Chicago has passed two reparations ordinances. The 2015 ordinance created a $5.5 million fund, a public apology, counseling services, tuition benefits, and a school curriculum requirement for survivors of torture by Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and officers under his command. The 2024 ordinance created a 40-member Black Reparations Task Force to study broader harms to Black Chicagoans and recommend policy by summer 2026. Who qualifies depends on which ordinance you’re asking about: the 2015 payments were limited to living survivors of Burge-era torture, while the 2024 effort is a study, not a benefits program.
Why the 2015 Ordinance Exists
From 1972 to 1991, Jon Burge and officers under his command tortured more than 120 people, predominantly Black men, at Area 2 and Area 3 police headquarters on the South Side. Interrogation methods included electric shock, suffocation with plastic bags, and severe beatings used to coerce confessions, and many of those confessions produced wrongful convictions.
No officer was ever criminally charged with the torture itself. Burge was convicted in 2010 of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying in a civil deposition about the abuse and served four years in federal prison. By then the statute of limitations on the underlying torture had expired. That accountability gap drove the campaign behind the 2015 ordinance.
What the 2015 Reparations Ordinance Provides
The City Council passed the package in May 2015. It established a dedicated Reparations Fund for Burge Torture Victims totaling $5.5 million, with each person holding a credible claim eligible for up to $100,000. Anyone who had already recovered money through a prior settlement or lawsuit had their payment reduced by the amount previously received.1City of Chicago. Reparations for Burge Torture Victims Ordinance
The ordinance also required a formal public apology from the city. It created the Chicago Torture Justice Center, a city-funded facility offering counseling, trauma-informed care, reentry support, and case management to survivors and their families. Chicago Public Schools must teach the history of the Burge torture cases in the eighth- and tenth-grade curriculum. Survivors and their family members received access to tuition-free education at City Colleges of Chicago.
Who Qualified Under the 2015 Ordinance
To receive a financial payment, a person had to show a credible claim of torture or physical abuse by Burge or officers under his command between 1972 and 1991. The application required sworn statements and any available legal, medical, or police records corroborating the abuse, and claims were cross-referenced against decades of civil rights litigation files. A neutral third-party administrator reviewed each claim to confirm it fell within the covered time period, officers, and locations. The city set a firm filing deadline.
One restriction surprises many families: the ordinance explicitly bars heirs and estates of deceased victims from collecting the cash payment. If a survivor died before filing or receiving payment, the family cannot collect on their behalf.1City of Chicago. Reparations for Burge Torture Victims Ordinance Family members may still use the Chicago Torture Justice Center and the City Colleges tuition benefit; only the cash reparations were limited to living survivors.
The 2024 Black Reparations Task Force
The 2024 ordinance takes a different approach. Rather than compensate an identified group, it created a Black Reparations Task Force charged with producing Chicago’s first comprehensive reparations study, examining harms from slavery, Jim Crow laws, segregation, and discriminatory city policies across housing, policing, incarceration, education, health, and economic development.
The task force has 40 members. Twenty-five were nominated through the Mayor’s Office and the City Council’s Aldermanic Black Caucus, and the remaining 15 seats were filled through a public application process. All 40 members were announced in June 2025.2City of Chicago. Mayor Brandon Johnson Announces Juneteenth Task Force Members Members are paid to serve for one year following the first meeting, and the final study is expected by summer 2026.3City of Chicago. Mayor Brandon Johnson Launches Public Application To Join Chicago’s Reparations Task Force
The task force is advisory. It can propose legislation and recommend policy, but it cannot enact anything on its own. Any benefits, payments, or policy changes would require separate action by the City Council after the study is delivered. There is no application for individual reparations under the 2024 ordinance, because there is no program yet to apply for.
Funding and Legal Authority
The $5.5 million fund for Burge survivors was a one-time appropriation from city revenue dedicated solely to those payments.1City of Chicago. Reparations for Burge Torture Victims Ordinance The 2024 task force operates on a $500,000 allocation from the city’s general budget, the first time Chicago set aside taxpayer money specifically to study broader reparations.
Chicago’s authority to pass both measures comes from its home-rule status under the Illinois Constitution. Article VII, Section 6 allows any municipality over 25,000 in population to exercise any power pertaining to its government and affairs unless state law specifically prohibits it.4Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Constitution – Article VII That gave the City Council the room to create dedicated funds, require curriculum changes, and stand up a task force without separate authorization from Springfield.