republic-os/legislation/us/states/il/99th/sb-2459.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "MHDDC-VIDEO CONFERENCING-HEARG"
description: "Amends the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code. Provides that the Illinois Supreme Court or any circuit court of this State may adopt rules permitting the use of video conferencing equipment in any hearing concerning the administration of psychotropic medication or electroconvulsive therapy subject to the following conditions: (1) if the parties, including the respondent, and their attorneys, including the State's Attorney, are at a mental health facility, or some other location to which the respondent may be safely and conveniently transported, and the judge and any court personnel are in another location; or (2) if the respondent and his or her attorney are at a mental health facility or some other location to which the respondent may be safely and conveniently transported, and all of the other participants including the judge are in another location, if, and only if, agreed to by the respondent and the respondent's attorney. Provides that in a hearing concerning the administration of psychotropic medication or electroconvulsive therapy, any court may permit any witness, including a psychiatrist, to testify by video conferencing equipment from any location in the absence of a court rule specifically prohibiting that testimony."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "99th"
identifier: "SB 2459"
citation: "Illinois SB 2459 (99th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 29
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2016-02-09"
last_action: "2016-07-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/171414af-992d-44ff-8291-e5d286366a34"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=2459&GAID=13&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=94300&SessionID=88&GA=99"
source_hash: "dda5f8cec15417bbbc3a04d54224bf4e2849128ce49f1a652f1966e20d4c41de"
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 SB 2459 (99th) — MHDDC-VIDEO CONFERENCING-HEARG

Amends the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code. Provides that the Illinois Supreme Court or any circuit court of this State may adopt rules permitting the use of video conferencing equipment in any hearing concerning the administration of psychotropic medication or electroconvulsive therapy subject to the following conditions: (1) if the parties, including the respondent, and their attorneys, including the State's Attorney, are at a mental health facility, or some other location to which the respondent may be safely and conveniently transported, and the judge and any court personnel are in another location; or (2) if the respondent and his or her attorney are at a mental health facility or some other location to which the respondent may be safely and conveniently transported, and all of the other participants including the judge are in another location, if, and only if, agreed to by the respondent and the respondent's attorney. Provides that in a hearing concerning the administration of psychotropic medication or electroconvulsive therapy, any court may permit any witness, including a psychiatrist, to testify by video conferencing equipment from any location in the absence of a court rule specifically prohibiting that testimony.

## 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=09900SB2459&GA=99&SessionId=88&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=94300&DocNum=2459&GAID=13&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09900SB2459eng&GA=99&SessionId=88&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=94300&DocNum=2459&GAID=13&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09900SB2459enr&GA=99&SessionId=88&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=94300&DocNum=2459&GAID=13&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **48–0** (pass) · upper
- Third Reading — **114–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Dave Syverson — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2016-02-09** Filed with Secretary by Sen. Dave Syverson `filing`
- **2016-02-09** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2016-02-09** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2016-02-17** Assigned to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2016-03-02** Do Pass Judiciary; 010-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2016-03-02** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading March 3, 2016
- **2016-03-08** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2016-03-08** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading March 9, 2016
- **2016-04-05** Added as Co-Sponsor Sen. Donne E. Trotter
- **2016-04-05** Third Reading - Passed; 048-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2016-04-05** Arrived in House `introduction`
- **2016-04-05** Chief House Sponsor Rep. Peter Breen
- **2016-04-05** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2016-04-05** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2016-04-12** Alternate Chief Sponsor Changed to Rep. Mike Fortner
- **2016-04-12** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Peter Breen
- **2016-04-18** Assigned to Human Services Committee `referral-committee`
- **2016-05-04** Do Pass / Short Debate Human Services Committee; 012-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2016-05-04** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2016-05-05** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Patricia R. Bellock
- **2016-05-05** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Sara Feigenholtz
- **2016-05-10** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2016-05-10** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2016-05-11** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 114-000-001 `reading-3, passage`
- **2016-05-11** Passed Both Houses
- **2016-06-09** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2016-07-08** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2016-07-08** Effective Date January 1, 2017
- **2016-07-08** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 99-0535 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/171414af-992d-44ff-8291-e5d286366a34`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).