State Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, tries to hold back tears as she speaks at the signing of the Sonya Massey Act at the Illinois State Capitol on Aug. 12, 2025.
Gov. JB Pritzker is surrounded by the Massey family, politicians and others as he signs the Sonya Massey Act at the Illinois State Capitol on Aug. 12, 2025. The act provides more accountability in the hiring of police officers in Illinois.

SPRINGFIELD, IL — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has signed new legislation requiring law enforcement agencies in the state to perform more comprehensive reviews of prospective officers, prompted by the 2024 shooting of Sonya Massey, a Black woman who was shot in the face while in her home by a sheriff's deputy.

Top provisions of the bill, according to Illinois State Sen. Doris Turner, include making sure that hiring agencies have a candidate's full employment history, creating merit boards for hiring sheriff's deputies in significantly smaller jurisdictions, and ensuring more comprehensive employment vetting rules apply to all law enforcement agencies, from township police to park police. Pritzker signed the legislation, called the Sonya Massey Act, on Aug. 12.

Turner, who represents the 48th district that encompasses an area from Springfield to Decatur, told USA TODAY that writing and introducing the bill was the "most important" work of her 25-year legislative career.

"I really believe that with this legislation, had it been there before, Sonya may still be alive," said Turner, who sponsored the bill. "We can't mandate who people hire but we can make sure they have all the info about their applicants that’s available."

What happened to Sonya Massey?

Massey, 36, a mother of two children, was killed inside her Springfield home on July 6, 2024, when Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean P. Grayson shot her while responding to Massey's call about a possible intruder. Gruesome video of the encounter shows the deputy firing on an unarmed Massey as she apologized and ducked for cover.

Her death sparked national outcry and widespread protests over police brutality, later prompting a Justice Department investigation. State and local officials also called for a review of the sheriff's office's hiring practices after it was revealed that Grayson had a history of complaints involving women.

The sheriff who hired Grayson later resigned amid vociferous criticism. Grayson was fired from his position after he was indicted on multiple charges, including murder.

He is scheduled to stand trial in Peoria County on Oct. 20.

Did law enforcement help craft the bill?

Following Massey’s death, former law enforcement officers and experts told USA TODAY that loose vetting requirements created the conditions for questionable candidates to get hired. Turner said the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police and the Illinois Sheriffs' Association helped develop the bill with legislators to prevent something similar from happening.

Illinois Chiefs of Police Association Executive Director Kenny Winslow said the association believes there should be minimum background standards for individuals seeking to protect and serve communities.

"We are one step closer to ensuring that background checks will be more thorough and only those candidates of the highest moral character will be among the police force," Winslow said.

Illinois legislators believe the bill is the first of its kind to put such stringent employment vetting requirements for law enforcement agencies.

Massey’s family watched the governor sign the bill

Pritzker signed the bill under the watchful eye of Donna Massey, the mother of Sonya Massey. Sonya Massey's father, James Wilburn of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and her two children, Malachi and Summer, both of Springfield, were also in attendance, as was civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represented the Massey family in a $10 million civil settlement against Sangamon County.

Pritzker, who met with the Massey family last summer after the shooting, said Sonya Massey was in his thoughts.

"She loved and she was loved and was taken from us far too soon," Pritzker said before the signing. "What we do today should serve as an example across the nation for other states and other jurisdictions."

What's in the bill?

The measure, according to Pritzker, helps to prevent similar tragedies and better equips law enforcement to "keep our communities safe, and to continue working to build a justice system that protects all of our citizens."

Officers with histories of serious disciplinary issues "should not be serving in those capacities in our communities, and those histories should not come to light only after disaster happens," Pritzker added.

Turner said she was especially proud to collaborate with the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association and the Illinois Chiefs of Police "to determine necessary guardrails to ensure we have good officers on our street protecting and serving our communities.”

The measure, known as Senate Bill 1953, ensures an officer's fitness for duty as a police officer before an employment offer is made. The law expands the creation of sheriff’s merit boards and sheriff’s merit commissions for counties with a population of at least 75,000.

The Illinois House and Illinois Senate overwhelmingly passed the bill with bipartisan support.

What to know about Sean P. Grayson

Hired by the department in May 2023 and paid just over $56,000 annually, Grayson arrived in Sangamon County with a litany of missteps to his name, including two DUIs, a discharge from the U.S. Army for "serious misconduct," and complaints against him from the people he policed as well as from law enforcement officers.

He'd also had five law enforcement jobs since 2020, some of them part-time and overlapping with each other.

The Sangamon Sheriff's Department's hiring interview warned that Grayson "needs to slow down to make good decisions." They hired him anyway.

A USA TODAY review of public records also found he had been the subject of several complaints alleging belligerent behavior toward women.

Family 'cautiously optimistic'

Turner, a longtime friend of several generations of the Massey family, said she spoke to Massey about a week before the fatal shooting.

Massey "was not just a constituent or someone I casually knew," Turner said, adding she's known several generations of Masseys.

Massey's cousin, Sontae Massey, said he was elated about the signing, but "cautiously optimistic."

"We will savor the small victories, but we understand that this is the beginning of an arduous journey for justice and equity," he told The State Journal-Register, part of the USA TODAY Network.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signs new law requiring stricter checks for police hires

Reporting by Steven Spearie and Michael Loria, USA TODAY NETWORK / State Journal-Register

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