State Senate Republicans introduce bills addressing Illinois' rise in domestic violence deaths

Amid a 140% jump in domestic violence-related deaths since 2022, state Senate Republicans on Thursday proposed a legislative package aimed at ramping up penalties for domestic abusers and making bail more difficult for people accused of domestic violence.

State Sens. John Curran (R-Downers Grove), Steve McClure (R-Springfield), and Darby Hills (R-Barrington Hills) are pushing four different bills addressing rising domestic violence in Illinois. At a press conference Thursday, Dakota Sebring, a survivor of repeated domestic abuse, joined the lawmakers to share her struggles in getting legal help to deal with an abuser.

“The system that was set up to protect me did not stop the harm as quickly as it should have,” Sebring said.

On March 16, 2025, Sebring was assaulted and strangled by a previous partner of hers, injuring her face and neck. Sebring called the police, and the attacker was taken to jail for 30 days.

He was later issued a no-contact order and an order of protection, but he violated those orders and continued to physically abuse Sebring. Since his first 30-day sentence less than a year ago, he has served three additional sentences, one of which was only for a day.

“Each time I did what victims are told to do. I reported everything, I documented everything, and I cooperated fully,” Sebring said. “But current law leaves the burden on victims to continue to prove the danger of what's being done to them, and to have to face these repeated violations over and over again.”

McClure’s bill would raise the classification of a violated court order from a misdemeanor to a felony.

Hills introduced legislation that would increase the sentence for a violated court order from 24 hours to 48. A subsequent violation would mean a a 96-hour sentence. Another bill Hills proposed echoes McClure’s, increasing the violation of a protection order to a felony if the perpetrator has any history of violating protection orders.

Curran’s bill would require the abuser to prove that they pose no threat to society in order to obtain pre-trial release. Currently, the victim is responsible for proving that an alleged abuser is a threat to them or others before that individual can be kept in pre-trial custody.

“This is at a crisis point right now,” Curran said. “I think it is incredibly important that each and every thoughtful proposal, which all of these are, be on the table.”