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1     AN ACT concerning criminal law.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Capital Crimes Litigation Act is amended by
5 changing Section 5 as follows:
 
6     (725 ILCS 124/5)
7     Sec. 5. Appointment of trial counsel in death penalty
8 cases. If an indigent defendant is charged with an offense for
9 which a sentence of death is authorized, and the State's
10 Attorney has not, at or before arraignment, filed a certificate
11 indicating he or she will not seek the death penalty or stated
12 on the record in open court that the death penalty will not be
13 sought, the trial court shall immediately appoint the Public
14 Defender, or such other qualified attorney or attorneys as the
15 Illinois Supreme Court shall by rule provide, to represent the
16 defendant as trial counsel. If the Public Defender is
17 appointed, he or she shall immediately assign such attorney or
18 attorneys who are public defenders to represent the defendant.
19 The counsel shall meet the qualifications as the Supreme Court
20 shall by rule provide. At the request of court appointed
21 counsel in a case in which the death penalty is sought,
22 attorneys employed by the State Appellate Defender may enter an
23 appearance for the limited purpose of assisting counsel
24 appointed under this Section.
25 (Source: P.A. 91-589, eff. 1-1-00.)
 
26     Section 10. The State Appellate Defender Act is amended by
27 changing Section 10 as follows:
 
28     (725 ILCS 105/10)  (from Ch. 38, par. 208-10)
29     Sec. 10. Powers and duties of State Appellate Defender.
30     (a) The State Appellate Defender shall represent indigent

 

 

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1 persons on appeal in criminal and delinquent minor proceedings,
2 when appointed to do so by a court under a Supreme Court Rule
3 or law of this State.
4     (b) The State Appellate Defender shall submit a budget for
5 the approval of the State Appellate Defender Commission.
6     (c) The State Appellate Defender may:
7         (1) maintain a panel of private attorneys available to
8     serve as counsel on a case basis;
9         (2) establish programs, alone or in conjunction with
10     law schools, for the purpose of utilizing volunteer law
11     students as legal assistants;
12         (3) cooperate and consult with state agencies,
13     professional associations, and other groups concerning the
14     causes of criminal conduct, the rehabilitation and
15     correction of persons charged with and convicted of crime,
16     the administration of criminal justice, and, in counties of
17     less than 1,000,000 population, study, design, develop and
18     implement model systems for the delivery of trial level
19     defender services, and make an annual report to the General
20     Assembly;
21         (4) hire investigators to provide investigative
22     services to appointed counsel and county public defenders;
23         (5) in cases in which a death sentence is an authorized
24     disposition, provide trial counsel with legal advice and
25     the assistance of expert witnesses, investigators, and
26     mitigation specialists from funds appropriated to the
27     State Appellate Defender specifically for that purpose by
28     the General Assembly. The Office of State Appellate
29     Defender shall not be appointed to serve as trial counsel
30     in capital cases.
31     Investigators employed by the Death Penalty Trial
32 Assistance and Capital Litigation Division of the State
33 Appellate Defender shall be authorized to inquire through the
34 Illinois State Police or local law enforcement with the Law
35 Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS) under Section
36 2605-375 of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois to

 

 

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1 ascertain whether their potential witnesses have a criminal
2 background, including: (i) warrants; (ii) arrests; (iii)
3 convictions; and (iv) officer safety information. This
4 authorization applies only to information held on the State
5 level and shall be used only to protect the personal safety of
6 the investigators. Any information that is obtained through
7 this inquiry may not be disclosed by the investigators.
8     (d) For each State fiscal year, the State Appellate
9 Defender shall appear before the General Assembly and request
10 appropriations to be made from the Capital Litigation Trust
11 Fund to the State Treasurer for the purpose of providing
12 defense assistance in capital cases outside of Cook County and
13 for expenses incurred by the the State Appellate Defender in
14 representing petitioners in capital cases in post-conviction
15 proceedings under Article 122 of the Code of Criminal Procedure
16 of 1963 and in relation to petitions filed under Section 2-1401
17 of the Code of Civil Procedure in relation to capital cases and
18 for the representation of those petitioners by attorneys
19 approved by or contracted with the State Appellate Defender.
20 The State Appellate Defender may appear before the General
21 Assembly at other times during the State's fiscal year to
22 request supplemental appropriations from the Trust Fund to the
23 State Treasurer.
24     (e) The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly
25 shall be satisfied by filing copies of the report with the
26 Speaker, the Minority Leader and the Clerk of the House of
27 Representatives and the President, the Minority Leader and the
28 Secretary of the Senate and the Legislative Research Unit, as
29 required by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly Organization
30 Act and filing such additional copies with the State Government
31 Report Distribution Center for the General Assembly as is
32 required under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of the State Library
33 Act.
34 (Source: P.A. 93-972, eff. 8-20-04; 93-1011, eff. 1-1-05;
35 revised 10-14-04.)