Illinois Sen. Loughran Cappel’s police training and enforcement bill passes House and Senate

Newly passed bill authored by State Sen. Meg Loughran Cappel aims to expand police training, clarify enforcement roles, and update procedures for handling evidence and juvenile contact in Illinois, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

In the House, 72 Democrats and 36 Republicans voted in favor of the bill.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, 36 Democrats and 17 Republicans voted in favor of the bill.

Loughran Cappel introduced the bill in the Illinois Senate on Feb. 5, 2026 during the 104th session.

The legislation, known as SB3597, was passed on May 21, 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 Illinois State Police Law. Provides that the Division of Patrol shall enforce the motor carrier safety provisions of the Illinois Vehicle Code and serve as the lead State agency for administering the commercial vehicle safety plan of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Adds human trafficking, sexual assault, and sexual abuse in-service training requirements for Illinois State Police officers. Provides that the Division of Statewide 9-1-1 shall cooperate with federal and State authorities that are engaged in aeronautics and that request to use the Illinois State Police’s radio network system. Provides that the State Police shall maintain a statewide statistical police contact recordkeeping system (rather than develop a separate statewide statistical police recordkeeping system) for the study of juvenile delinquency. Provides that, with the permission (rather than written permission) of a child’s parent or guardian, the Illinois State police may collect (rather than retain) the fingerprints or DNA (rather than only the fingerprint record) of the child. Specifies that the fingerprints or DNA may be retained by the child’s parent or guardian and later used for specified purposes. Amends the Intergovernmental Drug Laws Enforcement Act. Provides that a Metropolitan Enforcement Group may enforce crimes concerning terrorism and threats to public officials and human service providers. Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. In provisions concerning criminal prosecutions for violations of the Cannabis Control Act, the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, or the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act and criminal prosecutions for reckless homicide, or driving under the influence of alcohol, other drug, or combination of both, or in any civil action held under a statutory summary suspension or revocation hearing, deletes provisions requiring specified information to be attached to laboratory report from the Illinois State Police, Division of Forensic Services. Amends the Freedom from Drone Surveillance Act. In provisions requiring the chief executive officer of a law enforcement agency to report the use of a drone to the State’s Attorney under specified circumstances, adds language allowing the report to be made by the chief executive officer’s designee. Makes other and conforming changes. Effective immediately.”

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

In essence, this bill expands and clarifies Illinois State Police duties and training, including new in-service requirements on human trafficking and on sexual assault and sexual abuse response. It designates the Division of Patrol as the lead state agency for enforcing commercial motor carrier safety and the Division of Statewide 9-1-1 to share its radio network, on request, with federal and state aeronautics authorities. It requires maintenance of a statewide statistical police contact system for juveniles, allows police to collect a child’s fingerprints or DNA with parental permission for use if the child goes missing, authorizes Metropolitan Enforcement Groups to enforce specified terrorism and threat offenses, lets certain lab reports stand without added documentation in drug and DUI-related prosecutions, and permits a law enforcement chief’s designee to file required drone-use reports. The bill takes effect immediately.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar (Democrat-22nd District), Sen. Mary Edly-Allen (Democrat-31st District), and Rep. Matt Hanson (Democrat-83rd District), along with one other sponsor.

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.

Cappel graduated from Benedictine University with a BA.

Cappel, a Democrat, was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 2020 to represent the state’s 49th Senate District, replacing previous state senator Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant.

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.