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Rep. Emily McAsey
Filed: 4/11/2013
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1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3111
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2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3111 by replacing |
3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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4 | | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the |
5 | | Access 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 |
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1 | | levels of legal assistance appropriate for their individual |
2 | | circumstances.
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3 | | (c) An increasing number of active duty service members and |
4 | | veterans in this State have a need for legal information and |
5 | | assistance in a variety of matters that are often critical to |
6 | | their safety and independence, yet they are often unable to |
7 | | access that assistance. |
8 | | Section 10. Pilot programs. |
9 | | (a) The General Assembly encourages the Supreme Court to |
10 | | develop: (i) a pilot program to create a statewide military |
11 | | personnel and veterans' legal assistance hotline and |
12 | | coordinated network of legal support resources; and (ii) a |
13 | | pilot program to provide court-based legal assistance within a |
14 | | circuit court in each appellate district of this State. |
15 | | (b) The General Assembly recommends that the rules |
16 | | developing the pilot programs: |
17 | | (1) provide intake, screening, and varying levels of |
18 | | legal assistance to ensure that the parties served by these |
19 | | programs have meaningful access to justice; |
20 | | (2) gather information on the outcomes associated with |
21 | | providing the services described in paragraph (1) of this |
22 | | subsection; and |
23 | | (3) guard against the involuntary waiver of rights or |
24 | | disposition by default. |
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1 | | Section 15. Access to Justice Fund. The Access to Justice |
2 | | Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. The |
3 | | Fund shall consist of fees collected under Section 27.3g of the |
4 | | Clerks of Courts Act. There is hereby appropriated, on a |
5 | | continuing annual basis in each fiscal year, from the Access to |
6 | | Justice Fund, the amount, if any, of funds received into the |
7 | | Access to Justice Fund to the Supreme Court for the |
8 | | administration of the pilot programs created under this Act. |
9 | | Section 20. Evaluation. The Supreme Court shall study the |
10 | | effectiveness of the pilot programs implemented under this Act |
11 | | and submit a report to the General Assembly by June 1, 2017. |
12 | | The report shall include the number of people served in each |
13 | | pilot program and data on the impact of varying levels of legal |
14 | | assistance on access to justice, the effect on fair and |
15 | | efficient court administration, and the impact on government |
16 | | programs and community resources. This report shall describe |
17 | | the benefits of providing legal assistance to those who were |
18 | | previously unrepresented, both for the clients and the courts, |
19 | | and shall describe strategies and recommendations for |
20 | | maximizing the benefit of that representation in the future. |
21 | | The report shall include an assessment of the continuing unmet |
22 | | needs and, if available, data regarding those unmet needs. |
23 | | Section 25. Statutory Court Fee Task Force. |
24 | | (a) There is hereby created the Statutory Court Fee Task |
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1 | | Force. The purpose of the Task Force is to conduct a thorough |
2 | | review of the various statutory fees imposed or assessed on |
3 | | criminal defendants and civil litigants. |
4 | | (b) The Task Force shall consist of 15 members, appointed |
5 | | as follows: one each by the Speaker of the House of |
6 | | Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of |
7 | | Representatives, the President of the Senate, and the Minority |
8 | | Leader of the Senate; 2 by the association representing circuit |
9 | | court clerks; 2 by the Governor, and 7 by the Supreme Court. |
10 | | (c) At the direction of the Supreme Court, the |
11 | | Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts shall provide |
12 | | administrative support to the Task Force. |
13 | | (d) The Task Force shall submit a report containing its |
14 | | findings and any recommendations to the Supreme Court and the |
15 | | General Assembly by June 1, 2014. |
16 | | Section 30. The State Finance Act is amended by adding |
17 | | Section 5.826 as follows: |
18 | | (30 ILCS 105/5.826 new) |
19 | | Sec. 5.826. The Access to Justice Fund. |
20 | | Section 35. The Counties Code is amended by changing |
21 | | Section 5-39001 as follows: |
22 | | (55 ILCS 5/5-39001) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-39001)
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1 | | Sec. 5-39001. Establishment and use; fee. The county board |
2 | | of any
county may establish and maintain a county law library, |
3 | | to be located in
any county building or privately or publicly |
4 | | owned building at the county
seat of government. The term |
5 | | "county building" includes premises leased by
the county from a |
6 | | public building commission created under the Public
Building |
7 | | Commission Act. After August 2, 1976, the county board of any
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8 | | county may establish and maintain a county law library at the |
9 | | county seat
of government and, in addition, branch law |
10 | | libraries in other locations
within that county as the county |
11 | | board deems necessary.
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12 | | The facilities of those libraries shall be freely available |
13 | | to all
licensed Illinois attorneys, judges, other public |
14 | | officers of the county,
and all members of the public, whenever |
15 | | the court house is open , and may include self-help centers and |
16 | | other legal assistance programs for the public as part of the |
17 | | services it provides on-site and online .
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18 | | The expense of establishing and maintaining those |
19 | | libraries shall be
borne by the county. To defray that expense, |
20 | | including the expense of any attendant self-help centers and |
21 | | legal assistance programs, in any county having
established a |
22 | | county law library or libraries, the clerk of all
trial courts |
23 | | located at the county seat of government shall charge and
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24 | | collect a county law library fee of $2, and the county board |
25 | | may
authorize a county law library fee of not to exceed (i) $18 |
26 | | in 2009, (ii) $19 in 2010, and (iii) $21 in 2011 and |
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1 | | thereafter,
to be charged and collected by the clerks of all |
2 | | trial courts located in
the county.
The fee shall be paid at |
3 | | the time of filing the first pleading,
paper, or other |
4 | | appearance filed by each party in all civil cases, but no
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5 | | additional fee shall be required if more than one party is |
6 | | represented in a
single pleading, paper, or other appearance.
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7 | | Each clerk shall commence those charges and collections |
8 | | upon
receipt of written notice from the chairman of the county |
9 | | board that
the board has acted under this Division to establish |
10 | | and
maintain a law library.
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11 | | The fees shall be in addition to all other fees and charges |
12 | | of the
clerks, assessable as costs, remitted by the clerks |
13 | | monthly to the county
treasurer, and retained by the county |
14 | | treasurer in a special fund
designated as the County Law |
15 | | Library Fund. Except as otherwise provided in
this paragraph, |
16 | | disbursements from the fund
shall be by the county treasurer, |
17 | | on order of a majority of the resident
circuit judges of the |
18 | | circuit court of the county. In any
county with more than |
19 | | 2,000,000 inhabitants,
the
county board shall
order |
20 | | disbursements from the fund and the presiding officer of the
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21 | | county board, with the advice and consent of the county board, |
22 | | may
appoint a library committee of not less than 9 members, |
23 | | who, by majority
vote, may recommend to the county board as to |
24 | | disbursements of
the fund and the operation of the library. In |
25 | | single county circuits with
2,000,000 or fewer
inhabitants, |
26 | | disbursements from the County Law Library Fund shall be made by
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1 | | the county treasurer on the order of the chief judge of the |
2 | | circuit court of
the county. In those single county circuits, |
3 | | the number of personnel necessary
to
operate and maintain the |
4 | | county law library shall be set by and those personnel
shall be |
5 | | appointed
by the chief judge. The county law library personnel |
6 | | shall serve at the
pleasure
of the appointing authority. The |
7 | | salaries of those personnel shall be fixed by
the county board |
8 | | of the county.
Orders shall be
pre-audited, funds shall be |
9 | | audited by the county auditor, and
a report of the orders and |
10 | | funds shall be rendered to
the county board and to the judges.
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11 | | Fees shall not be charged in any criminal or quasi-criminal
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12 | | case, in any matter coming to the clerk on change of venue, or |
13 | | in
any proceeding to review the decision of any administrative |
14 | | officer,
agency, or body.
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15 | | (Source: P.A. 96-227, eff. 8-11-09.)
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16 | | Section 40. The Clerks of Courts Act is amended by adding |
17 | | Section 27.3g as follows: |
18 | | (705 ILCS 105/27.3g new) |
19 | | Sec. 27.3g. Pilot program; Access to Justice Act. |
20 | | (a) If the Supreme Court develops a pilot program to |
21 | | provide court-based legal assistance in accordance with |
22 | | Section 10 of the Access to Justice Act, all clerks of the |
23 | | circuit court shall charge and collect at the time of filing |
24 | | the first pleading, paper, or other appearance filed by each |
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1 | | party in all civil cases, in addition to any other fees, a fee |
2 | | of $10, but no additional fee shall be required if more than |
3 | | one party is represented in a single pleading, paper, or other |
4 | | appearance. Fees received by the clerk of the circuit court |
5 | | under this Section shall be remitted, within one month after |
6 | | receipt, to the State Treasurer for deposit into the Access to |
7 | | Justice Fund created under Section 15 of the Access to Justice |
8 | | Act. |
9 | | (b) This Section is repealed 5 years after the effective |
10 | | date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly. |
11 | | Section 45. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by |
12 | | changing Section 5-105.5 as follows:
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13 | | (735 ILCS 5/5-105.5)
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14 | | Sec. 5-105.5. Representation by civil legal services |
15 | | provider.
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16 | | (a) As used in this Section:
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17 | | "Civil legal services" means legal services in noncriminal |
18 | | matters provided
without charge to indigent persons who have |
19 | | been found eligible under financial
eligibility guidelines |
20 | | established by the civil legal services provider.
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21 | | "Civil legal services provider" means a not-for-profit |
22 | | corporation that (i)
employs one or more attorneys who are |
23 | | licensed to practice law in the State of
Illinois and who |
24 | | directly provide free civil legal services or (ii) is |
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1 | | established
for the purpose of providing free civil legal |
2 | | services by an organized panel of pro
bono attorneys.
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3 | | "Court-sponsored pro bono program" means a pro bono program |
4 | | established by or in
partnership with a court in this State for |
5 | | the purpose of providing free civil legal services by
an |
6 | | organized panel of pro bono attorneys. |
7 | | "Eligible client" means an indigent person who has been |
8 | | found eligible for
civil legal services by a civil legal |
9 | | services provider or court-sponsored pro bono program .
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10 | | "Indigent person" means a person whose income is 125% or |
11 | | less of the current
official federal poverty income guidelines |
12 | | or who is otherwise eligible to
receive civil legal services |
13 | | under the eligibility guidelines of the civil legal services |
14 | | provider or court-sponsored pro bono program Legal Services |
15 | | Corporation Act of 1974 .
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16 | | (b) When a party is represented in a civil action by a |
17 | | civil legal services
provider or attorney in a court-sponsored |
18 | | pro bono program , all fees and costs relating to filing, |
19 | | appearing, transcripts on
appeal, and service of process shall |
20 | | be waived without the necessity of a
motion for that purpose, |
21 | | and the case shall be given an index number or other
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22 | | appropriate filing number, provided that (i) a determination |
23 | | has been made by
the civil legal services provider or attorney |
24 | | in a court-sponsored pro bono program that the party is an |
25 | | indigent person and (ii) an
attorney's certification that that |
26 | | determination has been made is filed with
the clerk of the |
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1 | | court along with the complaint, the appearance, or any other
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2 | | paper that would otherwise require payment of a fee.
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3 | | (c) The changes made to this Section by this amendatory Act |
4 | | of the 98th General Assembly apply to all actions commenced on |
5 | | or after July 1, 2013. The changes made to this Section by this |
6 | | amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly also apply to all |
7 | | actions pending on or after the effective date of this |
8 | | amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly, but only with |
9 | | respect to fees and costs that become due in those actions |
10 | | after July 1, 2013. |
11 | | (Source: P.A. 88-41.)
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12 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
13 | | becoming law.".
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