NEWS
from the Illinois Senate
State Senator Susan Garrett
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 4, 2008
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Susan Garrett (847) 433-2002
Ronald Holmes (217) 782-3124
GOVERNOR SIGNS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE GPS TRACKING BILL
Illinois is second state in the country to enact this legislation
HIGHWOOD, IL— State Senator Susan Garrett (D – Lake Forest) joined the family of Cindy Bischof and a bipartisan group of legislators today when the Governor signed the Cindy Bischof Law.
Sparked by the tragedies of the domestic abuse, the new law is named after Cindy Bischof whose ex-boyfriend was able to obtain a gun and shoot her in the parking lot of her real estate business, even after he had been arrested and prosecuted for violating a restraining order on two occasions.
“The Cindy Bischof Law will help law enforcement officials protect families through use of GPS systems, strengthen existing laws for protecting families, and may save lives,” said Senator Garrett.
The bill offers a comprehensive approach to protect victims of domestic violence cases.
The law establishes a domestic violence surveillance program which allows courts to order a respondent abuser partner to carry or wear a global positioning system (GPS) device for a violation of an order of protection. This surveillance is allowed after consulting with the offender for violations that may include stalking the victim, violating the victim’s personal space as defined in the order of protection, or failing to comply with the respondent abuser’s mandated abuser partner intervention program.
The abuser partner may be ordered to carry or wear a GPS device placing that individual under electronic surveillance at the following times:
- As a condition of bail after being charged with a violation of an order of protection;
- As a condition of probation for violation of an order of protection;
- As a condition of conditional discharge after a conviction for a violation of an order of protection;
- As a condition of early release because of a grant of good conduct credit after a conviction of an order of protection; or
- As a condition of parole or mandatory supervised release after a conviction of a violation of an order of protection.
The new law also adds at least a $200 additional fine to every penalty on a violation of a restraining order conviction. The fines will be deposited into the newly established Domestic Violence Surveillance Fund.
“Approximately three women a day are killed in the US by their intimate partners” said Harvard Law lecturer Diane Rosenfeld, a bill proponent and architect of similar legislation recently signed into law in Massachusetts. “Yet domestic violence homicide is the most predictable—and therefore preventable—type of homicide that we know of.”
The new law provides that courts must order the abuser to be evaluated by a partner abuse intervention program and order the respondent to follow all recommendations. This remedy will be included in every order of protection issued on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act. Failure by the Respondent abuser to complete the mandated abuse partner intervention treatment program will constitute a violation of the protective order.
“It is with a heavy heart for the Bischof family that I sign this legislation to enhance our state’s protections for domestic abuse victims,” said Governor Blagojevich. “The loss of their daughter was a terrible tragedy, but the Bischof family has used the heartbreak of her death to protect others like Cindy, who live in fear of their abuser. With this legislation, we will further help victims of domestic violence by monitoring their abusers whereabouts and aiding law enforcement in tracking violations of a restraining order.”
The law is effective January 1, 2009.