Illinois police officers will soon be required to run a standardized risk screening every time they investigate an allegation of intimate partner assault or battery, even when no arrest is made on scene. Governor JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 3048 into law in August 2026, setting an effective date of January 1, 2027, for the state's expanded domestic violence protection framework.
The bill was chief-sponsored by State Senator Julie A. Morrison (D-Lake Forest) and Representative Ann M. Williams (D-Chicago), according to Capitol Fax. Under the new law, officers must administer a lethality assessment whenever they investigate allegations of intimate partner assault or battery, whether or not an arrest follows. The Illinois State Police say the legislation was initiated to strengthen how officers evaluate danger in real time, according to a statement shared by Illinois State Police on Facebook, which credited Gabby Petito's story and the warning signs surrounding her case as part of the inspiration behind the push.
“Domestic-violence incidents are some of the most volatile situations police officers encounter, and identifying high-risk cases early is critical to protecting victims,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly in the same statement. “SB 3048 strengthens that effort by giving law enforcement the tools, training, and standardized guidance needed to assess danger in real time and assist individuals with life-saving resources.”
Why Illinois Lawmakers Moved Now
The push for standardized screening follows troubling statewide numbers. The Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence reported 137 domestic violence-related deaths in Illinois in 2024, a 14% increase from the 120 deaths recorded in 2023 and a 140% surge since 2022, per the same account from Capitol Fax. Firearms were involved in 68% of those 2024 fatalities, accounting for 94 of the 137 deaths, including 72 homicides and 22 perpetrator suicides.
Lethality assessments are tools designed to identify victims at high risk of serious injury or death from domestic or intimate partner violence, according to the Illinois State Police statement. The underlying model traces back to 2005, when the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence and Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell of Johns Hopkins University developed an 11-question screening tool that connects high-risk victims immediately with hotline advocates from the scene, as detailed by Aspirant. That approach has since been adopted in more than three dozen states.
A Multi-Year Rollout With Privacy Protections
SB 3048 does not flip a switch overnight. The Illinois Department of Human Services and Illinois State Police must complete a stakeholder feedback analysis by August 1, 2027, release an official domestic violence lethality toolkit by January 1, 2028, and begin mandatory continuing education for officers by January 1, 2029, according to LegiScan. That toolkit is expected to include lethality assessment policies, protocols, training, and referrals to domestic violence services, per the Illinois State Police statement.
The law also amends the Illinois Freedom of Information Act to explicitly exempt from public disclosure all information, records, and recordings collected by law enforcement during domestic violence lethality assessments or behavioral threat assessments, according to LegiScan's bill summary. Lawmakers also built in a statutory good-faith provision specifying that administering a lethality assessment does not impose additional legal or civil liability on an officer or agency, according to BillTrack50. Because Illinois operates as a “may arrest” rather than mandatory-arrest state under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986, standardized screening tools are seen as especially critical for officers weighing on-scene risk when no immediate arrest is made, according to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.
Advocacy Groups Face Funding Strain
The legislation arrives as some of the state's frontline service providers are under financial pressure. In October 2025, the Gabby Petito Foundation appeared as a keynote partner with A Safe Place, Northern Illinois' primary domestic violence service agency, to promote lethality assessment training while highlighting that local providers were facing $2 million in federal funding cuts, according to footage aired by ABC7 Chicago. That tension underscores a key challenge ahead: as officers increasingly connect high-risk victims directly to hotlines and emergency services from the scene, the community organizations meant to receive those referrals are contending with reduced capacity.
Illinois State Police say the agency is committed to working with partners to implement the lethality assessment protocol and help prevent tragedies before they occur, closing its statement with the hashtag #TogetherWeCan. The rollout follows related reforms; Illinois' courthouse filming ban for domestic violence victims, also taking effect in 2027, similarly requires officers conducting lethality assessments to provide victims with standardized program information and domestic violence hotline contacts under 750 ILCS 60.
