SB3401eng 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB3401 Engrossed LRB099 21152 WGH 46462 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 Veterans and Servicemembers Court Treatment Act is amended by changing Sections 10, 25, and 30 as follows:

(730 ILCS 167/10)

Sec. 10. Definitions. In this Act:

"Combination Veterans and Servicemembers Court program" means a court program that includes a pre-adjudicatory and a post-adjudicatory Veterans and Servicemembers court program.

"Court" means Veterans and Servicemembers Court.

"IDVA" means the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs.

"Peer recovery coach" means a volunteer veteran mentor assigned to a veteran or servicemember during participation in a veteran treatment court program who has been trained and certified by the court to guide and mentor the participant to successfully complete the assigned requirements.

"Post-adjudicatory Veterans and Servicemembers Court Program" means a program in which the defendant has admitted guilt or has been found guilty and agrees, along with the prosecution, to enter a Veterans and Servicemembers Court program as part of the defendant's sentence.

"Pre-adjudicatory Veterans and Servicemembers Court Program" means a program that allows the defendant with the consent of the prosecution, to expedite the defendant's criminal case before conviction or before filing of a criminal case and requires successful completion of the Veterans and Servicemembers Court programs as part of the agreement.

"Servicemember" means a person who is currently serving in the Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy, or Coast Guard on active duty, reserve status or in the National Guard.

"VA" means the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs.

"VAC" means a veterans assistance commission.

"Veteran" means a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable.

"Veterans and Servicemembers Court professional" means a member of the Veterans and Servicemembers Court team, including but not limited to a judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, probation officer, coordinator, treatment provider, or peer recovery coach.

"Veterans and Servicemembers Court" means a court or program with an immediate and highly structured judicial intervention process for substance abuse treatment, mental health, or other assessed treatment needs of eligible veteran and servicemember defendants that brings together substance abuse professionals, mental health professionals, VA professionals, local social programs and intensive judicial monitoring in accordance with the nationally recommended 10 key components of drug courts.

(Source: P.A. 99-314, eff. 8-7-15.)

(730 ILCS 167/25)

Sec. 25. Procedure.

(a) The Court shall order the defendant to submit to an eligibility screening and an assessment through the VA, VAC, and/or the IDVA to provide information on the defendant's veteran or servicemember status.

(b) The Court shall order the defendant to submit to an eligibility screening and mental health and drug/alcohol screening and assessment of the defendant by the VA, VAC, or by the IDVA to provide assessment services for Illinois Courts. The assessment shall include a risks assessment and be based, in part, upon the known availability of treatment resources available to the Veterans and Servicemembers Court. The assessment shall also include recommendations for treatment of the conditions which are indicating a need for treatment under the monitoring of the Court and be reflective of a level of risk assessed for the individual seeking admission. An assessment need not be ordered if the Court finds a valid screening and/or assessment related to the present charge pending against the defendant has been completed within the previous 60 days.

(c) The judge shall inform the defendant that if the defendant fails to meet the conditions of the Veterans and Servicemembers Court program, eligibility to participate in the program may be revoked and the defendant may be sentenced or the prosecution continued as provided in the Unified Code of Corrections for the crime charged.

(d) The defendant shall execute a written agreement with the Court as to his or her participation in the program and shall agree to all of the terms and conditions of the program, including but not limited to the possibility of sanctions or incarceration for failing to abide or comply with the terms of the program.

(e) In addition to any conditions authorized under the Pretrial Services Act and Section 5-6-3 of the Unified Code of Corrections, the Court may order the defendant to complete substance abuse treatment in an outpatient, inpatient, residential, or jail-based custodial treatment program, order the defendant to complete mental health counseling in an inpatient or outpatient basis, comply with physicians' recommendation regarding medications and all follow up treatment. This treatment may include but is not limited to post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and depression.

(f) The Court may establish a mentorship program that provides access and support to program participants by peer recovery coaches. Courts shall be responsible to administer the mentorship program with the support of volunteer veterans and local veteran service organizations, including a VAC. Peer recovery coaches shall be trained and certified by the Court prior to being assigned to participants in the program.

(Source: P.A. 99-314, eff. 8-7-15.)

(730 ILCS 167/30)

Sec. 30. Mental health and substance abuse treatment.

(a) The Veterans and Servicemembers Court program may maintain a network of substance abuse treatment programs representing a continuum of graduated substance abuse treatment options commensurate with the needs of defendants; these shall include programs with the VA, IDVA, a VAC, the State of Illinois and community-based programs supported and sanctioned by either or both.

(b) Any substance abuse treatment program to which defendants are referred must meet all of the rules and governing programs in Parts 2030 and 2060 of Title 77 of the Illinois Administrative Code.

(c) The Veterans and Servicemembers Court program may, in its discretion, employ additional services or interventions, as it deems necessary on a case by case basis.

(d) The Veterans and Servicemembers Court program may maintain or collaborate with a network of mental health treatment programs and, if it is a co-occurring mental health and substance abuse court program, a network of substance abuse treatment programs representing a continuum of treatment options commensurate with the needs of the defendant and available resources including programs with the VA, the IDVA, a VAC, and the State of Illinois.

(Source: P.A. 96-924, eff. 6-14-10.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.