State Rep. Bob Pritchard (R- Hinckley) proposed a bill requiring all domestic violence offenders to register in an online database.

The registration would allow public access to personal information of domestic violence offenders, letting communities know which offenders reside in the area.

“My goal is not to do harm, but to help individuals know that there are people with violent behaviors and perhaps be a deterrent to people if they know their information would get out on the Web and anybody could have it,” Pritchard said.

Pritchard’s main premise for proposing House Bill 4322 is to provide people with information and tools to create a greater awareness of those in the community.

“I hope we’d be achieving increased awareness in this growing problem and make improvements in this area,” he said. “If you give people tools, they’ll find ways to find out about all kinds of information. People should know about convicted felons and deal with those types of individuals.”

The bill passed its judiciary committee vote 9-6 and is on second reading, according to State Rep. Naomi D. Jakobsson (D-Champaign). Jakobsson is in favor of Pritchard’s proposal.

“I’ve been the director of a domestic violence shelter and anything we can do to protect our victims is important,” she said. “I’ve looked at it and I most likely, unless there are some changes to the bill in the near future, will be voting for it.

Pritchard said he’s making revisions and considering what the database would mean for victims.

“We’ve talked with a number of groups and they’re supportive and appreciate the efforts but have major reservations in creating a database and what that would do to families and battered individuals and bringing forth charges,” he said. “I have a sense that a number of people were listening to some of the domestic violence organizations and the concerns they had, and they began to have concerns, as did I.”

Like the sex offenders registry, the domestic violence database would be maintained by the Illinois State Police.

“Basically we’re neutral,” said Master Sergeant Rick Hector, spokesman for the state police.

Until the bill passes and the department can see what it literally reads, details for the project’s maintenance, such as additional manpower or required pieces of information for offenders, are yet to be determined, he said.