Public Act 094-0340
 
SB0469 Enrolled LRB094 08528 RXD 38735 b

    AN ACT concerning criminal law.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Capital Crimes Litigation Act is amended by
changing Section 5 as follows:
 
    (725 ILCS 124/5)
    Sec. 5. Appointment of trial counsel in death penalty
cases. If an indigent defendant is charged with an offense for
which a sentence of death is authorized, and the State's
Attorney has not, at or before arraignment, filed a certificate
indicating he or she will not seek the death penalty or stated
on the record in open court that the death penalty will not be
sought, the trial court shall immediately appoint the Public
Defender, or such other qualified attorney or attorneys as the
Illinois Supreme Court shall by rule provide, to represent the
defendant as trial counsel. If the Public Defender is
appointed, he or she shall immediately assign such attorney or
attorneys who are public defenders to represent the defendant.
The counsel shall meet the qualifications as the Supreme Court
shall by rule provide. At the request of court appointed
counsel in a case in which the death penalty is sought,
attorneys employed by the State Appellate Defender may enter an
appearance for the limited purpose of assisting counsel
appointed under this Section.
(Source: P.A. 91-589, eff. 1-1-00.)
 
    Section 10. 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 legal advice and
    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 and
for expenses incurred by the the State Appellate Defender in
representing petitioners in capital cases in post-conviction
proceedings under Article 122 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
of 1963 and in relation to petitions filed under Section 2-1401
of the Code of Civil Procedure in relation to capital cases and
for the representation of those petitioners by attorneys
approved by or contracted with the State Appellate Defender.
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. 93-972, eff. 8-20-04; 93-1011, eff. 1-1-05;
revised 10-14-04.)