{"id":182,"date":"2026-05-23T11:38:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T11:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=182"},"modified":"2026-05-23T11:38:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T11:38:18","slug":"illinois-lawmakers-ban-police-from-ticketing-and-fining-students-for-minor-infractions-in-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=182","title":{"rendered":"Illinois Lawmakers Ban Police From Ticketing and Fining Students for Minor Infractions in School"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Illinois legislators on Wednesday passed a law to explicitly prevent police from ticketing and fining students for minor misbehavior at school, ending a practice that harmed students across the state.<\/p>\n

Read more A Tennessee School Agreed to Pay $100,000 to Family of 11-Year-Old Student Arrested Under School Threats Law<\/a><\/p>\n

The new law would apply to all public schools, including charters. It will require school districts, beginning in the 2027-28 school year, to report to the state how often they involve police in student matters each year and to separate the data by race, gender and disability. The state will be required to make the data public.<\/p>\n

The legislation comes three years after a ProPublica and Chicago Tribune investigation, \u201cThe Price Kids Pay,\u201d revealed that even though Illinois law bans school officials from fining students directly, districts skirted the law by calling on police to issue citations for violating local ordinances.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Price Kids Pay\u201d found that thousands of Illinois students had been ticketed in recent years for adolescent behavior once handled by the principal\u2019s office \u2014 things like littering, making loud noises, swearing, fighting or vaping in the bathroom. It also found that Black students were twice as likely to be ticketed at school than their white peers.<\/p>\n

From the House floor, Rep. La Shawn Ford, a Democrat from Chicago, thanked the news organizations for exposing the practice and told legislators that the goal of the bill \u201cis to make sure if there is a violation of school code, the school should use their discipline policies\u201d rather than disciplining students through police-issued tickets.<\/p>\n

State Sen. Karina Villa, a Democrat from suburban West Chicago and a sponsor of the measure, said in a statement that ticketing students failed to address the reasons for misbehavior. \u201cThis bill will once and for all prohibit monetary fines as a form of discipline for Illinois students,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The legislation also would prevent police from issuing tickets to students for behavior on school transportation or during school-related events or activities.<\/p>\n

The Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police opposed the legislation. The group said in a statement that while school-based officers should not be responsible for disciplining students, they should have the option to issue citations for criminal conduct as one of a \u201cvariety of resolutions.\u201d The group said it\u2019s concerned that not having the option to issue tickets could lead to students facing arrest and criminal charges instead.<\/p>\n

The legislation passed the House 69-44. It passed in the Senate last month 37-17 and now heads to Gov. JB Pritzker, who previously has spoken out against ticketing students at school. A spokesperson said Wednesday night that he \u201cwas supportive of this initiative\u201d and plans to review the bill.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump Wants to Cut Tribal College Funding by Nearly 90%, Putting Them at Risk of Closing<\/a><\/p>\n

The legislation makes clear that police can arrest students for crimes or violence they commit, but that they cannot ticket students for violating local ordinances prohibiting a range of minor infractions.<\/p>\n

That distinction was not clear in previous versions of the legislation, which led to concern that schools would not be able to involve police in serious matters \u2014 and was a key reason legislation on ticketing foundered in previous legislative sessions. Students also may still be ordered to pay for lost, stolen or damaged property.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bill helps create an environment where students can learn from their mistakes without being unnecessarily funneled into the justice system,\u201d said Aimee Galvin, government affairs director with Stand for Children, one of the groups that advocated for banning municipal tickets as school-based discipline.<\/p>\n

The news investigation detailed how students were doubly penalized: when they were punished in school, with detention or a suspension, and then when they were ticketed by police for minor misbehavior. The investigation also revealed how, to resolve the tickets, children were thrown into a legal process designed for adults. Illinois law permits fines of up to $750 for municipal ordinance violations; it\u2019s difficult to fight the charges, and students and families can be sent to collections if they don\u2019t pay.<\/p>\n

After the investigation was published, some school districts stopped asking police to ticket students. But the practice has continued in many other districts.<\/p>\n

The legislation also adds regulations for districts that hire school-based police officers, known as school resource officers. Starting next year, districts with school resource officers must enter into agreements with local police to lay out the roles and responsibilities of officers on campus. The agreements will need to specify that officers are prohibited from issuing citations on school property and that they must be trained in working with students with disabilities. The agreements also must outline a process for data collection and reporting. School personnel also would be prohibited from referring truant students to police to be ticketed as punishment.<\/p>\n

Before the new legislation, there had been some piecemeal changes and efforts at reform. A state attorney general investigation into a large suburban Chicago district confirmed that school administrators were exploiting a loophole in state law when they asked police to issue tickets to students. The district denied wrongdoing, but that investigation found the district broke the law and that the practice disproportionately affected Black and Latino students. The state\u2019s top legal authority declared the practice illegal and said it should stop.<\/p>\n

Read more Tennessee\u2019s Law on School Threats Ensnared Students Who Posed No Risks. Two States Passed Similar Laws.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The legislation comes after a ProPublica-Chicago Tribune investigation revealed that even though state law bans schools from fining students directly, districts skirt the law by calling on police to issue citations for violating local ordinances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[13],"class_list":["post-182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-education"],"yoast_head":"\nIllinois Lawmakers Ban Police From Ticketing and Fining Students for Minor Infractions in School - Moving Services America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingservicesamerica.com\/?p=182\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Illinois Lawmakers Ban Police From Ticketing and Fining Students for Minor Infractions in School - 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