Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB4446

LRB104 16310 RTM 29696 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB4446

Introduced 1/20/2026, by Rep. Daniel Didech

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

50 ILCS 706/10-20

Amends the Law Enforcement Officer-Worn Body Camera Act. In provisions concerning whether recordings made with the use of an officer-worn body camera are subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, provides that any recording disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act may, rather than shall, be redacted to remove identification of any person that appears on the recording and is not an officer, a subject of the encounter, or directly involved in the encounter. Provides that nothing in the provisions shall prohibit the disclosure of any recording or portion of any recording regardless of whether it would be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, rather than require the disclosure of any recording or portion of any recording which would be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

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 Section 10-20 as follows:

(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 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 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:

(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 may 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 prohibit require the disclosure of any recording or portion of any recording regardless of whether it 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.)