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HB 2502

Liens; Oklahoma Liens Act of 2025; effective date.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Kyle Hilbert

HB 2502 requires Illinois districts to annually report K-12 referrals to law enforcement with disaggregated data, boosting transparency and oversight.

Second Reading referred to Rules
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Bill Summary · HB 2502

Summary — HB 2502 (Illinois) — School Code; Student referrals to law enforcement

Status: Introduced Feb. 4–5, 2025 (Rep. La Shawn K. Ford). Latest actions include two House floor amendments and multiple committee steps; co-sponsors added through June 24, 2025.

Note: Uploaded packet included unrelated Arizona bill text for a different HB 2502; this summary addresses the Illinois School Code bill introduced by Rep. Ford.

Purpose / Intent

The bill seeks to increase transparency and oversight of school referrals to law enforcement — especially referrals that result in municipal tickets, citations, or ordinance violations — and to limit school personnel’s role in imposing or enabling monetary penalties on students. The General Assembly states it does not intend to change existing disciplinary, juvenile, or criminal procedures.

Key provisions

  • New reporting requirement (adds Section 2-3.206 to School Code):

    • Defines “referral to law enforcement” broadly (including citations, tickets, court referrals, school-related arrests) for incidents on school grounds, during school events, or while taking school transportation (including virtual school-related activities).
    • Requires each school district to annually report the number of K–12 students referred to law enforcement and the number of referral instances (method and format to be set by the State Board of Education).
    • Required data disaggregation: referral type (citation, ticket, court referral, arrest), race/ethnicity, sex, age/grade level, English learner status, and disability.
    • State Board must compile a statewide report (including charter schools) and post it online. (Introduced version called for a report by Jan 31, 2027; later amendments delay district reporting to begin in the 2027–2028 school year with the State Board’s first statewide report due Jan 31, 2029, and annually thereafter.)
    • The State Board may adopt rules and publish guidance (amendments direct guidance on reciprocal reporting and bus safety by July 1, 2025).

  • Parent‑teacher advisory and reciprocal reporting (amends Sec. 10-20.14 and related sections):

    • Requires parent‑teacher advisory committees, in cooperation with local law enforcement, to develop policy guidelines to establish and maintain a reciprocal reporting system between school districts and local law enforcement covering both criminal and civil offenses committed by students (expanded from “criminal only”).
    • Encourages memoranda of understanding (MOUs) between districts and law enforcement to define roles consistent with the new reporting requirements.

  • Limits on fines/tickets and referrals for truancy:

    • Removes older statutory language about schools not issuing monetary fines, and instead explicitly prohibits school personnel from issuing a monetary fine, fee, ticket, or citation for a municipal code violation.
    • Prohibits school personnel (rather than the district) from referring a truant, chronic truant, or truant minor to any local public entity, school resource officer, or peace officer for the purpose of that entity/officer issuing a fine or fee as punishment for truancy.

  • Effective date: immediate (per bill text).

Who is affected

  • Public school districts and district‑authorized charter schools in Illinois (data reporting).
  • School administrators, teachers, bus personnel, school resource officers, and local law enforcement (policy changes, MOUs, reciprocal reporting).
  • Students and families — particularly those receiving citations/tickets for school-related conduct — and subgroups tracked by the bill (students of color, students with disabilities, English learners).

Implementation & timeline (as amended)

  • District reporting required beginning with the 2027–2028 school year.
  • Statewide report by the State Board due on or before Jan. 31, 2029, and annually thereafter.
  • State Board guidance (on reciprocal reporting and bus safety procedures) directed to be published by July 1, 2025 in amendments.
  • The State may adopt rules to implement the section; the bill notes potential state mandate reimbursement issues.

Potential impact / considerations

  • Increases data transparency on school‑initiated law‑enforcement referrals and highlights disparities by race, disability, etc.
  • May reduce use of municipal citations/tickets by school personnel and curb fee-based penalties for truancy.
  • Could prompt districts and law enforcement to formalize protocols (MOUs) and clarify roles of school resource officers.
  • May generate administrative burdens for districts to collect and report detailed, disaggregated data; the bill flags possible state‑mandate reimbursement needs.

Legislative history highlights

  • Introduced Feb. 4–5, 2025; multiple committee referrals and House floor amendments filed March–April 2025.
  • Amendments updated implementation dates, expanded reporting detail, and broadened reciprocal reporting guidance.
  • Co-sponsors added across March–June 2025.

If you want, I can:
- Extract the exact statutory language changes (redline-style) for each affected School Code section, or
- Produce a one‑page briefing for school districts describing required data elements and deadlines.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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