IL: Illinois
Summary: The Police Dog Retirement Act requires agencies to offer a retired dog to its handler first. HB 3140 (2025) created a retired K9 vet grant of up to $1,500 a year, funded by license plates. EMS may transport injured police dogs.
Body armor
None found.
Medical & insurance
210 ILCS 50/3.55(e). EMS may transport a police dog hurt in the line of duty if no person needs care. Transport only. K9 MEDIC state law map (verified Sep 18, 2026)
Retirement & service limits
510 ILCS 82, Police Dog Retirement Act (P.A. 99-817, eff. Jan 1, 2017). A police dog no longer fit for service shall be offered first to the officer who handled it, then to other officers, then to nonprofits or no kill shelters. ilga.gov
Post retirement care
HB 3140 (104th General Assembly), P.A. 104-0276 (signed Aug 15, 2025; Senate sponsors Napoleon Harris III and Erica Harriss). Creates the Care for Retired Police Dogs Program, which reimburses handlers or adopters up to $1,500 a year for vet costs. Dogs need 5 years of service, or 3 if injured. Funded by the Illinois Police K-9 Memorial license plate, and the program dies if fewer than 2,000 plates are ordered by Jan 1, 2028. LegiScan; Sen. Harriss release
Penalties for harming police animals
510 ILCS 70/4.03. Teasing, striking or interfering with a police animal is a Class A misdemeanor, and a repeat offense is a Class 4 felony. ilga.gov.
Sources
- https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=3733&ChapterID=41
- https://legiscan.com/IL/text/HB3140/id/3105897
- https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/documents/051000700k4.03.htm
- Cross state reference: K9 MEDIC state law map (verified Sep 18, 2026)
- Federal backdrop (not state law): 18 U.S.C. ยง 1368 makes it a crime to harm a federal police animal, up to 10 years if the animal is seriously hurt or killed (Animal Legal & Historical Center).
Listing a bill or sponsor here does not mean they support the ARC Act.