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Public Act 92-0236
HB0041 Enrolled LRB9200854RCcdB
AN ACT in relation to criminal law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Unified Code of Corrections is amended by
adding Section 3-12-16 as follows:
(730 ILCS 5/3-12-16 new)
Sec. 3-12-16. Helping Paws Service Dog Program.
(a) In this Section:
"Disabled person" means a person who suffers from a
physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one
or more major life activities.
"Program" means the Helping Paws Service Dog Program
created by this Section.
"Service dog" means a dog trained in obedience and task
skills to meet the needs of a disabled person.
"Animal care professional" means a person certified to
work in animal care related services, such as grooming,
kenneling, and any other related fields.
"Service dog professional" means a person certified to
train service dogs by an agency, organization, or school
approved by the Department.
(b) The Department may establish the Helping Paws
Service Dog Program to train committed persons to be service
dog trainers and animal care professionals. The Department
shall select committed persons in various correctional
institutions and facilities to participate in the Program.
(c) Priority for participation in the Program must be
given to committed persons who either have a high school
diploma or have passed the high school level Test of General
Educational Development (GED).
(d) The Department may contract with service dog
professionals to train committed persons to be certified
service dog trainers. Service dog professionals shall train
committed persons in dog obedience training, service dog
training, and animal health care. Upon successful completion
of the training, a committed person shall receive
certification by an agency, organization, or school approved
by the Department.
(e) The Department may designate a non-profit
organization to select animals from humane societies and
shelters for the purpose of being trained as service dogs and
for participation in any program designed to train animal
care professionals.
(f) After a dog is trained by the committed person as a
service dog, a review committee consisting of an equal number
of persons from the Department and the non-profit
organization shall select a disabled person to receive the
service dog free of charge.
(g) Employees of the Department shall periodically visit
disabled persons who have received service dogs from the
Department under this Section to determine whether the needs
of the disabled persons have been met by the service dogs
trained by committed persons.
(h) Employees of the Department shall periodically visit
committed persons who have been certified as service dog
trainers or animal care professionals and who have been
paroled or placed on mandatory supervised release to
determine whether the committed persons are using their
skills as certified service dog trainers or animal care
professionals.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.
Passed in the General Assembly May 09, 2001.
Approved August 03, 2001.
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