102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB2092

 

Introduced 2/26/2021, by Sen. Christopher Belt

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
730 ILCS 167/1
730 ILCS 167/5
730 ILCS 167/10
730 ILCS 167/15
730 ILCS 167/20
730 ILCS 167/25
730 ILCS 167/30
730 ILCS 167/35

    Amends the Veterans and Servicemembers Court Treatment Act. Changes the title of the Act to the Veterans, Servicemembers, and Families Court Treatment Act. Provides that the Act also applies to defendants who are family members of veterans and servicemembers. Provides that a defendant shall be evaluated for eligibility to be admitted into a Veterans, Servicemembers, and Families Court Treatment program by a Court Assessment Service if the defendant is a family member of a veteran or servicemember. Defines terms.


LRB102 15363 KMF 20724 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB2092LRB102 15363 KMF 20724 b

1    AN ACT concerning criminal law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Veterans and Servicemembers Court Treatment
5Act is amended by changing Sections 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30,
6and 35 as follows:
 
7    (730 ILCS 167/1)
8    Sec. 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Veterans,
9and Servicemembers, and Families Court Treatment Act.
10(Source: P.A. 96-924, eff. 6-14-10.)
 
11    (730 ILCS 167/5)
12    Sec. 5. Purposes. The General Assembly recognizes that
13veterans and active, Reserve and National Guard servicemembers
14have provided or are currently providing an invaluable service
15to our country. In so doing, some may suffer the effects of,
16including but not limited to, post traumatic stress disorder,
17traumatic brain injury, depression and may also suffer drug
18and alcohol dependency or addiction and co-occurring mental
19illness and substance abuse problems. As a result of this,
20some veterans or active duty servicemembers and their families
21come into contact with the criminal justice system and are
22charged with felony or misdemeanor offenses. There is a

 

 

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1critical need for the criminal justice system to recognize
2these veterans and their families, provide accountability for
3their wrongdoing, provide for the safety of the public and
4provide for the treatment of our veterans and their families.
5It is the intent of the General Assembly to create specialized
6veteran and servicemember and their families courts or
7programs with the necessary flexibility to meet the
8specialized problems faced by these veteran and servicemember
9defendants and their families.
10(Source: P.A. 96-924, eff. 6-14-10.)
 
11    (730 ILCS 167/10)
12    Sec. 10. Definitions. In this Act:
13    "Combination Veterans, and Servicemembers, and Families
14Court program" means a court program that includes a
15pre-adjudicatory and a post-adjudicatory Veterans, and
16Servicemembers, and Families court program.
17    "Court" means Veterans , and Servicemembers, and Families
18Court.
19    "Family member" means any spouse, former spouse, widow or
20widower, child (naturally born, adopted, step child or ward)
21of a servicemember or veteran.
22    "IDVA" means the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs.
23    "Peer recovery coach" means a volunteer veteran mentor
24assigned to a veteran or servicemember during participation in
25a veteran treatment court program who has been trained and

 

 

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1certified by the court to guide and mentor the participant to
2successfully complete the assigned requirements.
3    "Post-adjudicatory Veterans, and Servicemembers, and
4Families Court Program" means a program in which the defendant
5has admitted guilt or has been found guilty and agrees, along
6with the prosecution, to enter a Veterans, and Servicemembers,
7and Families Court program as part of the defendant's
8sentence.
9    "Pre-adjudicatory Veterans, and Servicemembers, and
10Families Court Program" means a program that allows the
11defendant with the consent of the prosecution, to expedite the
12defendant's criminal case before conviction or before filing
13of a criminal case and requires successful completion of the
14Veterans, and Servicemembers, and Families Court programs as
15part of the agreement.
16    "Servicemember" means a person who is currently serving in
17the Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy, or Coast Guard on active
18duty, reserve status or in the National Guard.
19    "VA" means the United States Department of Veterans'
20Affairs.
21    "VAC" means a veterans assistance commission.
22    "Veteran" means a person who served in the active
23military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or
24released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable.
25    "Veterans, and Servicemembers, and Families Court
26professional" means a member of the Veterans, and

 

 

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1Servicemembers, and Families Court team, including but not
2limited to a judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, probation
3officer, coordinator, treatment provider, or peer recovery
4coach.
5    "Veterans, and Servicemembers, and Families Court" means a
6court or program with an immediate and highly structured
7judicial intervention process for substance abuse treatment,
8mental health, or other assessed treatment needs of eligible
9veteran and servicemember and family member defendants that
10brings together substance abuse professionals, mental health
11professionals, VA professionals, local social programs and
12intensive judicial monitoring in accordance with the
13nationally recommended 10 key components of drug courts.
14    "Ward" means a ward as defined by the Probate Act of 1975.
15(Source: P.A. 99-314, eff. 8-7-15; 99-819, eff. 8-15-16.)
 
16    (730 ILCS 167/15)
17    Sec. 15. Authorization. The Chief Judge of each judicial
18circuit shall establish a Veterans, and Servicemembers, and
19Families Court program including a format under which it
20operates under this Act. The Veterans, and Servicemembers, and
21Families Court may, at the discretion of the Chief Judge, be a
22separate court or a program of a problem-solving court,
23including but not limited to a drug court or mental health
24court. At the discretion of the Chief Judge, the Veterans, and
25Servicemembers, and Families Court program may be operated in

 

 

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1one or more counties in the Circuit, and allow veteran and
2servicemember defendants and family member of veteran and
3servicemember defendants from all counties within the Circuit
4to participate.
5(Source: P.A. 99-807, eff. 1-1-18; 100-88, eff. 1-1-18.)
 
6    (730 ILCS 167/20)
7    Sec. 20. Eligibility. Veterans and Servicemembers and
8families of Veterans and Servicemembers are eligible for
9Veterans, and Servicemembers, and Families Courts, provided
10the following:
11    (a) A defendant, who is eligible for probation based on
12the nature of the crime convicted of and in consideration of
13his or her criminal background, if any, may be admitted into a
14Veterans, and Servicemembers, and Families Court program
15before adjudication only upon the agreement of the defendant
16and with the approval of the Court. A defendant may be admitted
17into a Veterans, and Servicemembers, and Families Court
18program post-adjudication only with the approval of the court.
19    (b) A defendant shall be excluded from Veterans, and
20Servicemembers, and Families Court program if any of one of
21the following applies:
22        (1) The crime is a crime of violence as set forth in
23    clause (3) of this subsection (b).
24        (2) The defendant does not demonstrate a willingness
25    to participate in a treatment program.

 

 

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1        (3) The defendant has been convicted of a crime of
2    violence within the past 10 years excluding incarceration
3    time, including first degree murder, second degree murder,
4    predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, aggravated
5    criminal sexual assault, criminal sexual assault, armed
6    robbery, aggravated arson, arson, aggravated kidnapping
7    and kidnapping, aggravated battery resulting in great
8    bodily harm or permanent disability, stalking, aggravated
9    stalking, or any offense involving the discharge of a
10    firearm.
11        (4) (Blank).
12        (5) The crime for which the defendant has been
13    convicted is non-probationable.
14        (6) The sentence imposed on the defendant, whether the
15    result of a plea or a finding of guilt, renders the
16    defendant ineligible for probation.
17(Source: P.A. 99-480, eff. 9-9-15; 100-426, eff. 1-1-18.)
 
18    (730 ILCS 167/25)
19    Sec. 25. Procedure.
20    (a) The Court shall order the defendant to submit to an
21eligibility screening and an assessment through the VA, VAC,
22and/or the IDVA to provide information on the defendant's
23veteran or servicemember status or family member status.
24    (b) The Court shall order the defendant to submit to an
25eligibility screening and mental health and drug/alcohol

 

 

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1screening and assessment of the defendant by the VA, VAC, or by
2the IDVA or a Court Assessment Service for a family member to
3provide assessment services for Illinois Courts. The
4assessment shall include a risks assessment and be based, in
5part, upon the known availability of treatment resources
6available to the Veterans, and Servicemembers, and Families
7Court. The assessment shall also include recommendations for
8treatment of the conditions which are indicating a need for
9treatment under the monitoring of the Court and be reflective
10of a level of risk assessed for the individual seeking
11admission. An assessment need not be ordered if the Court
12finds a valid screening and/or assessment related to the
13present charge pending against the defendant has been
14completed within the previous 60 days.
15    (c) The judge shall inform the defendant that if the
16defendant fails to meet the conditions of the Veterans, and
17Servicemembers, and Families, and Families Court program,
18eligibility to participate in the program may be revoked and
19the defendant may be sentenced or the prosecution continued as
20provided in the Unified Code of Corrections for the crime
21charged.
22    (d) The defendant shall execute a written agreement with
23the Court as to his or her participation in the program and
24shall agree to all of the terms and conditions of the program,
25including but not limited to the possibility of sanctions or
26incarceration for failing to abide or comply with the terms of

 

 

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1the program.
2    (e) In addition to any conditions authorized under the
3Pretrial Services Act and Section 5-6-3 of the Unified Code of
4Corrections, the Court may order the defendant to complete
5substance abuse treatment in an outpatient, inpatient,
6residential, or jail-based custodial treatment program, order
7the defendant to complete mental health counseling in an
8inpatient or outpatient basis, comply with physicians'
9recommendation regarding medications and all follow up
10treatment. This treatment may include but is not limited to
11post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and
12depression.
13    (f) The Court may establish a mentorship program that
14provides access and support to program participants by peer
15recovery coaches. Courts shall be responsible to administer
16the mentorship program with the support of volunteer veterans
17and local veteran service organizations, including a VAC. Peer
18recovery coaches shall be trained and certified by the Court
19prior to being assigned to participants in the program.
20(Source: P.A. 99-314, eff. 8-7-15; 99-819, eff. 8-15-16.)
 
21    (730 ILCS 167/30)
22    Sec. 30. Mental health and substance abuse treatment.
23    (a) The Veterans, and Servicemembers, and Families Court
24program may maintain a network of substance abuse treatment
25programs representing a continuum of graduated substance abuse

 

 

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1treatment options commensurate with the needs of defendants;
2these shall include programs with the VA, IDVA, a VAC, the
3State of Illinois and community-based programs supported and
4sanctioned by either or both.
5    (b) Any substance abuse treatment program to which
6defendants are referred must meet all of the rules and
7governing programs in Parts 2030 and 2060 of Title 77 of the
8Illinois Administrative Code.
9    (c) The Veterans, and Servicemembers, and Families Court
10program may, in its discretion, employ additional services or
11interventions, as it deems necessary on a case by case basis.
12    (d) The Veterans, and Servicemembers, and Families Court
13program may maintain or collaborate with a network of mental
14health treatment programs and, if it is a co-occurring mental
15health and substance abuse court program, a network of
16substance abuse treatment programs representing a continuum of
17treatment options commensurate with the needs of the defendant
18and available resources including programs with the VA, the
19IDVA, a VAC, and the State of Illinois.
20(Source: P.A. 99-819, eff. 8-15-16.)
 
21    (730 ILCS 167/35)
22    Sec. 35. Violation; termination; discharge.
23    (a) If the Court finds from the evidence presented
24including but not limited to the reports or proffers of proof
25from the Veterans, and Servicemembers, and Families Court

 

 

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1professionals that:
2        (1) the defendant is not performing satisfactorily in
3    the assigned program;
4        (2) the defendant is not benefitting from education,
5    treatment, or rehabilitation;
6        (3) the defendant has engaged in criminal conduct
7    rendering him or her unsuitable for the program; or
8        (4) the defendant has otherwise violated the terms and
9    conditions of the program or his or her sentence or is for
10    any reason unable to participate; the Court may impose
11    reasonable sanctions under prior written agreement of the
12    defendant, including but not limited to imprisonment or
13    dismissal of the defendant from the program and the Court
14    may reinstate criminal proceedings against him or her or
15    proceed under Section 5-6-4 of the Unified Code of
16    Corrections for a violation of probation, conditional
17    discharge, or supervision hearing.
18    (b) Upon successful completion of the terms and conditions
19of the program, the Court may dismiss the original charges
20against the defendant or successfully terminate the
21defendant's sentence or otherwise discharge him or her from
22any further proceedings against him or her in the original
23prosecution.
24(Source: P.A. 96-924, eff. 6-14-10.)