101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
SB3682

 

Introduced 2/14/2020, by Sen. Elgie R. Sims, Jr.

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
705 ILCS 505/8  from Ch. 37, par. 439.8

    Amends the Court of Claims Act. Deletes language regarding the amount a court shall award to a person for time unjustly served in prison when the person imprisoned received a pardon on the ground of innocence of the crime for which he or she was imprisoned or he or she received a certificate of innocence. Provides instead that the court shall award $50,000 per year during which the person was wrongfully imprisoned and shall prorate that amount for a fraction of a year that the person was wrongfully imprisoned, including the number of years the person was awaiting trial.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning courts.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Court of Claims Act is amended by changing
5Section 8 as follows:
 
6    (705 ILCS 505/8)   (from Ch. 37, par. 439.8)
7    Sec. 8. Court of Claims jurisdiction; deliberation
8periods. The court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear
9and determine the following matters:
10        (a) All claims against the State founded upon any law
11    of the State of Illinois or upon any regulation adopted
12    thereunder by an executive or administrative officer or
13    agency; provided, however, the court shall not have
14    jurisdiction (i) to hear or determine claims arising under
15    the Workers' Compensation Act or the Workers' Occupational
16    Diseases Act, or claims for expenses in civil litigation,
17    or (ii) to review administrative decisions for which a
18    statute provides that review shall be in the circuit or
19    appellate court.
20        (b) All claims against the State founded upon any
21    contract entered into with the State of Illinois.
22        (c) All claims against the State for time unjustly
23    served in prisons of this State when the person imprisoned

 

 

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1    received a pardon from the Governor stating that such
2    pardon is issued on the ground of innocence of the crime
3    for which he or she was imprisoned or he or she received a
4    certificate of innocence from the Circuit Court as provided
5    in Section 2-702 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The court
6    shall award $50,000 per year during which the person was
7    wrongfully imprisoned and shall prorate that amount for a
8    fraction of a year that the person was wrongfully
9    imprisoned. The court shall fix attorney's fees not to
10    exceed 25% of the award granted. In its determination of
11    the award, the court shall include the number of years the
12    person was imprisoned while awaiting trial. The ; provided,
13    the amount of the award is at the discretion of the court;
14    and provided, the court shall make no award in excess of
15    the following amounts: for imprisonment of 5 years or less,
16    not more than $85,350; for imprisonment of 14 years or less
17    but over 5 years, not more than $170,000; for imprisonment
18    of over 14 years, not more than $199,150; and provided
19    further, the court shall fix attorney's fees not to exceed
20    25% of the award granted. On or after the effective date of
21    this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, the court
22    shall annually adjust the maximum awards authorized by this
23    subsection (c) to reflect the increase, if any, in the
24    Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers for the
25    previous calendar year, as determined by the United States
26    Department of Labor, except that no annual increment may

 

 

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1    exceed 5%. For the annual adjustments, if the Consumer
2    Price Index decreases during a calendar year, there shall
3    be no adjustment for that calendar year. The transmission
4    by the Prisoner Review Board or the clerk of the circuit
5    court of the information described in Section 11(b) to the
6    clerk of the Court of Claims is conclusive evidence of the
7    validity of the claim. The changes made by this amendatory
8    Act of the 95th General Assembly apply to all claims
9    pending on or filed on or after the effective date.
10        (d) All claims against the State for damages in cases
11    sounding in tort, if a like cause of action would lie
12    against a private person or corporation in a civil suit,
13    and all like claims sounding in tort against the Medical
14    Center Commission, the Board of Trustees of the University
15    of Illinois, the Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois
16    University, the Board of Trustees of Chicago State
17    University, the Board of Trustees of Eastern Illinois
18    University, the Board of Trustees of Governors State
19    University, the Board of Trustees of Illinois State
20    University, the Board of Trustees of Northeastern Illinois
21    University, the Board of Trustees of Northern Illinois
22    University, the Board of Trustees of Western Illinois
23    University, or the Board of Trustees of the Illinois
24    Mathematics and Science Academy; provided, that an award
25    for damages in a case sounding in tort, other than certain
26    cases involving the operation of a State vehicle described

 

 

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1    in this paragraph, shall not exceed the sum of $2,000,000
2    to or for the benefit of any claimant. The $2,000,000 limit
3    prescribed by this Section does not apply to an award of
4    damages in any case sounding in tort arising out of the
5    operation by a State employee of a vehicle owned, leased or
6    controlled by the State. The defense that the State or the
7    Medical Center Commission or the Board of Trustees of the
8    University of Illinois, the Board of Trustees of Southern
9    Illinois University, the Board of Trustees of Chicago State
10    University, the Board of Trustees of Eastern Illinois
11    University, the Board of Trustees of Governors State
12    University, the Board of Trustees of Illinois State
13    University, the Board of Trustees of Northeastern Illinois
14    University, the Board of Trustees of Northern Illinois
15    University, the Board of Trustees of Western Illinois
16    University, or the Board of Trustees of the Illinois
17    Mathematics and Science Academy is not liable for the
18    negligence of its officers, agents, and employees in the
19    course of their employment is not applicable to the hearing
20    and determination of such claims. The changes to this
21    Section made by this amendatory Act of the 100th General
22    Assembly apply only to claims filed on or after July 1,
23    2015.
24        The court shall annually adjust the maximum awards
25    authorized by this subsection to reflect the increase, if
26    any, in the Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers

 

 

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1    for the previous calendar year, as determined by the United
2    States Department of Labor. The Comptroller shall make the
3    new amount resulting from each annual adjustment available
4    to the public via the Comptroller's official website by
5    January 31 of every year.
6        (e) All claims for recoupment made by the State of
7    Illinois against any claimant.
8        (f) All claims pursuant to the Line of Duty
9    Compensation Act. A claim under that Act must be heard and
10    determined within one year after the application for that
11    claim is filed with the Court as provided in that Act.
12        (g) All claims filed pursuant to the Crime Victims
13    Compensation Act.
14        (h) All claims pursuant to the Illinois National
15    Guardsman's Compensation Act. A claim under that Act must
16    be heard and determined within one year after the
17    application for that claim is filed with the Court as
18    provided in that Act.
19        (i) All claims authorized by subsection (a) of Section
20    10-55 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act for the
21    expenses incurred by a party in a contested case on the
22    administrative level.
23(Source: P.A. 100-1124, eff. 11-27-18.)