Illinois bans police from ticketing students for misbehavior

Yahoo

29-05-2025

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — Both houses of the Illinois legislature have passed a bill that would prevent police from ticketing students for misbehavior in school, and it now heads to Gov. JB Pritzker's desk to be signed into law.
amends the Illinois School Code to prevent school personnel from referring a truant student to law enforcement, including the School Resource Officer, or issuing a fine as punishment.
It also prevents schools from issuing a monetary fine as disciplinary punishment for any violations that occur on school grounds or during school-related events.
A 2022 investigation found that ticketing students in schools is common across the state, with some students fined up to $750.
The law applies to all public schools, including charter schools, and goes into effect for the 2027-2028 school year.
Schools will also be made to report how often they involve police in student matters each year, and keep records of race, gender, and disabilities.
A 2015 law prevented Illinois schools from fining students directly, but the study found that schools were getting around the law by calling police to ticket students for violating local ordinances.
Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago) said the goal of the law 'is to make sure if there is a violation of school code, the school should use their discipline policies.'
According to the initial study, 12,000 tickets were written to students over a three year period, and Black students were twice as likely to receive a ticket as white students.
'It leads to the school-to-prison pipeline by legislating discipline,' Ford previously. 'There's no reason for a student to be engaging with law enforcement when they break a school rule. Teachers and principals should deal with it by helping correct the behavior, by teaching lessons, not issuing citations with the law enforcement. Our goal should be to keep young people out of the criminal justice system, not introduce them or lead them.'
Under the law, police can arrest students for crimes or violence.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.