Illinois § 35-40

§ 35-40.

Services for municipalities with less than 1,000,000 residents. (a) The Office of Firearm Violence Prevention shall identify the 10 municipalities or geographically contiguous areas in Illinois with less than 1,000,000 residents and more than 35,000 residents that have the largest concentration of fatal and nonfatal firearm-shot victims over the 5-year period considered for eligibility. These areas shall qualify for grants under this Act. The Office of Firearm Violence Prevention may identify up to 5 additional municipalities or geographically contiguous areas with less than 1,000,000 residents that would benefit from evidence-based violence prevention services. In identifying the additional municipalities that qualify for funding under Section 35-40, the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention shall consider the following factors when possible: (1) the total number of fatal and nonfatal firearms victims, excluding self-inflicted incidents, in a potential municipality over the 5-year period considered for eligibility; (2) the per capita rate of fatal and nonfatal firearms victims, excluding self-inflicted incidents, in a potential municipality over the 5-year period considered for eligibility; and (3) the total potential firearms violence reduction benefit for the entire State of Illinois by serving the additional municipalities compared to the total benefit of investing in all other municipalities identified for grants to municipalities with more than 35,000 residents and less than 1,000,000 residents. (b) Resources for each of these areas shall be distributed based on a formula to be developed by the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention that will maximize the total potential reduction in firearms victimization for all municipalities receiving grants under this Act. (c) The Office of Firearm Violence Prevention shall create local advisory councils for each of the designated service areas for the purpose of obtaining recommendations on how to distribute funds in these areas to reduce firearm violence incidents. Local advisory councils shall have a minimum of 5 members with the following expertise or experience: (1) a representative of a nonelected official in local government from the designated area; (2) a representative of an elected official at the local or state level for the area; (3) a representative with public health experience in firearm violence prevention or youth development; (4) two residents of the subsection of each area with the most concentrated firearm violence incidents; and (5) additional members as determined by the individual local advisory council. (d) The Office of Firearm Violence Prevention shall provide data to each local council on the characteristics of firearm violence in the designated area and other relevant information on the physical and demographic characteristics of the designated area. The Office of Firearm Violence Prevention shall also provide best available evidence on how to address the social determinants of health in the designated area in order to reduce firearm violence. (e) Each local advisory council shall make recommendations on how to allocate distributed resources for its area based on information provided to them by the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention, local law enforcement data, and other locally available data. (f) The Office of Firearm Violence Prevention shall consider the recommendations and determine how to distribute funds through grants to community-based organizations and local governments. To the extent the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention does not follow a local advisory council's recommendation on allocation of funds, the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention shall explain in writing why a different allocation of resources is more likely to reduce firearm violence in the designated area. (g) Subject to appropriation, the Department of Human Services and the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention shall issue grants to local governmental agencies or community-based organizations, or both, to maximize firearm violence reduction each year. (h) Each local advisory council is terminated upon making the recommendations required of it under this Section. (Source: P.A. 102-16, eff. 6-17-21; 102-679, eff. 12-10-21; 103-8, eff. 6-7-23.)