Diversion program for people caught with illegal guns for the first time is expanded, extended

A probation program for people charged for the first time with illegally possessing a gun will continue indefinitely under a measure signed by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker after passing through the legislature with some Republican support.

The program was previously set to expire at the end of the year and limited to defendants under 21 with no prior convictions for violent crimes. In addition to striking the expiration date, the new law does away with the age restriction.

The measure is among the latest criminal justice reforms approved by Pritzker, who signed it last Friday, the same day he held a news conference to herald his signature on legislation that loosened restrictions on people who remain under state supervision after being released from prison.

The evening before, Pritzker discussed the first-time gun offender program during a talk about gun violence at a north suburban synagogue.

Pritzker said the diversion program was meant to help young people who grow up in underserved communities and around violence avoid a life of crime.

“This is a problem that we’ve been trying to deal with in so many other ways in sentencing,” the governor said before an audience of a couple hundred in Temple Jeremiah in Northfield. “We’re not talking about people who committed terrible violent crimes. We’re talking about people who committed a felony but not a violent felony.”

The first-time gun offender pilot program was passed about six years ago by the Democrat-controlled Illinois General Assembly. Under the new guidelines, participants will no longer be required to submit to a drug test or show they’re seeking employment, enrolling in school or performing community service. Courts would still have leeway to impose those requirements, however.

The program would also now last anywhere from six months to two years, instead of the previous 18 months to two years. Once completed, the gun charge against participants is dropped.

The program is only for people who face nothing more serious than a Class 4 felony, the lowest felony level.

Some Republicans raised concerns about the program’s restrictions being relaxed and also questioned the lack of data showing whether the program has been effective since originally passing through the legislature in 2017.

During the spring legislative session, state Sen. Ram Villivalam, a Chicago Democrat who sponsored the measure, cited support from groups such as the Illinois States Attorneys Association and the Illinois State Rifle Association. He also pointed to a 2021 Loyola University Chicago study showing that just 7% of defendants in Illinois who were released from prison for illegal firearm possession during a four-year period in the 2010s were rearrested within three years for using a gun to commit a violent crime.

The bill breezed through the House 98-6, with a number of Republicans voting yes. It was a tougher sell in the Senate two days earlier, passing 37-16 with just three Republicans siding with Democrats.

Some of the Republican support was due to fears that the state’s strict gun laws, including a ban on many high-powered weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines that is now tied up in court, could ensnare otherwise law-abiding citizens.

jgorner@chicagotribune.com