Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 095-0424

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Public Act 095-0424

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Public Act 0424 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Public Act 095-0424

SB1026 Enrolled LRB095 05917 AJO 26009 b

    AN ACT concerning civil law.

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

    Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by
changing Section 22-105 as follows:

    (735 ILCS 5/22-105)
    Sec. 22-105. Frivolous lawsuits filed by prisoners.
    (a) If a prisoner confined in an Illinois Department of
Corrections facility files a pleading, motion, or other filing
which purports to be a legal document in a case seeking
post-conviction relief under Article 122 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure of 1963, pursuant to Section 116-3 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963, in a habeas corpus action
under Article X of this Code, in a claim under the Court of
Claims Act, or a second or subsequent petition for relief from
judgment under Section 2-1401 of this Code or in another action
against the State, the Illinois Department of Corrections, or
the Prisoner Review Board, or against any of their officers or
employees and the Court makes a specific finding that the
pleading, motion, or other filing which purports to be a legal
document filed by the prisoner is frivolous, the prisoner is
responsible for the full payment of filing fees and actual
court costs.
    On filing the action or proceeding the court shall assess
and, when funds exist, collect as a partial payment of any
court costs required by law a first time payment of 50% of the
average monthly balance of the prisoner's trust fund account
for the past 6 months. Thereafter 50% of all deposits into the
prisoner's individual account under Sections 3-4-3 and 3-12-5
of the Unified Code of Corrections administered by the Illinois
Department of Corrections shall be withheld until the actual
court costs are collected in full. The Department of
Corrections shall forward any moneys withheld to the court of
jurisdiction. If a prisoner is released before the full costs
are collected, the Department of Corrections shall forward the
amount of costs collected through the date of release. The
court of jurisdiction is responsible for sending the Department
of Corrections a copy of the order mandating the amount of
court fees to be paid. Nothing in this Section prohibits an
applicant from filing an action or proceeding if the applicant
is unable to pay the court costs.
    (b) In this Section, "frivolous" means that a pleading,
motion, or other filing which purports to be a legal document
filed by a prisoner in his or her lawsuit meets any or all of
the following criteria:
        (1) it lacks an arguable basis either in law or in
    fact;
        (2) it is being presented for any improper purpose,
    such as to harass or to cause unnecessary delay or needless
    increase in the cost of litigation;
        (3) the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions
    therein are not warranted by existing law or by a
    nonfrivolous argument for the extension, modification, or
    reversal of existing law or the establishment of new law;
        (4) the allegations and other factual contentions do
    not have evidentiary support or, if specifically so
    identified, are not likely to have evidentiary support
    after a reasonable opportunity for further investigation
    or discovery; or
        (5) the denials of factual contentions are not
    warranted on the evidence, or if specifically so
    identified, are not reasonably based on a lack of
    information or belief.
(Source: P.A. 90-505, eff. 8-19-97.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2008

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