Bill banning police from ticketing students for breaking school rules heads to Pritzker

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — The Illinois House passed legislation Wednesday night to ban police from giving tickets and citations to students for breaking school rules.

This bill could also require police officers to be trained on how to handle students with disabilities if they enforce the law on school grounds.

Lawmakers and advocates filed the plan after ProPublica found 11,800 tickets were handed to students from 2019 to 2022.

"It also requires any district utilizing a school resource officer to create a MOU with their local law enforcement that would establish the role and responsibilities of SROs," said Rep. La Shawn Ford (D-Chicago).

Students could still be penalized for any serious crimes committed on school grounds.

Senate Bill 1519 passed out of the House on a 69-44 vote. It previously passed out of the Senate on a 37-17 vote.

"Disciplinary action, such as ticketing, has not and will not ever address the root causes of these behaviors," said Sen. Karina Villa (D-West Chicago). "The practice of issuing tickets instead transfers the responsibility of paying the ticket on families, which can create an overwhelming financial hardship."

The legislation now heads to Gov. JB Pritzker's desk.