SE Illinois News

State Rep. Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis) announced that two bills related to the criminal justice system have been passed through two House Committees.

According to a release by Windhorst through Facebook, HB 2390 prevents disabled retired police officers who have hit 60 years of age from being called back to work. Currently a police officer on disability can be called back to duty at any age. The bill passed the House Judiciary Criminal Law Committee unanimously earlier this month.

“We must do everything that we can to express our appreciation to police officers and sheriffs that have served our communities for years, sacrificing their lives and putting their bodies on the line,” Windhorst said on Facebook on March 16. “We should not be forcing anyone that has been disabled and even if they are now recovered, to return to the very dangerous work that police officers do after the age of 60. I appreciate our police, and if someone wishes to return to work, they still could. But my legislation would prevent the mandatory recall of these retired officers back into service.”

According to the Illinois General Assembly website, the bill focuses on the police article of the Illinois Pension Code.

“In a provision concerning submission to an examination to determine fitness for duty for police officers whose duties have been suspended because of disability, certification that a police officer is no longer disabled, and authorizing disabled police officers to be assigned to duty during an emergency, excludes police officers who have attained the age of 60,” the bill reads.

Windhorst also wrote that HB 1434 changes the Juvenile Court Act “to allow the admissibility of certified hospital or public or private agency records in adjudicatory hearings on abused, neglected, or dependent minors.” Similar legislation passed in the House but not the Senate in a previous legislative session.

Windhorst said this bill protects private information and also loosens restrictions on admissibility of medical records. According to the Illinois General Assembly website, the bill was filed on Jan. 26 and advanced to the third reading as of March 16.

“The sad fact is that minors are abused and neglected and medical records are often needed to prove that abuse and neglect,” Windhorst wrote. “Current Illinois law unnecessarily restricts the admissibility of medical records in Illinois juvenile court hearings.”

Windhorst was elected to the Illinois House in 2019 and serves on the Restorative Justice Committee and Judiciary-Criminal.