HB1609 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB097 08472 AJO 48599 b

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB1609

Introduced , by Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

750 ILCS 5/606

from Ch. 40, par. 606

Amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Provides that in a hearing to determine custody, a false allegation that the child who is the subject of the hearing is an abused child, within the meaning of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, operates as an absolute bar to a parent's right to make decisions regarding the child's upbringing. Defines "false allegation". Provides that the failure to report alleged abuse contemporaneously with the alleged abuse to local law enforcement officials or the Department of Children and Family Services shall be deemed conclusive evidence of the falsity of the claim. Provides that a parent barred from making decisions regarding the child's upbringing is entitled to reasonable parenting time, not inconsistent with protecting the child. Provides that a second false allegation by the same parent operates to permanently bar parenting time with the child.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning civil law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act is amended by changing Section 606 as follows:

(750 ILCS 5/606) (from Ch. 40, par. 606)

Sec. 606. Hearings.

(a) Custody proceedings shall receive priority in being set for hearing.

(b) The court may tax as costs the payment of necessary travel and other expenses incurred by any person whose presence at the hearing the court deems necessary to determine the best interest of the child.

(c) The court, without a jury, shall determine questions of law and fact. If it finds that a public hearing may be detrimental to the child's best interest, the court may exclude the public from a custody hearing, but may admit any person who has a direct and legitimate interest in the particular case or a legitimate educational or research interest in the work of the court.

(d) If the court finds it necessary, in order to protect the child's welfare, that the record of any interview, report, investigation, or testimony in a custody proceeding be kept secret, the court may make an appropriate order sealing the record.

(e) Previous statements made by the child relating to any allegations that the child is an abused or neglected child within the meaning of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, or an abused or neglected minor within the meaning of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, shall be admissible in evidence in a hearing concerning custody of or visitation with the child. No such statement, however, if uncorroborated and not subject to cross-examination, shall be sufficient in itself to support a finding of abuse or neglect.

(f) False allegations that the child is an abused or neglected child within the meaning of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, in a proceeding to determine custody, shall operate as an absolute bar to a parent's right to make decisions regarding the child's upbringing, including but not limited to the child's education, religious training, and medical treatment. For the purpose of this Section, a "false allegation" is one that is either known to be false or that a reasonable person should have known to be false. "False allegation" includes, but is not limited to, a finding by the Department of Children and Family Services that the alleged abuse was "not substantiated", or any disposition under a lower standard of evidence (such as "unfounded", or "closed without investigation"). The failure to report the alleged abuse contemporaneously with the act alleged to local law enforcement officials or the Department of Children and Family Services shall be deemed conclusive evidence of the falsity of the claim so made. A parent barred under this subsection from making decisions regarding the child's upbringing, shall nonetheless be entitled to reasonable parenting time not inconsistent with protecting the child from further false abuse allegations, the terms of which shall be defined with specificity by the court along with procedures to prevent further false reports. A second false allegation as defined, notwithstanding the court's protective procedures, by the same parent, shall operate to permanently bar parenting time with the child so involved by that parent, in addition to the previous sanctions imposed.

(Source: P.A. 87-1081.)