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The measure would alter Illinois law and not require a person to
notify a newspaper following a name change.
During a recent Senate Executive Committee hearing, state Sen.
Sue Rezin, R-Morris, said a flaw in the legislation could help
the criminal element fall through the cracks.
“There’s a loophole built into a bill that maybe started off
good but potentially is helping people who are here as
non-citizens, especially the non-citizens who were caught in my
county with almost 6 to 7 pounds of fentanyl which is enough to
kill half of Chicago, which is not insignificant,” said Morris.
State Sen. Ram Villivallam, D-Chicago, the bill’s sponsor, said
24 other states have similar legislation in place.
“The name change law already requires folks with criminal
records to disclose that information when filing their name
change petition with the judge,” said Villivalam. “Second, fraud
and criminal records are detected through social security or
driver’s license numbers.”
The measure passed out of the committee by a 9-4 vote and could
be taken up by the Illinois Senate in January.
The Illinois General Assembly took up the state’s name change
laws in 1993 and voted to require that people convicted of
felonies wait two years after serving their sentences before
becoming eligible to legally change their names.
In 2007, lifetime bans went into effect designed to prevent
people from changing their names to escape the sex offender
registry or to commit fraud. |
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