By Neil Doyle

BLOOMINGTON – Legislation sponsored by State Senator Jason Barickman gives victims of sexual assault new protections when reporting the crime to police or receiving treatment at a hospital.

Gov. JB Pritzker signed House Bill 92 into law earlier this month.

Under previous law, when a victim of sexual assault came into contact with police, such as when going to the hospital for treatment, they would have had to be arrested for any outstanding warrants, even in cases of minor non-violent offenses or unpaid fines.

Barickman (R-Bloomington) spoke with WJBC’s Todd Wineburner.

“We were able to change the law so police officers have another option rather than executing that warrant. In fact, they can communicate with a local state’s attorney or local judge and those parties can make a decision as to whether or not that old warrant needs to be executed,” he said.

The new law allows a police officer to request a waiver for the warrant, so long as it isn’t for a violent offense or parole violation.

“This is a good example of a common sense fix to a law that was producing some unintended consequences,” said Barickman.

Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]