Public Act 093-1011
 
SB2536 Enrolled LRB093 18059 RLC 43746 b

    AN ACT concerning the exercise of police powers by State
employees.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The State Appellate Defender Act is amended by
changing Section 10 as follows:
 
    (725 ILCS 105/10)  (from Ch. 38, par. 208-10)
    Sec. 10. Powers and duties of State Appellate Defender.
    (a) The State Appellate Defender shall represent indigent
persons on appeal in criminal and delinquent minor proceedings,
when appointed to do so by a court under a Supreme Court Rule
or law of this State.
    (b) The State Appellate Defender shall submit a budget for
the approval of the State Appellate Defender Commission.
    (c) The State Appellate Defender may:
        (1) maintain a panel of private attorneys available to
    serve as counsel on a case basis;
        (2) establish programs, alone or in conjunction with
    law schools, for the purpose of utilizing volunteer law
    students as legal assistants;
        (3) cooperate and consult with state agencies,
    professional associations, and other groups concerning the
    causes of criminal conduct, the rehabilitation and
    correction of persons charged with and convicted of crime,
    the administration of criminal justice, and, in counties of
    less than 1,000,000 population, study, design, develop and
    implement model systems for the delivery of trial level
    defender services, and make an annual report to the General
    Assembly;
        (4) hire investigators to provide investigative
    services to appointed counsel and county public defenders;
        (5) in cases in which a death sentence is an authorized
    disposition, provide trial counsel with the assistance of
    expert witnesses, investigators, and mitigation
    specialists from funds appropriated to the State Appellate
    Defender specifically for that purpose by the General
    Assembly. The Office of State Appellate Defender shall not
    be appointed to serve as trial counsel in capital cases.
    Investigators employed by the Death Penalty Trial
Assistance and Capital Litigation Division of the State
Appellate Defender shall be authorized to inquire through the
Illinois State Police or local law enforcement with the Law
Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS) under Section
2605-375 of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois to
ascertain whether their potential witnesses have a criminal
background, including: (i) warrants; (ii) arrests; (iii)
convictions; and (iv) officer safety information. This
authorization applies only to information held on the State
level and shall be used only to protect the personal safety of
the investigators. Any information that is obtained through
this inquiry may not be disclosed by the investigators.
    (d) For each State fiscal year, the State Appellate
Defender shall appear before the General Assembly and request
appropriations to be made from the Capital Litigation Trust
Fund to the State Treasurer for the purpose of providing
defense assistance in capital cases outside of Cook County. The
State Appellate Defender may appear before the General Assembly
at other times during the State's fiscal year to request
supplemental appropriations from the Trust Fund to the State
Treasurer.
    (e) The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly
shall be satisfied by filing copies of the report with the
Speaker, the Minority Leader and the Clerk of the House of
Representatives and the President, the Minority Leader and the
Secretary of the Senate and the Legislative Research Unit, as
required by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly Organization
Act and filing such additional copies with the State Government
Report Distribution Center for the General Assembly as is
required under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of the State Library
Act.
(Source: P.A. 91-589, eff. 1-1-00.)