Illinois Rep. Slaughter’s juvenile justice mediation bill passes House and Senate

Passed bill authored by State Rep. Justin Slaughter aims to expand juvenile community mediation and introduce restorative justice steps before sentencing following approval in both the House and Senate, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

In the House, 65 Democrats voted in favor of the bill, while five Democrats and 34 Republicans opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, 38 Democrats and one Republican voted in favor of the bill, while 18 Republicans voted against it.

Slaughter introduced the bill in the Illinois House on Jan. 28, 2026 during the 104th session.

The legislation, known as HB4639, was passed on May 20, 2026 during the general assembly session 104.

According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill’s official text as follows: “Amends the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. Provides that either the court or the State’s Attorney, or both, (rather than the State’s Attorney) or an entity designated by the State’s Attorney, may establish community mediation programs designed to provide citizen participation in addressing juvenile delinquency. Provides that prior to entering a sentence, the court shall require the parties involved to consider participation in a restorative practice, such as a conference or circle as defined in the Code of Civil Procedure, to identify and repair harm to the extent possible, address trauma, reduce the likelihood of further harm, and strengthen community ties by focusing on the needs and obligations of all parties involved through a participatory process. Provides that participation in the process shall be voluntary by all parties, and any resulting agreement shall contain only reasonable and proportionate obligations. Provides that the agreement shall be recommended to the court as an alternative to sentencing.”

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill expands Illinois juvenile community mediation programs and adds a restorative justice step before juvenile sentencing. It allows either the court, the state’s attorney, or an entity designated by the state’s attorney to create community mediation programs with panels that reflect the community’s diversity and can impose informal consequences such as community service, restitution, counseling, treatment, school attendance and other agreed sanctions lasting no more than six months. Before entering a sentence, the court must require the parties to consider participating in a voluntary restorative practice, such as a conference or circle, to identify and repair harm, address trauma, reduce future harm and strengthen community ties, with any reasonable, proportionate agreement recommended to the court as an alternative to sentencing.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Adriane Johnson (Democrat-30th District), Sen. Javier L. Cervantes (Democrat-1st District), and Sen. Karina Villa (Democrat-25th District), along with 11 other sponsors.

Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.

You can read more about bills and other measures here.

Slaughter graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA.

Slaughter, a Democrat, was elected to the Illinois State House in 2017 to represent the state’s 27th House District, replacing previous state representative Monique D. Davis.

Lawmakers listed as “Not Voting” were present for the vote but did not cast a vote. Those marked as having an “Excused Absence” were not present and formally provided a reason for their absence, which was accepted.