Cook County Domestic Violence Courthouse, 555 W Harrison, Chicago IL

Diane’s Law permits a judge to require individuals “charged with intimate partner abuse including domestic battery, kidnapping, stalking, harassment and attempted murder to undergo a risk assessment evaluation.” Judges can also “require GPS monitoring of the defendant to help monitor and enforce restraining orders.”

The law takes effect January 1, 2015, and was passed in response to the murder of Diane Kephart just days after she renewed her protective order against her murderer/ex-boyfriend. Diane’s law also comes on the heel of several initiatives signed by Governor Quinn to “address domestic violence and protect its victims.” The bills signed into law in 2013 include “House Bill 958, which increases the penalties for domestic violence by classifying domestic violence as a felony if the defendant has a prior domestic violence conviction; House Bill 3379, which requires school boards to adopt a policy on teen dating violence; and House Bill 3300, which protects domestic violence victims who are covered by their abusers’ insurance policies.”

In addition to risk assessment and GPS monitoring, the new law may also require individual accused of domestic violence to “pay for their own electronic monitoring as a condition of bail, regardless of whether an order of protection is already in place.”

Senator Althoff, lead supporter of the bill, noted that the purpose of the law is to ensure “that a person charged with violent crimes is properly monitored by law enforcement.”

House Bill 3744 amends 720 ILCS 5/110-5. Click here to check the status of House Bill 3744.