New Illinois Eavesdropping Law Sent To Governor’s Desk

Dave Dahl -- Illinois Radio Network

A new law prohibiting secretly recording conversations has passed the General Assembly, replacing a law the Illinois Supreme Court tossed out in the spring.

“What this bill does, most importantly, is to restore Illinois to a two-party, or all-party, consent state,” said the House sponsor, State Rep. Elaine Nekritz (D-Northbrook). “If someone is going to record a conversation, they have to get the consent of everyone in that conversation in order to be able to record.”

That's all well and good, but enough has happened since the Supreme Court acted to give people a different idea of what eavesdropping may mean.

“If ever there was a sense of urgency, it’s right now,” said State Sen. Tim Bivins (R-Dixon), pointing out no provision in the bill addresses police body cameras. “And the body camera language needs to be addressed as soon as possible, to protect not only our police officers, but our citizens.”

S.B. 1342 has passed both chambers and awaits the governor's action.