State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_HB5444

 
                                               LRB9214627RCcd

 1        AN ACT in relation to criminal law.

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

 4        Section 5.  The Code of Criminal  Procedure  of  1963  is
 5    amended by changing Section 116-4 as follows:

 6        (725 ILCS 5/116-4)
 7        Sec.   116-4.   Preservation  of  evidence  for  forensic
 8    testing.
 9        (a)  Before or after the trial in  a  prosecution  for  a
10    violation  of  Section 12-13, 12-14, 12-14.1, 12-15, or 12-16
11    of the Criminal Code of 1961  or  in  a  prosecution  for  an
12    offense   defined  in  Article  9  of  that  Code,  or  in  a
13    prosecution for an attempt in violation  of  Section  8-4  of
14    that  Code  of  any  of the above-enumerated offenses, unless
15    otherwise provided herein under subsection (b) or (c), a  law
16    enforcement  agency  or  an agent acting on behalf of the law
17    enforcement  agency  must  shall  preserve,  subject   to   a
18    continuous  chain  of custody, any physical evidence in their
19    possession or control that is reasonably  likely  to  contain
20    forensic   evidence,   including,   but   not   limited   to,
21    fingerprints  or biological material secured in relation to a
22    trial  and  with  sufficient  documentation  to  locate  that
23    evidence.
24        (b)  After a  judgment  of  conviction  is  entered,  the
25    evidence  shall  either  be  impounded  with the Clerk of the
26    Circuit  Court  or  shall  be  securely  retained  by  a  law
27    enforcement agency. Retention shall  be  permanent  in  cases
28    where  a  sentence  of  death is imposed.  Retention shall be
29    until the completion of the sentence, including the period of
30    mandatory supervised release for the offense, or  January  1,
31    2006,  whichever  is later, for any conviction for an offense
 
                            -2-                LRB9214627RCcd
 1    or an attempt of an offense  defined  in  Article  9  of  the
 2    Criminal  Code  of  1961 or in Section 12-13, 12-14, 12-14.1,
 3    12-15, or 12-16 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or for  7  years
 4    following  any  conviction for any other felony for which the
 5    defendant's genetic profile may be taken by a law enforcement
 6    agency  and  submitted  for  comparison  in  a  forensic  DNA
 7    database for unsolved offenses.
 8        (c)  After a judgment of conviction is entered,  the  law
 9    enforcement  agency  required to retain evidence described in
10    subsection (a) may petition the  court  with  notice  to  the
11    defendant  or,  in  cases  where  the defendant has died, his
12    estate, his attorney of record, or an attorney appointed  for
13    that  purpose  by the court for entry of an order allowing it
14    to dispose  of  evidence  if,  after  a  hearing,  the  court
15    determines by a preponderance of the evidence that:
16             (1)  it   has  no  significant  value  for  forensic
17        science analysis and should be returned to  its  rightful
18        owner,  destroyed,  used  for  training  purposes,  or as
19        otherwise provided by law; or
20             (2)  it  has  no  significant  value  for   forensic
21        science  analysis  and  is  of  a size, bulk, or physical
22        character not usually retained  by  the  law  enforcement
23        agency  and  cannot  practicably  be  retained by the law
24        enforcement agency; or
25             (3)  there no longer exists a  reasonable  basis  to
26        require  the  preservation of the evidence because of the
27        death of the defendant;  however, this paragraph (3) does
28        not apply if a sentence of death was imposed.
29        (d)  The court may order the disposition of the  evidence
30    if   the   defendant  is  allowed  the  opportunity  to  take
31    reasonable measures to remove or  preserve  portions  of  the
32    evidence in question for future testing.
33        (d-5)  Any  order  allowing  the  disposition of evidence
34    pursuant to subsection (c)  or  (d)  shall  be  a  final  and
 
                            -3-                LRB9214627RCcd
 1    appealable  order.  No evidence shall be disposed of until 30
 2    days after the order is entered, and if a notice of appeal is
 3    filed, no evidence shall be disposed of until the mandate has
 4    been received by the circuit court from the appellate court.
 5        (d-10)  All records documenting the possession,  control,
 6    storage,  and destruction of evidence and all police reports,
 7    evidence control or  inventory  records,  and  other  reports
 8    cited  in  this  Section, including computer records, must be
 9    retained for as long as the evidence exists and  may  not  be
10    disposed  of  without  the  approval  of  the  Local  Records
11    Commission.
12        (e)  In  this  Section, "law enforcement agency" includes
13    any of the following or an agent acting on behalf of  any  of
14    the   following:   a   municipal  police  department,  county
15    sheriff's office, any prosecuting authority,  the  Department
16    of  State  Police,  or  any  other State, university, county,
17    federal, or municipal police unit or police force.
18        "Biological material" includes, but is  not  limited  to,
19    any  blood,  hair, saliva, or semen from which genetic marker
20    groupings may be obtained.
21    (Source: P.A. 91-871, eff. 1-1-01; 92-459, eff. 8-22-01.)

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