PRISONER REVIEW BOARD-DUTIES
HB3702 makes a broad set of changes to Illinois law governing the Prisoner Review Board (PRB), victim participation in release-related proceedings, and correctional release processes. The bill expands and formalizes how victims and certain protected persons may submit victim impact statements for parole, mandatory supervised release, clemency, medical release, and revocation hearings. It requires the PRB to publish instructions for submitting statements, consider statements from any registered victim, and redact those statements from transcripts or recordings shared outside the Board and the petitioner/parole candidate. It also extends participation rights to people with protective orders and those involved in ongoing criminal or civil cases against a petitioner or parole candidate.
The bill also adds new administrative and training requirements for the PRB. It requires all Board members and commissioners to complete a training course within 30 days of starting service, with topics focused on corrections, rehabilitation, domestic violence, trauma, bias, and victim safety. It creates a Director of Victim and Witness Services within the PRB to oversee notification procedures, victim involvement, safety planning, referrals, and training, and it establishes the Survivor Safety and Support Fund in the State treasury to help victims and survivors with housing, transportation, and daily essentials when an offender is scheduled for release or has been released. The bill further requires the PRB to run a LEADS report before deciding whether to revoke parole or mandatory supervised release, and it makes conforming changes to the State Finance Act and Illinois Pension Code.
HB3702 would amend the Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act and the Unified Code of Corrections to expand victim notification and participation rights, impose new PRB training and reporting obligations, and create a new special fund and PRB leadership position. It would also require the Department of Corrections and PRB to coordinate more closely on victim notice, release-related information, and LEADS checks, while adding new confidentiality and redaction rules for victim statements. The bill affects the PRB, the Department of Corrections, registered victims, survivors with protective orders, and people subject to parole, mandatory supervised release, clemency, or medical release proceedings.
No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of support or opposition in the available history. Based on the bill text, the measure is framed as a victim-safety and procedural-reform bill, with an emphasis on improving notice, access, and support for survivors. The overall tone of the proposal is protective of victims and administrative in nature, suggesting it is intended to strengthen PRB procedures rather than substantially alter sentencing law.
The most likely points of contention are the expanded scope of who may submit victim statements, the requirement that the PRB consider statements from any registered victim, and the redaction rules for hearing transcripts and recordings. Another possible issue is the creation of a new Director of Victim and Witness Services and the Survivor Safety and Support Fund, which could raise questions about staffing, funding, and implementation. The mandatory PRB training requirements and the LEADS-report requirement before revocation decisions may also draw concern from those focused on administrative burden, privacy, or due process in parole and revocation proceedings.