---
type: "Bill"
title: "DNR-CONSERVATION POLICE"
description: "Amends the Department of Natural Resources (Conservation) Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Requires conservation police officers to demonstrate their ability to swim at a competency level that has been established by the American Red Cross and approved by the Department in an administrative rule (rather than at a competency level established by the American Red Cross for skills equivalent to an intermediate level swimmer). Effective immediately."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "96th"
identifier: "HB 5538"
citation: "Illinois HB 5538 (96th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 27
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2010-02-08"
last_action: "2010-07-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6b2d7122-579f-4922-aa0c-887688f0cf10"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=5538&GAID=10&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=50666&SessionID=76&GA=96"
source_hash: "d5ba40e6d2f2a154093441b78637f84eee5b054b346280e519c7c2953aa800d3"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-il"]
---

# Illinois HB 5538 (96th) — DNR-CONSERVATION POLICE

Amends the Department of Natural Resources (Conservation) Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Requires conservation police officers to demonstrate their ability to swim at a competency level that has been established by the American Red Cross and approved by the Department in an administrative rule (rather than at a competency level established by the American Red Cross for skills equivalent to an intermediate level swimmer). Effective immediately.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600HB5538&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=50666&DocNum=5538&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600HB5538eng&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=50666&DocNum=5538&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09600HB5538enr&GA=96&SessionId=76&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=50666&DocNum=5538&GAID=10&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **114–0** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **54–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Susana A. Mendoza — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2010-02-08** Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Susana A. Mendoza `filing`
- **2010-02-09** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2010-02-09** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2010-02-16** Assigned to Agriculture & Conservation Committee `referral-committee`
- **2010-02-23** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Filed with Clerk by Agriculture & Conservation Committee `amendment-introduction`
- **2010-02-23** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Adopted in Agriculture & Conservation Committee; by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
- **2010-02-23** Do Pass as Amended / Short Debate Agriculture & Conservation Committee; 013-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2010-02-23** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2010-03-16** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2010-03-16** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2010-03-17** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 114-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2010-03-17** Arrive in Senate `introduction`
- **2010-03-17** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading `reading-1`
- **2010-03-17** Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Dan Kotowski
- **2010-03-17** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2010-03-17** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2010-04-06** Assigned to State Government and Veterans Affairs `referral-committee`
- **2010-04-15** Do Pass State Government and Veterans Affairs; 008-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2010-04-15** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading April 20, 2010
- **2010-04-23** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2010-04-23** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading April 27, 2010
- **2010-04-27** Third Reading - Passed; 054-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2010-04-27** Passed Both Houses
- **2010-05-26** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2010-07-02** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2010-07-02** Effective Date July 2, 2010
- **2010-07-02** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-0972 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6b2d7122-579f-4922-aa0c-887688f0cf10`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).