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| Public Act 096-1074 | ||||
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AN ACT concerning civil law.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Illinois Parentage Act of 1984 is amended by | ||||
changing Section 11 as follows:
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(750 ILCS 45/11) (from Ch. 40, par. 2511)
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Sec. 11. Tests to determine inherited characteristics.
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(a) In any action brought under Section 7 to determine the | ||||
existence of the father and child relationship or to declare | ||||
the non-existence of the parent and child relationship, the | ||||
court or Administrative Hearing Officer in an Expedited Child | ||||
Support System shall, prior to the entry of a judgment in the | ||||
case, advise the respondent who appears of the right to request | ||||
an order that the parties and the child submit to | ||||
deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tests to determine inherited | ||||
characteristics. The advisement shall be noted in the record. | ||||
As soon as practicable, the court or Administrative Hearing | ||||
Officer
in an Expedited Child Support System may, and upon | ||||
request of a party
shall, order or direct the mother, child and | ||||
alleged father to
submit to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tests | ||||
to determine
inherited characteristics.
If any party refuses to | ||||
submit to the tests, the court may
resolve the
question of | ||||
paternity against that party or enforce its order if the rights
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of others and the interests of justice so require.
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(b) The tests shall be conducted by an expert qualified as | ||
an examiner of
blood or tissue types and appointed by
the | ||
court.
The expert shall determine the testing procedures. | ||
However, any
interested party, for good cause shown, in advance | ||
of the scheduled tests,
may request a hearing to object to the
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qualifications of the expert or the testing procedures. The
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expert appointed by the court shall testify at the
pre-test | ||
hearing at the expense of the party requesting the hearing, | ||
except
as provided in subsection (h) of this Section for an | ||
indigent party. An
expert not appointed by the court shall | ||
testify at the pre-test hearing at
the expense of the party | ||
retaining the expert. Inquiry into an
expert's qualifications | ||
at the pre-test hearing shall not affect either
parties' right | ||
to have the expert qualified at trial.
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(b-1) Genetic testing must be of a type reasonably relied | ||
upon by experts in the field of genetic testing and performed | ||
in a testing laboratory accredited by the American Association | ||
of Blood Banks, or a successor to its functions. | ||
(b-2) A specimen used in genetic testing may consist of one | ||
or more samples, or a combination of samples, of blood, buccal | ||
cells, bone, hair, or other body tissue or fluid. | ||
(b-3) The testing laboratory shall determine the databases | ||
from which to select frequencies for use in calculation of the | ||
probability of paternity based on the ethnic or racial group of | ||
an individual. If there is disagreement as to the testing | ||
laboratory's choice, the following procedures apply: | ||
(1) The individual objecting may require the testing | ||
laboratory, within 30 days after receipt of the report of | ||
the test, to recalculate the probability of paternity using | ||
an ethnic or racial group different from that used by the | ||
laboratory. | ||
(2) The individual objecting to the testing | ||
laboratory's initial choice shall: | ||
(A) if the frequencies are not available to the | ||
testing laboratory for the ethnic or racial group | ||
requested, provide the requested frequencies compiled | ||
in a manner recognized by accrediting bodies; or | ||
(B) engage another testing laboratory to perform | ||
the calculations. | ||
(b-4) If, after recalculation using a different ethnic or | ||
racial group, genetic testing does not rebuttably identify a | ||
man as the father of a child, an individual who has been tested | ||
may be required to submit to additional genetic testing. | ||
(c) The expert shall prepare a written report of the test
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results. If the test results show that the alleged father is | ||
not excluded,
the report shall contain statistics based upon | ||
the statistical formula of Combined Paternity Index (CPI) and | ||
the Probability of Paternity as determined by the probability | ||
of exclusion (Random Man Not Excluded = RMNE) a combined | ||
paternity index relating to the probability
of paternity. The | ||
expert may be called by the court as a witness to
testify to | ||
his or her findings and, if called, shall be subject to
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cross-examination by the parties. If the test results show that | ||
the alleged
father is not excluded,
any party may demand that | ||
other experts,
qualified as examiners of blood or tissue types, | ||
perform independent tests
under order of court, including, but | ||
not limited to, blood types or other
tests of genetic markers | ||
such as those found by Human Leucocyte Antigen (HLA)
tests. The | ||
results of the tests may be offered into evidence. The
number | ||
and qualifications of the experts shall be determined by the | ||
court.
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(d) Documentation of the chain of custody of the blood or
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tissue samples, accompanied by an affidavit or certification in | ||
accordance
with Section 1-109 of the Code of Civil Procedure, | ||
is competent evidence to
establish the chain of custody.
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(e) The report of the test results prepared by the | ||
appointed expert shall be
made by affidavit or
by
certification | ||
as provided in Section 1-109 of the Code of Civil Procedure
and | ||
shall be mailed to all parties. A proof of service shall be
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filed with the court. The verified
report shall be admitted | ||
into evidence at trial without foundation testimony
or other | ||
proof of authenticity or accuracy, unless a written motion
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challenging the admissibility of the report is filed by either | ||
party
within 28 days of receipt of the report, in
which case | ||
expert testimony shall be required.
A party may
not file such a | ||
motion challenging the admissibility of the report later than
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28 days before commencement of trial. Before trial, the court
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shall determine whether the motion is sufficient to deny | ||
admission of the
report by verification. Failure to make
that | ||
timely motion constitutes a waiver of the right to object to
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admission by verification and shall not be
grounds for a | ||
continuance of the hearing to determine paternity.
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(f) Tests taken pursuant to this Section shall have the | ||
following effect:
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(1) If the court finds that the conclusion of the | ||
expert or
experts, as
disclosed by the evidence based upon | ||
the tests, is that the alleged father
is not the parent of | ||
the child, the question of paternity shall be resolved
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accordingly.
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(2) If the experts disagree in their findings or | ||
conclusions, the
question shall be weighed with other | ||
competent evidence of paternity.
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(3) If the tests show that the alleged father is
not | ||
excluded and that the combined paternity index is at least | ||
1,000 to 1, and there is at least a 99.9 percent | ||
probability of paternity, the alleged father is presumed to | ||
be the father, and this evidence shall be admitted less | ||
than 500 to 1,
this evidence shall be admitted by the court | ||
and shall be weighed with
other competent evidence of | ||
paternity.
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(4) A man identified under paragraph (3) of subsection | ||
(f) as the father of the child may rebut the genetic | ||
testing results by other genetic testing satisfying the | ||
requirements of this Act which: | ||
(A) excludes the man as a genetic father of the | ||
child; or | ||
(B) identifies another man as the possible father | ||
of the child. If the tests show that the alleged father | ||
is not
excluded and that the combined paternity index | ||
is at least 500 to 1, the
alleged
father is presumed to | ||
be the father, and this evidence shall be admitted.
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This presumption may be rebutted by clear and | ||
convincing evidence.
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(5) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, if more | ||
than one man is identified by genetic testing as the | ||
possible father of the child, the court shall order them to | ||
submit to further genetic testing to identify the genetic | ||
father. | ||
(g) (Blank). Any presumption of parentage as set forth in | ||
Section 5 of this Act
is rebutted if the court finds that the | ||
conclusion of the expert or experts
excludes
paternity of the | ||
presumed father.
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(h) The expense of the tests shall be paid by the party
who | ||
requests the tests, except that the court may apportion the | ||
costs between the parties, upon request. Where the tests are | ||
requested by the party
seeking to establish paternity and that | ||
party is found to be indigent by
the court, the expense shall | ||
be paid by the public agency providing
representation; except | ||
that where a public agency is not providing
representation, the | ||
expense shall be paid by the county in which the action
is | ||
brought. Where the tests are ordered by the court on its own | ||
motion or
are requested by the alleged or presumed father and | ||
that father is found to
be indigent by the court, the expense | ||
shall be paid by the county in which
the action is brought. Any | ||
part of the expense may be taxed as costs in the
action, except | ||
that no costs may be taxed against a public agency that has
not | ||
requested the tests.
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(i) The compensation of each expert witness appointed by | ||
the court shall
be paid as provided in subsection (h) of this | ||
Section. Any part of
the payment may be taxed as costs in the | ||
action, except that
no costs may be taxed against a public | ||
agency that has not requested the
services of the expert | ||
witness.
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(j) Nothing in this Section shall prevent any party from | ||
obtaining tests
of his or her own blood or tissue independent | ||
of those ordered by the court
or from
presenting expert | ||
testimony interpreting those tests or any other blood
tests | ||
ordered pursuant to this Section. Reports of all the
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independent tests, accompanied by affidavit or certification | ||
pursuant to
Section 1-109 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and | ||
notice of any expert
witnesses to be called to testify to the | ||
results of those tests shall be
submitted to all parties at | ||
least 30 days before any hearing set to
determine the issue of | ||
parentage.
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(Source: P.A. 96-333, eff. 8-11-09; 96-474, eff. 8-14-09.)
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