Death in Custody Reporting requirements are expanded and improved by mandating that information about people who die in law enforcement custody be made publicly available

JHA led the charge to require increased collection and public reporting of information on deaths in custody of Illinois law enforcement agencies.

In September 2018, three men at Menard Correctional Center died within a day of each other.  Despite efforts by JHA and the families, we were able to get only very cursory information on what happened.  Working with an investigative journalist we learned more, and she broadcast the information – prompting a statement from the Governor’s office in September 2019 that they support increased transparency around reporting of deaths in Illinois prisons.  JHA pushed to bring about this transparency, drafting a bill called the Death in Custody Reporting Act (DCRA). 

The DCRA requires that basic information be publicly reported about who, where, when, and other circumstances surrounding a death in custody. This information enables family members and other stakeholders to hold agencies accountable for the treatment of people in their custody, thus safeguarding the constitutional rights of Illinois residents.

Prior to this reform, Illinois and local jurisdictions did not provide adequate information to the public on deaths that occur while people are in the custody of our law enforcement agencies.. This lack of transparency is troubling and erodes public trust in government.  Further, in 2014 federal legislation mandated reporting requirements for deaths occurring in custody; states not in compliance with this law risk sacrificing up to 10% of their federal criminal justice funds.  Illinois is now poised to provide more transparency into the treatment of people who are detained and incarcerated and avoid the risks of noncompliance.

The DCRA was included in House Bill 3653, omnibus criminal justice reform legislation also known as the SAFE-T Act (Safety Accountability Fairness Equity Today), which was signed into law by Governor Pritzker in February 2021 and was implemented July 1, 2021. 

All death in custody data is currently being collected and reported by ICJIA; their data dashboard can be found here. Further, JHA has created visualizations of the categories of information collected in Illinois on deaths that have occurred in IDOC specifically - view those charts here.