Public Act 0717 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB4266 Enrolled LRB098 16014 RLC 51066 b

Public Act 098-0717

AN ACT concerning criminal law.

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

Section 3. The Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act is amended by changing Section 8.5 as follows:

(725 ILCS 120/8.5)

Sec. 8.5. Statewide victim and witness notification system.

(a) The Attorney General may establish a crime victim and witness notification system to assist public officials in carrying out their duties to notify and inform crime victims and witnesses under Section 4.5 of this Act or under subsections (a), (a-2), and (a-3) of Section 120 of the Sex Offender Community Notification Law as the Attorney General specifies by rule. The system shall download necessary information from participating officials into its computers, where it shall be maintained, updated, and automatically transmitted to victims and witnesses by telephone, computer, or written notice.

(b) The Illinois Department of Corrections, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Human Services, and the Prisoner Review Board shall cooperate with the Attorney General in the implementation of this Section and shall provide information as necessary to the effective operation of the system.

(c) State's attorneys, circuit court clerks, and local law enforcement and correctional authorities may enter into agreements with the Attorney General for participation in the system. The Attorney General may provide those who elect to participate with the equipment, software, or training necessary to bring their offices into the system.

(d) The provision of information to crime victims and witnesses through the Attorney General's notification system satisfies a given State or local official's corresponding obligation to provide the information.

(e) The Attorney General may provide for telephonic, electronic, or other public access to the database established under this Section.

(f) The Attorney General shall adopt rules as necessary to implement this Section. The rules shall include, but not be limited to, provisions for the scope and operation of any system the Attorney General may establish and procedures, requirements, and standards for entering into agreements to participate in the system and to receive equipment, software, or training.

(g) There is established in the Office of the Attorney General a Crime Victim and Witness Notification Advisory Committee consisting of those victims advocates, sheriffs, State's Attorneys, circuit court clerks, Illinois Department of Corrections, the Department of Juvenile Justice, and Prisoner Review Board employees that the Attorney General chooses to appoint. The Attorney General shall designate one member to chair the Committee.

(1) The Committee shall consult with and advise the Attorney General as to the exercise of the Attorney General's authority under this Section, including, but not limited to:

(i) the design, scope, and operation of the notification system;

(ii) the content of any rules adopted to implement this Section;

(iii) the procurement of hardware, software, and support for the system, including choice of supplier or operator; and

(iv) the acceptance of agreements with and the award of equipment, software, or training to officials that seek to participate in the system.

(2) The Committee shall review the status and operation of the system and report any findings and recommendations for changes to the Attorney General and the General Assembly by November 1 of each year.

(3) The members of the Committee shall receive no compensation for their services as members of the Committee, but may be reimbursed for their actual expenses incurred in serving on the Committee.

(h) The Attorney General shall not release the names, addresses, phone numbers, personal identification numbers, or email addresses of any person registered to receive notifications to any other person except State or local officials using the notification system to satisfy the official's obligation to provide the information. The Attorney General may grant limited access to the Automated Victim Notification system (AVN) to law enforcement, prosecution, and other agencies that provide service to victims of violent crime to assist victims in enrolling and utilizing the AVN system.

(Source: P.A. 96-1092, eff. 1-1-11.)

Section 5. The Unified Code of Corrections is amended by changing Section 3-3-4 as follows:

(730 ILCS 5/3-3-4) (from Ch. 38, par. 1003-3-4)

Sec. 3-3-4. Preparation for Parole Hearing.

(a) The Prisoner Review Board shall consider the parole of each eligible person committed to the Department of Corrections at least 30 days prior to the date he or she shall first become eligible for parole, and shall consider the aftercare release of each person committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice as a delinquent at least 30 days prior to the expiration of the first year of confinement.

(b) A person eligible for parole or aftercare release shall, no less than 15 days in advance of his or her parole interview, prepare a parole or aftercare release plan in accordance with the rules of the Prisoner Review Board. The person shall be assisted in preparing his or her parole or aftercare release plan by personnel of the Department of Corrections, or the Department of Juvenile Justice in the case of a person committed to that Department, and may, for this purpose, be released on furlough under Article 11 or on authorized absence under Section 3-9-4. The appropriate Department shall also provide assistance in obtaining information and records helpful to the individual for his or her parole hearing. If the person eligible for parole or aftercare release has a petition or any written submissions prepared on his or her behalf by an attorney or other representative, the attorney or representative for the person eligible for parole or aftercare release must serve by certified mail the State's Attorney of the county where he or she was prosecuted with the petition or any written submissions 15 days after his or her parole interview. The State's Attorney shall provide the attorney for the person eligible for parole or aftercare release with a copy of his or her letter in opposition to parole or aftercare release via certified mail within 5 business days of the en banc hearing.

(c) Any member of the Board shall have access at all reasonable times to any committed person and to his or her master record file within the Department, and the Department shall furnish such a report to the Board concerning the conduct and character of any such person prior to his or her parole interview.

(d) In making its determination of parole or aftercare release, the Board shall consider:

(1) material transmitted to the Department of Juvenile Justice by the clerk of the committing court under Section 5-4-1 or Section 5-10 of the Juvenile Court Act or Section 5-750 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987;

(2) the report under Section 3-8-2 or 3-10-2;

(3) a report by the Department and any report by the chief administrative officer of the institution or facility;

(4) a parole or aftercare release progress report;

(5) a medical and psychological report, if requested by the Board;

(6) material in writing, or on film, video tape or other electronic means in the form of a recording submitted by the person whose parole or aftercare release is being considered;

(7) material in writing, or on film, video tape or other electronic means in the form of a recording or testimony submitted by the State's Attorney and the victim or a concerned citizen pursuant to the Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act; and

(8) the person's eligibility for commitment under the Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act.

(e) The prosecuting State's Attorney's office shall receive from the Board reasonable written notice not less than 30 days prior to the parole or aftercare release interview and may submit relevant information by oral argument or testimony of victims and concerned citizens, or both, in writing, or on film, video tape or other electronic means or in the form of a recording to the Board for its consideration. Upon written request of the State's Attorney's office, the Prisoner Review Board shall hear protests to parole, or aftercare release, except in counties of 1,500,000 or more inhabitants where there shall be standing objections to all such petitions. If a State's Attorney who represents a county of less than 1,500,000 inhabitants requests a protest hearing, the inmate's counsel or other representative shall also receive notice of such request. This hearing shall take place the month following the inmate's parole or aftercare release interview. If the inmate's parole or aftercare release interview is rescheduled then the Prisoner Review Board shall promptly notify the State's Attorney of the new date. The person eligible for parole or aftercare release shall be heard at the next scheduled en banc hearing date. If the case is to be continued, the State's Attorney's office and the attorney or representative for the person eligible for parole or aftercare release will be notified of any continuance within 5 business days. The State's Attorney may waive the written notice.

(f) The victim of the violent crime for which the prisoner has been sentenced shall receive notice of a parole or aftercare release hearing as provided in paragraph (4) of subsection (d) of Section 4.5 of the Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act.

(g) Any recording considered under the provisions of subsection (d)(6), (d)(7) or (e) of this Section shall be in the form designated by the Board. Such recording shall be both visual and aural. Every voice on the recording and person present shall be identified and the recording shall contain either a visual or aural statement of the person submitting such recording, the date of the recording and the name of the person whose parole or aftercare release eligibility is being considered. Such recordings shall be retained by the Board and shall be deemed to be submitted at any subsequent parole or aftercare release hearing if the victim or State's Attorney submits in writing a declaration clearly identifying such recording as representing the present position of the victim or State's Attorney regarding the issues to be considered at the parole or aftercare release hearing.

(h) The Board shall not release any material to the inmate, the inmate's attorney, any third party, or any other person containing any information from the victim or from a person related to the victim by blood, adoption, or marriage who has written objections, testified at any hearing, or submitted audio or visual objections to the inmate's parole, or aftercare release, unless provided with a waiver from that objecting party. The Board shall not release the names or addresses of any person on its victim registry to any other person except the victim, a law enforcement agency, or other victim notification system.

(Source: P.A. 97-523, eff. 1-1-12; 97-1075, eff. 8-24-12; 97-1083, eff. 8-24-12; 98-463, eff. 8-16-13; 98-558, eff. 1-1-14.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2015