Public Act 104-0430 (SB 1519) prohibits law enforcement from issuing tickets and citations to students for violating school rules or local municipal ordinances as a school-based disciplinary consequence. The Act applies to public school districts and charter schools.
P.A. 104-0430, which went into effect immediately (August 20, 2025), follows a ProPublica investigation, released in 2022, which found that local law enforcement was ticketing students for more minor disciplinary offenses, such as possession of tobacco or small amounts of marijuana, fights, and truancy. While school districts are barred from fining students as a disciplinary consequence, ProPublica reported that instead schools would involve local law enforcement to issue tickets and fines to students. Another ProPublica article in 2024 highlighted the ongoing nature of the problem and included a letter from the Illinois Attorney General directing a high school district to stop asking law enforcement to fine students for school-based misconduct.
As a result of P.A. 104-0430, the Illinois School Code explicitly targets the practice of local law enforcement issuing tickets and fines for municipal violations for school-based misconduct on school grounds, during the school day. Section 10-22.6(i) now explicitly states that “[a] student must not be issued a monetary fine, fee, ticket, or citation as a school-based disciplinary consequence or for a municipal code violation on school grounds during school hours or while taking school transportation by any person.” In addition, Section 26-12 of the School Code, was amended to explicitly prohibit local public entities, school resource officers (SROs), and peace officers from issuing a truant, chronic truant, or truant minor a fine or a few as punishment for truancy.
Nevertheless, schools still may involve law enforcement in serious student misconduct matters, and students still may be criminally charged when the misconduct occurs on school grounds, during the school day or while on school transportation. In addition, traffic violations that occur on school grounds may still be enforced by local law enforcement.
P.A. 104-0430 also includes new requirements for SROs and SRO agreements. Beginning July 1, 2026, a memorandum of understanding between a local law enforcement agency and a school district is required for any school district that uses an SRO. The MOU must include provisions that:
- Define the role, duties, and responsibilities of an SRO;
- Specify procedures to ensure that an SRO has been trained or has received a waiver for training, as provided in Section 10.22 of the Illinois Police Training Act, including specific training on working with students with disabilities to ensure appropriate and effective interactions that support their educational and behavioral needs;
- Specify that an SRO is prohibited from issuing tickets or citations on school property in accordance with subsection (i) of Section 10-22.6;
- Outline a process for data collection and reporting in accordance with Section 2-3.206; and
- Provide for regular review and evaluation of the SRO program, including community and stakeholder input.
In addition, beginning with the 2027-2028 school year, school districts must annually report to ISBE the number of students in kindergarten through grade 12 who were referred to a law enforcement agency or official, and the number of instances of referrals to law enforcement that students in kindergarten through grade 12 received. The data must be disaggregated by race and ethnicity, sex, grade level, whether a student is an English learner, and disability.
ISBE’s press release on P.A. 104-0430 is available here: New Illinois Law Ends School-Based Ticketing for Students (August 20, 2025).
Please contact Jessica Nguyen with questions about this new law’s prohibitions on fining/ticketing students by law enforcement as a school-based discipline. For questions about SROs and SRO agreements, please contact Heather Brickman.
