Search

Search bills, members, committees and pages...

Sign In

HB 4748

Illinois House•In House Committee

Summary

HB 4748, “ANIMAL SHELTER PUBLIC VIEWING”, was introduced in the House on Feb 2, 2026 by Rep. Harry Benton (D). It was referred to Rules, and last saw action on Feb 6, 2026: Referred to Rules Committee.

Record

Text

HB 4748 has no co-sponsors and has not gone to a roll call.

hb4748/introduced.txt
Select Language
  ×
The Illinois General Assembly offers the Google Translate™ service for visitor convenience. In no way should it be considered accurate as to the translation of any content herein.
Visitors of the Illinois General Assembly website are encouraged to use other translation services available on the internet.
The English language version is always the official and authoritative version of this website.
NOTE: To return to the original English language version, select the "Show Original" button on the Google Translate™ menu bar at the top of the window.
  Choose Language
  English
  Afrikaans
  Albanian
  Arabic
  Armenian
  Azerbaijani
  Basque
  Bengali
  Bosnian
  Catalan
  Croatian
  Czech
  Danish
  Dutch
  Esperanto
  Estonian
  Filipino
  Finnish
  French
  Galician
  Georgian
  German
  Greek
  Gujarati
  Haitian Creole
  Hausa
  Hawaiian
  Hebrew
  Hindi
  Hungarian
  Icelandic
  Indonesian
  Interlingua
  Interlingue
  Inuktitut
  Irish
  Italian
  Japanese
  Javanese
  Kannada
  Khmer
  Korean
  Latin
  Latvian
  Lithuanian
  Luxembourgish
  Macedonian
  Malagasy
  Malayalam
  Maltese
  Maori
  Marathi
  Myanmar
  Nepali
  Norwegian
  Odia
  Pashto
  Punjabi
  Romanian
  Russian
  Samoan
  Sango
  Sanskrit
  Sardinian
  Sindhi
  Sinhala
  Slovak
  Slovenian
  Somali
  Southern Sotho
  Spanish
  Sundanese
  Swahili
  Swedish
  Tamil
  Telugu
  Thai
  Tigrinya
  Tonga
  Turkish
  Ukrainian
  Urdu
  Vietnamese
  Welsh
  Xhosa
  Yiddish
  Yoruba
  Zulu
  Powered by Translate
  Close
Illinois General Assembly
Top Navigation Bar
  Translate
  Learn
  Select General Assembly
  Search the 104th General Assembly
  Enter search terms for legislation, members, committees, or schedules.
  ILGA.GOV
Mobile Top Bar
  Search the 104th General Assembly
  Enter keywords to search the Illinois General Assembly website.
Full Text of HB4748
Home
Legislation
Full Text
	HB4748 - 104th General Assembly
		Bill Status
		Full Text
		Votes
		Witness Slips
	Select Menu
	Bill Status
	Full Text
	Votes
	Witness Slips
	Printer Friendly Version
			Introduced
		Printer Friendly Version
		Introduced
			 Open PDF
104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB4748
Introduced , by Rep. Harry Benton
SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
225 ILCS 605/3.6
Amends the Animal Welfare Act. In provisions concerning the acceptance of stray dogs and cats, provides that an animal shelter shall allow access to the public to view the animals housed there, and access to in-person viewing of the animals at the animal shelter shall not be restricted, except during emergency circumstances. Provides that "access to the public" means in-person access for any member of the public to view any impounded animal that is housed at an animal shelter during the animal shelter's regular hours of operation.
LRB104 19071 AAS 32516 b
A BILL FOR
		HB4748		LRB104 19071 AAS 32516 b
    AN ACT concerning regulation.
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
    Section 5. The Animal Welfare Act is amended by changing
Section 3.6 as follows:
    (225 ILCS 605/3.6)
    Sec. 3.6. Acceptance of stray dogs and cats.
    (a) No animal shelter may accept a stray dog or cat unless
the animal is reported by the shelter to the animal control or
law enforcement of the county in which the animal is found by
the next business day. An animal shelter may accept animals
from: (1) the owner of the animal where the owner signs a
relinquishment form which states he or she is the owner of the
animal; (2) an animal shelter licensed under this Act; or (3)
an out-of-state animal control facility, rescue group, or
animal shelter that is duly licensed in their state or is a
not-for-profit organization.
    (b) When stray dogs and cats are accepted by an animal
shelter, they must be scanned for the presence of a microchip
and examined for other currently-acceptable methods of
identification, including, but not limited to, identification
tags, tattoos, and rabies license tags. The examination for
identification shall be done within 24 hours after the intake
		HB4748	- 2 -	LRB104 19071 AAS 32516 b
of each dog or cat. The animal shelter shall notify the owner
and transfer any dog with an identified owner to the animal
control or law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction in which
it was found or the local animal control agency for
redemption.
    (c) If no transfer can occur, the animal shelter shall
make every reasonable attempt to contact the owner, agent, or
caretaker as soon as possible. The animal shelter shall give
notice of not less than 7 business days to the owner, agent, or
caretaker prior to disposal of the animal. The notice shall be
mailed to the last known address of the owner, agent, or
caretaker. Testimony of the animal shelter, or its authorized
agent, who mails the notice shall be evidence of the receipt of
the notice by the owner, agent, or caretaker of the animal. A
mailed notice shall remain the primary means of owner, agent,
or caretaker contact; however, the animal shelter shall also
attempt to contact the owner, agent, or caretaker by any other
contact information, such as by telephone or email address,
provided by the microchip or other method of identification
found on the dog or cat. If the dog or cat has been
microchipped and the primary contact listed by the chip
manufacturer cannot be located or refuses to reclaim the dog
or cat, an attempt shall be made to contact any secondary
contacts listed by the chip manufacturer or the purchaser of
the microchip if the purchaser is a nonprofit organization,
animal shelter, animal control facility, pet store, breeder,
		HB4748	- 3 -	LRB104 19071 AAS 32516 b
or veterinary office prior to adoption, transfer, or
euthanization. Prior to transferring any stray dog or cat to
another humane shelter, pet store, rescue group, or
euthanization, the dog or cat shall be scanned again for the
presence of a microchip and examined for other means of
identification. If a second scan provides the same identifying
information as the initial intake scan and the owner, agent,
or caretaker has not been located or refuses to reclaim the dog
or cat, the animal shelter may proceed with adoption,
transfer, or euthanization.
    (d) When stray dogs and cats are accepted by an animal
shelter and no owner can be identified, the shelter shall hold
the animal for the period specified in local ordinance prior
to adoption, transfer, or euthanasia. The animal shelter shall
allow access to the public to view the animals housed there, 
and access to in-person viewing of the animals at the animal 
shelter shall not be restricted, except during emergency 
circumstances. If a dog is identified by an owner who desires
to make redemption of it, the dog shall be transferred to the
local animal control for redemption. If no transfer can occur,
the animal shelter shall proceed pursuant to Section 3.7. Upon
lapse of the hold period specified in local ordinance and no
owner can be identified, ownership of the animal, by operation
of law, transfers to the shelter that has custody of the
animal.
    For purposes of this subsection (d), "access to the 
		HB4748	- 4 -	LRB104 19071 AAS 32516 b
public" means in-person access for any member of the public to 
view any impounded animal that is housed at an animal shelter 
during the animal shelter's regular hours of operation.
    (e) No representative of an animal shelter may enter
private property and remove an animal without permission from
the property owner and animal owner, nor can any
representative of an animal shelter direct another individual
to enter private property and remove an animal unless that
individual is an approved humane investigator (approved by the
Department) operating pursuant to the provisions of the Humane
Care for Animals Act.
    (f) Nothing in this Section limits an animal shelter and
an animal control facility who, through mutual agreement, wish
to enter into an agreement for animal control, boarding,
holding, measures to improve life-saving, or other services
provided that the agreement requires parties adhere to the
provisions of the Animal Control Act, the Humane Euthanasia in
Animal Shelters Act, and the Humane Care for Animals Act.
(Source: P.A. 99-310, eff. 1-1-16; 100-322, eff. 8-24-17;
100-870, eff. 1-1-19.)

Amends the Animal Welfare Act. In provisions concerning the acceptance of stray dogs and cats, provides that an animal shelter shall allow access to the public to view the animals housed there, and access to in-person viewing of the animals at the animal shelter shall not be restricted, except during emergency circumstances. Provides that "access to the public" means in-person access for any member of the public to view any impounded animal that is housed at an animal shelter during the animal shelter's regular hours of operation.

Sponsors

Rep. Harry Benton (D) sponsors HB 4748 alone.

Harry Benton

Rep. · D–97 · Sponsor

Committees

HB 4748 went before 1 committee: Rules.

Rules
Rules
Referred to · Feb 6, 2026 · 5,290 Bills

History

HB 4748 has taken 3 actions since Feb 2, 2026, the latest on Feb 6, 2026.

ChamberAction
Feb 6, 2026
House
First Reading
Feb 6, 2026
House
Referred to Rules Committee
Feb 2, 2026
House
Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Harry Benton

Votes

HB 4748 has not gone to a roll call.

Source: ilga.gov · legiscan.com