SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — With hundreds of new laws taking effect in Illinois next week, we will continue to bring you an assortment of those new laws, most of which address safety, ethics, employment wages and benefits, and criminal justice reform.

Under an update to Illinois’ Health Care Right of Conscience law, medical providers will no longer be allowed to refuse certain medical treatments based on religious objections.

Employers will now have to offer greater flexibility in employee sick time and will have to allow them to use up to half their allotted time to attend to the medical needs of family members.

Property owners will no longer be allowed to sell or re-lease properties with high lead levels until the problem is mitigated and the property is considered safe.

Law enforcement officials will have to accept cash for bail. This law comes after a credit card machine malfunction resulted in a county jail keeping a man over a weekend for a minor offense.

In instances where there is an immediate threat to the safety of an individual, filing a temporary order of protection is vitally important.”

House Bill 6109 would permit the Illinois Supreme Court to establish a pilot program that would allow individuals to electronically file petitions for temporary orders of protection.

Currently, a person must appear in a civil court to file a petition for an order of protection.