SB0563 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB102 14904 LNS 20258 b

102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB0563

Introduced 2/23/2021, by Sen. Omar Aquino

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the Judicial Quality Act. Requires the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts to develop and implement an ongoing education and training program for judges and relevant court personnel regarding domestic violence or intimate partner violence, child abuse, racial bias in sentencing, cultural competency, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming individuals, and the impact of trauma on youth brain development. Provides requirements for the education and training program. Allows the education and training program to be conducted virtually or held through an in-person convening.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning courts.

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

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Judicial Quality Act.

Section 5. Education and training program.

(a) Subject to appropriation, the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts shall develop and implement an ongoing education and training program for judges and relevant court personnel, including guardians ad litem, regarding domestic violence or intimate partner violence, child abuse, racial bias in sentencing, cultural competency, transgender and gender nonconforming, and the impact of trauma on youth brain development. The education and training program shall:

(1) be conducted quarterly;

(2) include the latest, best practices from evidence-based and peer-reviewed research;

(3) be designed to improve the ability of courts to recognize and respond to the impact of child abuse, domestic violence, racial bias in sentencing, and trauma on all victims, specifically youth and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming individuals;

(4) include hearing live testimony from people, specifically lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming individuals, who may have been sentenced to 20 years or more or detained pretrial on the impact of long-term sentencing and incarceration; and

(5) include no less than a quarter of State judges and relevant court personnel, and the entire judiciary shall attend no fewer than 4 trainings a year.

Documentation showing completion of classes shall be available to the public upon request and recorded with the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts.

(b) All training may be conducted virtually where at least one of the topics in subsection (a) shall be the focus of each training.

(c) Trainings may be held through an in-person convening at the discretion of the implementing body.