of such recording is clearly posted on the door of and inside the school bus.

Recordings made pursuant to this subsection (m) shall be confidential records and may only be used by school officials (or their designees) and law enforcement personnel for investigations, school disciplinary actions and hearings, proceedings under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, and criminal prosecutions, related to incidents occurring in or around the school bus;

(n) Recording or listening to an audio transmission from a microphone placed by a person under the authority of a law enforcement agency inside a bait car surveillance vehicle while simultaneously capturing a photographic or video image;

(o) The use of an eavesdropping camera or audio device during an ongoing hostage or barricade situation by a law enforcement officer or individual acting on behalf of a law enforcement officer when the use of such device is necessary to protect the safety of the general public, hostages, or law enforcement officers or anyone acting on their behalf;

(p) Recording or listening with the aid of any device to incoming telephone calls of phone lines publicly listed or advertised as the "CPS Violence Prevention Hotline", but only where the notice of recording is given at the beginning of each call as required by Section 34-21.8 of the School Code. The recordings may be retained only by the Chicago Police Department or other law enforcement authorities, and shall not be otherwise retained or disseminated;

(q)(1) With prior request to and written or verbal approval of the State's Attorney of the county in which the conversation is anticipated to occur, recording or listening with the aid of an eavesdropping device to a conversation in which a law enforcement officer, or any person acting at the direction of a law enforcement officer, is a party to the conversation and has consented to the conversation being intercepted or recorded in the course of an investigation of a qualified offense. The State's Attorney may grant this approval only after determining that reasonable cause exists to believe that inculpatory conversations concerning a qualified offense will occur with a specified individual or individuals within a designated period of time.

(2) Request for approval. To invoke the exception contained in this subsection (q), a law enforcement officer shall make a request for approval to the appropriate State's Attorney. The request may be written or verbal; however, a written memorialization of the request must be made by the State's Attorney. This request for approval shall include whatever information is deemed necessary by the State's Attorney but shall include, at a minimum, the following information about each specified individual whom the law enforcement officer believes will commit a qualified offense:

(A) his or her full or partial name, nickname or alias;

(B) a physical description; or

(C) failing either (A) or (B) of this paragraph (2), any other supporting information known to the law enforcement officer at the time of the request that gives rise to reasonable cause to believe that the specified individual will participate in an inculpatory conversation concerning a qualified offense.

(3) Limitations on approval. Each written approval by the State's Attorney under this subsection (q) shall be limited to:

(A) a recording or interception conducted by a specified law enforcement officer or person acting at the direction of a law enforcement officer;

(B) recording or intercepting conversations with the individuals specified in the request for approval, provided that the verbal approval shall be deemed to include the recording or intercepting of conversations with other individuals, unknown to the law enforcement officer at the time of the request for approval, who are acting in conjunction with or as co-conspirators with the individuals specified in the request for approval in the commission of a qualified offense;

(C) a reasonable period of time but in no event longer than 24 consecutive hours;

(D) the written request for approval, if applicable, or the written memorialization must be filed, along with the written approval, with the circuit clerk of the jurisdiction on the next business day following the expiration of the authorized period of time, and shall be subject to review by the Chief Judge or his or her designee as deemed appropriate by the court.

(3.5) The written memorialization of the request for approval and the written approval by the State's Attorney may be in any format, including via facsimile, email, or otherwise, so long as it is capable of being filed with the circuit clerk.

(3.10) Beginning March 1, 2015, each State's Attorney shall annually submit a report to the General Assembly disclosing:

(A) the number of requests for each qualified offense for approval under this subsection; and

(B) the number of approvals for each qualified offense given by the State's Attorney.

(4) Admissibility of evidence. No part of the contents of any wire, electronic, or oral communication that has been recorded or intercepted as a result of this exception may be received in evidence in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding in or before any court, grand jury, department, officer, agency, regulatory body, legislative committee, or other authority of this State, or a political subdivision of the State, other than in a prosecution of:

(A) the qualified offense for which approval was given to record or intercept a conversation under this subsection (q);

(B) a forcible felony committed directly in the course of the investigation of the qualified offense for which approval was given to record or intercept a conversation under this subsection (q); or

(C) any other forcible felony committed while the recording or interception was approved in accordance with this subsection (q), but for this specific category of prosecutions, only if the law enforcement officer or person acting at the direction of a law enforcement officer who has consented to the conversation being intercepted or recorded suffers great bodily injury or is killed during the commission of the charged forcible felony.

(5) Compliance with the provisions of this subsection is a prerequisite to the admissibility in evidence of any part of the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication that has been intercepted as a result of this exception, but nothing in this subsection shall be deemed to prevent a court from otherwise excluding the evidence on any other ground recognized by State or federal law, nor shall anything in this subsection be deemed to prevent a court from independently reviewing the admissibility of the evidence for compliance with the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution or with Article I, Section 6 of the Illinois Constitution.

(6) Use of recordings or intercepts unrelated to qualified offenses. Whenever any private conversation or private electronic communication has been recorded or intercepted as a result of this exception that is not related to an offense for which the recording or intercept is admissible under paragraph (4) of this subsection (q), no part of the contents of the communication and evidence derived from the communication may be received in evidence in any trial, hearing, or other proceeding in or before any court, grand jury, department, officer, agency, regulatory body, legislative committee, or other authority of this State, or a political subdivision of the State, nor may it be publicly disclosed in any way.

(6.5) The Illinois State Police shall adopt rules as are necessary concerning the use of devices, retention of recordings, and reports regarding their use under this subsection (q).

(7) Definitions. For the purposes of this subsection (q) only:

"Forcible felony" includes and is limited to those offenses contained in Section 2-8 of the Criminal Code of 1961 as of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly, and only as those offenses have been defined by law or judicial interpretation as of that date.

"Qualified offense" means and is limited to:

(A) a felony violation of the Cannabis Control Act, the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, or the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act, except for violations of:

(i) Section 4 of the Cannabis Control Act;

(ii) Section 402 of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act; and

(iii) Section 60 of the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act; and

(B) first degree murder, solicitation of murder for hire, predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated arson, kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping, child abduction, trafficking in persons, involuntary servitude, involuntary sexual servitude of a minor, or gunrunning.

"State's Attorney" includes and is limited to the State's Attorney or an assistant State's Attorney designated by the State's Attorney to provide verbal approval to record or intercept conversations under this subsection (q).

(8) Sunset. This subsection (q) is inoperative on and after January 1, 2027. No conversations intercepted pursuant to this subsection (q), while operative, shall be inadmissible in a court of law by virtue of the inoperability of this subsection (q) on January 1, 2027.

(9) Recordings, records, and custody. Any private conversation or private electronic communication intercepted by a law enforcement officer or a person acting at the direction of law enforcement shall, if practicable, be recorded in such a way as will protect the recording from editing or other alteration. Any and all original recordings made under this subsection (q) shall be inventoried without unnecessary delay pursuant to the law enforcement agency's policies for inventorying evidence. The original recordings shall not be destroyed except upon an order of a court of competent jurisdiction; and

(r) Electronic recordings, including but not limited to, motion picture, videotape, digital, or other visual or audio recording, made of a lineup under Section 107A-2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963.

(Source: P.A. 101-80, eff. 7-12-19; 102-538, eff. 8-20-21; 102-918, eff. 5-27-22.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.