March 17, 2010
                                                                                                                                            
The Department of Corrections (DOC) would be required to post online the pictures and identification information of former inmates who receive early release if legislation introduced by Sen. Dillard is signed into law.

“This is a commonsense practice that might have deterred some of the problems and abuses we saw occur with the Quinn administration’s flawed early release program,” Dillard said. “As the sponsor of Illinois’ Truth in Sentencing law, I was infuriated by the Quinn administration’s early release of prisoners who were violent criminals or involved in a murder.

“Some early release inmates served only days of their sentence in an Illinois penitentiary. That is a mockery of our system of law enforcement, and a mockery of their victims and their victims’ families.”

Senate Bill 3411 would require DOC to place on its Web site within three days of the inmate’s release, a recent picture of the inmate. The Web site would not only include the inmate’s name and age, but also his or her physical attributes, address, the offense that was committed and the county where the conviction took place.

March 16, 2010
                                                                                                                                            
Sexual offenders would be banned from visiting or loitering near Illinois’ public parks, including state parks, under the provisions of legislation sponsored by Sen. Dillard that is advancing through the Illinois General Assembly.

“A majority of the time public parks are safe places to enjoy nature and explore the outdoors. Unfortunately, there have been tragedies,” said Dillard. The senator pointed to the March 14, 1960 sexual assault and murder of three Riverside women in Starved Rock State Park. The 50th anniversary of the tragic event was recently observed.

More recently, a former Naperville resident, 17 year-old Chelsea King was tragically murdered when she went running in a parkland area near her San Diego home. A convicted sex offender has been charged with the teen’s murder and possible sexual assault.

“Unfortunately parks can be hard to patrol, making it hard to deter crime in these areas,” Dillard said. “However, hopefully by prohibiting sexual offenders from hanging around public parks, we reduce the number of people who are loitering in a potentially secluded environment where law enforcement officials aren’t likely to be.”

Child sex offenders are already prohibited from being in or loitering within 500 feet of a public park when children are present. Under Senate Bill 2824, convicted sexual predators and child sex offenders would be forbidden from being in or loitering within 500 feet of a public park.

Dillard said that the legislation is based on a city ordinance in a North Carolina town that prohibited registered sex offenders from being in any of the three city parks. The North Carolina Supreme Court upheld the city ordinance as constitutional.

Having been unanimously approved by the Illinois Senate, Senate Bill 2824 now proceeds to the Illinois House for consideration.
 

March 16, 2010
                                                                                                                                            
People who “game” the system to illegally receive public assistance are the focus of legislation sponsored by Sen. Dillard.

Dillard sponsored Senate Bill 3815, which would create a task force to assess the pervasiveness of public assistance fraud in Illinois in order to determine whether the state should enforce more stringent penalties for those convicted of fraud.

“The state offers assistance to people who truly need aid. Low-income families who help getting back on their feet, low-income seniors, people with disabilities and nursing home residents—there are people who have a legitimate need for assistance,” said Dillard. “However, there are also dishonest individuals who intentionally seek benefits and services they aren’t entitled to. These are the people who threaten the integrity of our public assistance programs.

“Public aid fraud keeps assistance from flowing to those who need it most—mostly children and senior citizens.”

The senator explained that the Public Benefits Fraud Protection Task Force would conduct a thorough review of the state’s public assistance program and the nature of public assistance found. Task force members would then calculate the detriment of public assistance fraud, and decide whether or not the state should enforce tougher penalties against people seeking to take advantage of the system.

“Every year Illinois loses money to fraud and abuse. We need to determine how much of the state’s resources are being lost so we can take reasonable steps to address the problem,” said Dillard. “Recently, the New York Times projected up to 10 percent of Medicaid—the state’s largest expenditure—is fraud. That is a whopping $1.3 billion of potential savings in Illinois!”

Senate Bill 3815 was recently unanimously approved by the Illinois Senate. The legislation now proceeds to the Illinois House for further consideration.
 

March 11, 2010
                                                                                                                                            
SPRINGFIELD – For the second year in a row West Suburban Living Magazine readers have chosen State Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) as the local “Politician With Most Integrity.”

“I’m proud that for the second year in a row residents have chosen me as their local ‘politician’ who they believe serves with integrity,” said Dillard. “As a state senator I always do my best to serve honestly and in the best interest of the people of Illinois.

“Every day I have a motion on file urging the Illinois Senate to take up former federal prosecutor Patrick Collins’ reforms of state government, which would help bring integrity, accountability and transparency back to Illinois!“

Western Suburban Living Magazine’s "Best of the West" issue outlines the readers' choice for the best of what the western suburbs have to offer.

Sen. Dillard is honored to have once been chosen as the local "Politician with Most Integrity" by the magazine's readers, who weighed in on who and what they think is the best in more than 70 categories.

The Senator is no stranger to the publication's "Best of the West" list—two years ago he was selected as the "Most Influential Area Resident."