A joint study by BGA Policy and Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts provides the fullest picture of the successes and limitations of Illinois’ First Time Weapon Offense Program (FTWOP). This program allows for Illinoisans charged with eligible, non-violent offenses to limit their involvement with the criminal legal system. While eligibility has expanded, the study found issues like significant data gaps, underutilization and the ability of the state’s attorney to prevent people from participating. 

The First Time Weapon Offense Program

The FTWOP allows participants with an eligible non-violent charge of unlawful possession of a weapon (UPW) or aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon (AUPW) to have their case dismissed. But as a judicial branch program, much of the data is not available through Illinois’ Freedom of Information Act. 

UPW and AUPW are administrative in nature, typically resulting from the defendant not having proper licensure to carry a weapon. The FTWOP allows successful participants to avoid further entanglement with the criminal legal system following a dismissal of their charge, although participation in the program can still cause disruption in participants’ lives. 

Participation in the program requires the state’s attorneys’ sign-off. This allows the state’s attorney to veto any particular defendant’s participation, or to all participation in a county as a whole. 

To be eligible for the First Time Weapons Offense Program, participants must meet the following requirements:

• Charged with a misdemeanor UPW,  Class 4 UPW, or Class 4 AUPW
• They did not possess a gun during the commission of a violent act
• They have never been convicted, placed on probation or given a conditional discharge for a violent offense
• They have not previously completed the FTWOP
• They were never adjudicated as a delinquent minor for a violent act
• They do not have an order of protection against them

In addition to the stated criteria,  state’s attorneys can help determine the length of time participants are in the program, and can add other requirements.

It should be noted that the Jasper County State’s Attorney told Chicago Appleseed and BGA that he had never sentenced anyone to the FTWOP, instead favoring other means of diversion that do not involve charging someone with “a felony at all and may involve a lesser misdemeanor supervision or probation if not a full dismissal.” This project did not examine whether other counties did not use this program for similar reasons as the Jasper County State’s Attorney. 

Our Findings

Since the FTWOP is a judicial branch program, Chicago Appleseed and BGA Policy had limited access to data. We instead submitted records requests to each county’s state’s attorney’s office. 

Our analysis found that while prior changes to the program increased eligibility and lowered barriers for completion, more changes are needed for fuller utilization, such as removing the state’s attorney’s veto. 

Of Illinois’ 102 state’s attorney offices, 81 responded to one or both of the requests and 13 counties provided some data on the program, although the available data was not consistent across all 13 counties. 

Many of the counties with data saw an increase in participation, especially after Public Act 103-370, which increased eligibility for the program when it went into effect in 2023. Cook County is a good example of how participation changed, with much of the growth coming from those older than 25 years of age. Only those younger than 21 had been able to do the program before PA 103-370.

Lack of data was another significant barrier, and instituting a universal coding system and bringing the courts under FOIA would be needed to expand upon this research in the future.

Overall, the available data showed high rates of successful completion; below is Cook County’s success rate as an example.

Conclusion

BGA Policy and Chicago Appleseed suggest the program be amended to remove the state’s attorney’s veto, require universal coding, and have an annual report on usage submitted to the General Assembly. Additionally, both organizations encourage the wider use of diversion programs like FTWOP.

There are a lot more details in the full report, which you can read here.