Sex Offenses & Sex Offender Registration Task Force Final Report

Abstract

The Illinois Sex Offenses and Sex Offender Registration Task Force was established by the 99th General Assembly. Its mandate was to perform three functions before January 1, 2018: 1. Examine current offenses that require offenders to register as sex offenders, the current data and research regarding evidence-based practices, the conditions, restrictions, and outcomes for registered sex offenders, and the registration process. 2. Hold public hearings at the call of the co-chairpersons to receive testimony from the public. 3. Make recommendations to the General Assembly regarding legislative changes to more effectively classify sex offenders based on their level of risk of re-offending, better direct resources to monitor the most violent and high-risk offenders, and to ensure public safety. From December 2016 through December 2017, the Task Force and its diverse membership carried out these activities with administrative support from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. This report recapitulates and concludes its work. The report reviews sex offenses subject to registration in Illinois; discusses the statutory categories of sex offenders and sexual predator, and what state-level data shows about the sex offender population; offers a brief history of sex offender legislation and policy from a national and Illinois perspective; examines the state’s infrastructure tasked with overseeing state and local sex offender management system; and provides the Task Force’s findings and recommendations, which are outlined below in this Executive Summary. It is important to note that the Task Force examined the most current and scientifically rigorous research available on sex offender policies and practice and heard testimony from renowned experts in the field.2 Much of the research reviewed was collected and summarized on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice, Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking Office’s Sex Offender Management, Assessment, and Planning Initiative. (Author Abstract)