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1 | | AN ACT concerning legal assistance.
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2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Access |
5 | | to Justice Act. |
6 | | Section 5. Findings. |
7 | | (a) The justice system in this State can only function |
8 | | fairly and effectively when there is meaningful access to legal |
9 | | information, resources, and assistance for all litigants, |
10 | | regardless of their income or circumstances.
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11 | | (b) Increasing numbers of people throughout this State are |
12 | | coming into the courts without legal representation for cases |
13 | | involving important legal matters impacting the basics of life |
14 | | such as health, safety, and shelter. In order for the courts to |
15 | | provide fair and efficient administration of justice in these |
16 | | cases, it is critical that people have better access to varying |
17 | | levels of legal assistance appropriate for their individual |
18 | | circumstances.
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19 | | (c) An increasing number of active duty service members and |
20 | | veterans in this State have a need for legal information and |
21 | | assistance in a variety of matters that are often critical to |
22 | | their safety and independence, yet they are often unable to |
23 | | access that assistance. |
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1 | | Section 10. Pilot programs. |
2 | | (a) The General Assembly encourages the Supreme Court to |
3 | | develop: (i) a pilot program to create a statewide military |
4 | | personnel and veterans' legal assistance hotline and |
5 | | coordinated network of legal support resources; and (ii) a |
6 | | pilot program to provide court-based legal assistance within a |
7 | | circuit court in each appellate district of this State. |
8 | | (b) The General Assembly recommends that the rules |
9 | | developing the pilot programs: |
10 | | (1) provide intake, screening, and varying levels of |
11 | | legal assistance to ensure that the parties served by these |
12 | | programs have meaningful access to justice; |
13 | | (2) gather information on the outcomes associated with |
14 | | providing the services described in paragraph (1) of this |
15 | | subsection; and |
16 | | (3) guard against the involuntary waiver of rights or |
17 | | disposition by default. |
18 | | Section 15. Access to Justice Fund. The Access to Justice |
19 | | Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. The |
20 | | Fund shall consist of fees collected under Section 27.3g of the |
21 | | Clerks of Courts Act. There is hereby appropriated, on a |
22 | | continuing annual basis in each fiscal year, from the Access to |
23 | | Justice Fund, the amount, if any, of funds received into the |
24 | | Access to Justice Fund to the Supreme Court for the |
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1 | | administration of the pilot programs created under this Act. |
2 | | Section 20. Evaluation. The Supreme Court shall study the |
3 | | effectiveness of the pilot programs implemented under this Act |
4 | | and submit a report to the General Assembly by June 1, 2017. |
5 | | The report shall include the number of people served in each |
6 | | pilot program and data on the impact of varying levels of legal |
7 | | assistance on access to justice, the effect on fair and |
8 | | efficient court administration, and the impact on government |
9 | | programs and community resources. This report shall describe |
10 | | the benefits of providing legal assistance to those who were |
11 | | previously unrepresented, both for the clients and the courts, |
12 | | and shall describe strategies and recommendations for |
13 | | maximizing the benefit of that representation in the future. |
14 | | The report shall include an assessment of the continuing unmet |
15 | | needs and, if available, data regarding those unmet needs. |
16 | | Section 25. Statutory Court Fee Task Force. |
17 | | (a) There is hereby created the Statutory Court Fee Task |
18 | | Force. The purpose of the Task Force is to conduct a thorough |
19 | | review of the various statutory fees imposed or assessed on |
20 | | criminal defendants and civil litigants. |
21 | | (b) The Task Force shall consist of 15 members, appointed |
22 | | as follows: one each by the Speaker of the House of |
23 | | Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of |
24 | | Representatives, the President of the Senate, and the Minority |
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1 | | Leader of the Senate; 2 by the association representing circuit |
2 | | court clerks; 2 by the Governor, and 7 by the Supreme Court. |
3 | | (c) At the direction of the Supreme Court, the |
4 | | Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts shall provide |
5 | | administrative support to the Task Force. |
6 | | (d) The Task Force shall submit a report containing its |
7 | | findings and any recommendations to the Supreme Court and the |
8 | | General Assembly by June 1, 2014. |
9 | | Section 30. The State Finance Act is amended by adding |
10 | | Section 5.826 as follows: |
11 | | (30 ILCS 105/5.826 new) |
12 | | Sec. 5.826. The Access to Justice Fund. |
13 | | Section 35. The Counties Code is amended by changing |
14 | | Section 5-39001 as follows: |
15 | | (55 ILCS 5/5-39001) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-39001)
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16 | | Sec. 5-39001. Establishment and use; fee. The county board |
17 | | of any
county may establish and maintain a county law library, |
18 | | to be located in
any county building or privately or publicly |
19 | | owned building at the county
seat of government. The term |
20 | | "county building" includes premises leased by
the county from a |
21 | | public building commission created under the Public
Building |
22 | | Commission Act. After August 2, 1976, the county board of any
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1 | | county may establish and maintain a county law library at the |
2 | | county seat
of government and, in addition, branch law |
3 | | libraries in other locations
within that county as the county |
4 | | board deems necessary.
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5 | | The facilities of those libraries shall be freely available |
6 | | to all
licensed Illinois attorneys, judges, other public |
7 | | officers of the county,
and all members of the public, whenever |
8 | | the court house is open , and may include self-help centers and |
9 | | other legal assistance programs for the public as part of the |
10 | | services it provides on-site and online .
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11 | | The expense of establishing and maintaining those |
12 | | libraries shall be
borne by the county. To defray that expense, |
13 | | including the expense of any attendant self-help centers and |
14 | | legal assistance programs, in any county having
established a |
15 | | county law library or libraries, the clerk of all
trial courts |
16 | | located at the county seat of government shall charge and
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17 | | collect a county law library fee of $2, and the county board |
18 | | may
authorize a county law library fee of not to exceed (i) $18 |
19 | | in 2009, (ii) $19 in 2010, and (iii) $21 in 2011 and |
20 | | thereafter,
to be charged and collected by the clerks of all |
21 | | trial courts located in
the county.
The fee shall be paid at |
22 | | the time of filing the first pleading,
paper, or other |
23 | | appearance filed by each party in all civil cases, but no
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24 | | additional fee shall be required if more than one party is |
25 | | represented in a
single pleading, paper, or other appearance.
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26 | | Each clerk shall commence those charges and collections |
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1 | | upon
receipt of written notice from the chairman of the county |
2 | | board that
the board has acted under this Division to establish |
3 | | and
maintain a law library.
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4 | | The fees shall be in addition to all other fees and charges |
5 | | of the
clerks, assessable as costs, remitted by the clerks |
6 | | monthly to the county
treasurer, and retained by the county |
7 | | treasurer in a special fund
designated as the County Law |
8 | | Library Fund. Except as otherwise provided in
this paragraph, |
9 | | disbursements from the fund
shall be by the county treasurer, |
10 | | on order of a majority of the resident
circuit judges of the |
11 | | circuit court of the county. In any
county with more than |
12 | | 2,000,000 inhabitants,
the
county board shall
order |
13 | | disbursements from the fund and the presiding officer of the
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14 | | county board, with the advice and consent of the county board, |
15 | | may
appoint a library committee of not less than 9 members, |
16 | | who, by majority
vote, may recommend to the county board as to |
17 | | disbursements of
the fund and the operation of the library. In |
18 | | single county circuits with
2,000,000 or fewer
inhabitants, |
19 | | disbursements from the County Law Library Fund shall be made by
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20 | | the county treasurer on the order of the chief judge of the |
21 | | circuit court of
the county. In those single county circuits, |
22 | | the number of personnel necessary
to
operate and maintain the |
23 | | county law library shall be set by and those personnel
shall be |
24 | | appointed
by the chief judge. The county law library personnel |
25 | | shall serve at the
pleasure
of the appointing authority. The |
26 | | salaries of those personnel shall be fixed by
the county board |
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1 | | of the county.
Orders shall be
pre-audited, funds shall be |
2 | | audited by the county auditor, and
a report of the orders and |
3 | | funds shall be rendered to
the county board and to the judges.
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4 | | Fees shall not be charged in any criminal or quasi-criminal
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5 | | case, in any matter coming to the clerk on change of venue, or |
6 | | in
any proceeding to review the decision of any administrative |
7 | | officer,
agency, or body.
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8 | | (Source: P.A. 96-227, eff. 8-11-09.)
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9 | | Section 40. The Clerks of Courts Act is amended by adding |
10 | | Section 27.3g as follows: |
11 | | (705 ILCS 105/27.3g new) |
12 | | Sec. 27.3g. Pilot program; Access to Justice Act. |
13 | | (a) If the Supreme Court develops a pilot program to |
14 | | provide court-based legal assistance in accordance with |
15 | | Section 10 of the Access to Justice Act, all clerks of the |
16 | | circuit court shall charge and collect at the time of filing |
17 | | the first pleading, paper, or other appearance filed by each |
18 | | party in all civil cases, in addition to any other fees, a fee |
19 | | of $10, but no additional fee shall be required if more than |
20 | | one party is represented in a single pleading, paper, or other |
21 | | appearance. Fees received by the clerk of the circuit court |
22 | | under this Section shall be remitted, within one month after |
23 | | receipt, to the State Treasurer for deposit into the Access to |
24 | | Justice Fund created under Section 15 of the Access to Justice |
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1 | | Act. |
2 | | (b) This Section is repealed 5 years after the effective |
3 | | date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly. |
4 | | Section 45. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by |
5 | | changing Section 5-105.5 as follows:
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6 | | (735 ILCS 5/5-105.5)
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7 | | Sec. 5-105.5. Representation by civil legal services |
8 | | provider.
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9 | | (a) As used in this Section:
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10 | | "Civil legal services" means legal services in noncriminal |
11 | | matters provided
without charge to indigent persons who have |
12 | | been found eligible under financial
eligibility guidelines |
13 | | established by the civil legal services provider.
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14 | | "Civil legal services provider" means a not-for-profit |
15 | | corporation that (i)
employs one or more attorneys who are |
16 | | licensed to practice law in the State of
Illinois and who |
17 | | directly provide free civil legal services or (ii) is |
18 | | established
for the purpose of providing free civil legal |
19 | | services by an organized panel of pro
bono attorneys.
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20 | | "Court-sponsored pro bono program" means a pro bono program |
21 | | established by or in
partnership with a court in this State for |
22 | | the purpose of providing free civil legal services by
an |
23 | | organized panel of pro bono attorneys. |
24 | | "Eligible client" means an indigent person who has been |
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1 | | found eligible for
civil legal services by a civil legal |
2 | | services provider or court-sponsored pro bono program .
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3 | | "Indigent person" means a person whose income is 125% or |
4 | | less of the current
official federal poverty income guidelines |
5 | | or who is otherwise eligible to
receive civil legal services |
6 | | under the eligibility guidelines of the civil legal services |
7 | | provider or court-sponsored pro bono program Legal Services |
8 | | Corporation Act of 1974 .
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9 | | (b) When a party is represented in a civil action by a |
10 | | civil legal services
provider or attorney in a court-sponsored |
11 | | pro bono program , all fees and costs relating to filing, |
12 | | appearing, transcripts on
appeal, and service of process shall |
13 | | be waived without the necessity of a
motion for that purpose, |
14 | | and the case shall be given an index number or other
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15 | | appropriate filing number, provided that (i) a determination |
16 | | has been made by
the civil legal services provider or attorney |
17 | | in a court-sponsored pro bono program that the party is an |
18 | | indigent person and (ii) an
attorney's certification that that |
19 | | determination has been made is filed with
the clerk of the |
20 | | court along with the complaint, the appearance, or any other
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21 | | paper that would otherwise require payment of a fee.
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22 | | (c) The changes made to this Section by this amendatory Act |
23 | | of the 98th General Assembly apply to all actions commenced on |
24 | | or after July 1, 2013. The changes made to this Section by this |
25 | | amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly also apply to all |
26 | | actions pending on or after the effective date of this |