ILLINOIS SENTENCING POLICY ADVISORY COUNCIL    
ILLINOIS SENTENCING POLICY ADVISORY COUNCIL
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Statutory Duties

SPAC logo The concept for the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council (SPAC) was developed by the Criminal Law Edit, Alignment and Reform (CLEAR) Commission. The CLEAR Commissioners studied and reorganized the Unified Code of Corrections in an effort to make it less confusing and easier for the public and practitioners to use. That process led to the conclusion that, although many agencies collected statistics and data about sentencing in Illinois, no agency compiled sentencing data specifically to perform comprehensive, systemwide analysis for reporting to policy makers.

The Illinois General Assembly created SPAC in 2009 to collect, analyze and present data from all cogs of the criminal justice machine to more accurately determine the consequences of sentencing policy decisions. As the non-partisan and independent sentencing commission, the Council reviews resource needs across the criminal justice system and reviews the effectiveness and efficiency of current sentencing policies and practices. SPAC reports directly to the Illinois General Assembly, the Illinois Supreme Court, and the Governor. See 730 ILCS 5/5-8-8.

Goals and Purposes

The purpose of the Council is to review sentencing policies and practices and examine how these policies and practices impact the criminal justice system as a whole in the State of Illinois. In carrying out its duties, the Council shall be mindful of and aim to achieve the purposes of sentencing in Illinois, which are set out in 730 ILCS 5/1-1-2:

  • Prescribe sanctions proportionate to the seriousness of the offenses and permit the recognition of the differences in rehabilitation possibilities among individual offenders;
  • Forbid and prevent the commission of offenses;
  • Prevent arbitrary or oppressive treatment of the persons adjudicated offenders or delinquents; and
  • Restore offenders to useful citizenship.

SPAC does not make recommendations or take positions on specific legislation. SPAC supports using data driven analysis and evidence through:

  • Full systemwide fiscal impact analysis on pertinent proposed legislation.
  • Yearly prison and community supervision population projections.
  • Presenting key findings in research reports based on trends seen in the system or requests by council members of the Governor, Illinois General Assembly members or Illinois Supreme Court.
  • Providing information to support evidence-based sentencing.
  • Reporting on statutorily mandated policy reforms, including downward departures for gun possession sentence enhancements and the impacts of additional pre-sentence investigations before sentencing. See 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-110 and 730 ILCS 5/5-4-1(b-1)

The Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council does not provide legal representation or legal assistance.