The Sonya Massey Act (Public Act 104-0158) took effect on January 1, 2026, amending Section 6.5 of the Illinois Police Training Act, 50 ILCS 705/6.5, and amending the Illinois Personnel Records Review Act, 820 ILCS 40/1, et. seq. to implement strict requirements for background investigations for both part-time and full-time law enforcement officers and the requirements for the release of law enforcement personnel files.

The Massey Act requires a law enforcement agency to obtain a signed release from an applicant directing any and all entities that previously employed the applicant to produce all employment records and to review said records received before making a final offer of employment. All records must be produced to the requesting law enforcement agency within fourteen days after receipt of that request unless an extension of time is requested. The production of records should not be produced with any redactions except for the specific exceptions contained in the Act for sensitive information. The Producing law enforcement agency is required to provide a signed verification that indicates all responsive records have been provided with the production of the records. The producing law enforcement agency is immune from liability and suit for submitting, disclosing, or releasing information if it was done in “good-faith” and “without malice.”

The Massey Act further requires a law enforcement agency to produce a complete law enforcement personnel file upon proper written request from a hiring agency or board for the purpose of making an employment determination, within fourteen days from the receipt of the request.

Any collective bargaining agreement that was entered into prior to January 1, 2026, that is inconsistent with the Massey Act is not subject to the new requirements. However, any CBA that contains conflicting language with the Massey Act may not be entered into, modified, or extended on or after January 1, 2026.

With these changes, police departments should be careful about the hiring process and the collection, retention, and production of records. If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact Haley Peters at hpeters@tresslerllp.com.

About Haley Peters

Haley Peters is an associate in Tressler’s Local Government Practice Group. Haley concentrates her practice on serving cities and villages. Her practice emphasizes day-to-day operations and general corporate counsel matters for municipalities, counties, townships, park districts, and other taxing bodies. This includes liquor-related matters, planning and zoning matters, development, and employment matters. Read Haley’s full bio here.