Bill Text: IL HB0179 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Code of Civil Procedure. Provides that any person criminally prosecuted and incarcerated for 30 days or longer prior to trial for one or more felonies by the State which he or she did not commit may file a petition for a certificate of innocence. Provides that the petitioner must prove that: the petitioner was incarcerated prior to trial in a prosecution which resulted in an acquittal or dismissal; the prosecution did not result in a conviction of a lesser included offense; the petitioner is innocent of the charges on which the petitioner's pretrial detention was based, or the charges did not constitute a felony or misdemeanor; and the petitioner did not by his or her own conduct voluntarily cause or bring about the charges which resulted in his or her pretrial incarceration. Amends the Court of Claims Act. Provides that a person who has been issued a certificate of innocence may file a claim against the State for time unjustly served in pretrial incarceration in a county jail. Provides that the Court of Claims shall award $50,000 per year during which the person was wrongfully imprisoned and shall prorate that amount for a fraction of a year that the person was wrongfully imprisoned (rather than "the amount of the award is at the discretion of the court; and provided, the court shall make no award in excess of the following amounts: for imprisonment of 5 years or less, not more than $85,350; for imprisonment of 14 years or less but over 5 years, not more than $170,000; for imprisonment of over 14 years, not more than $199,150"). Provides that the court shall include the number of years the person was imprisoned awaiting trial in its determination and an additional $25,000 for each year served on parole, probation, or registered as a sex offender after imprisonment. Makes corresponding changes. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-23 - Rule 19(b) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB0179 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-HB0179-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 HB0179 Introduced , by Rep. Mary E. Flowers SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
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Amends the Code of Civil Procedure. Provides that any person criminally prosecuted and incarcerated for 30 days or longer prior to trial for one or more felonies by the State which he or she did not commit may file a petition for a certificate of innocence. Provides that the petitioner must prove that: the petitioner was incarcerated prior to trial in a prosecution which resulted in an acquittal or dismissal; the prosecution did not result in a conviction of a lesser included offense; the petitioner is innocent of the charges on which the petitioner's pretrial detention was based, or the charges did not constitute a felony or misdemeanor; and the petitioner did not by his or her own conduct voluntarily cause or bring about the charges which resulted in his or her pretrial incarceration. Amends the Court of Claims Act. Provides that a person who has been issued a certificate of innocence may file a claim against the State for time unjustly served in pretrial incarceration in a county jail. Provides that the Court of Claims shall award $50,000 per year during which the person was wrongfully imprisoned and shall prorate that amount for a fraction of a year that the person was wrongfully imprisoned (rather than "the amount of the award is at the discretion of the court; and provided, the court shall make no award in excess of the following amounts: for imprisonment of 5 years or less, not more than $85,350; for imprisonment of 14 years or less but over 5 years, not more than $170,000; for imprisonment of over 14 years, not more than $199,150"). Provides that the court shall include the number of years the person was imprisoned awaiting trial in its determination and an additional $25,000 for each year served on parole, probation, or registered as a sex offender after imprisonment. Makes corresponding changes. Effective immediately.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning civil law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Court of Claims Act is amended by changing
Sections 8 and 11 as follows:
(705 ILCS 505/8) (from Ch. 37, par. 439.8)
Sec. 8. Court of Claims jurisdiction; deliberation
periods. The court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear
and determine the following matters:
(a) All claims against the State founded upon any law of
the State of Illinois or upon any regulation adopted thereunder
by an executive or administrative officer or agency; provided,
however, the court shall not have jurisdiction (i) to hear or
determine claims arising under the Workers' Compensation Act or
the Workers' Occupational Diseases Act, or claims for expenses
in civil litigation, or (ii) to review administrative decisions
for which a statute provides that review shall be in the
circuit or appellate court.
(b) All claims against the State founded upon any contract
entered into with the State of Illinois.
(c) All claims against the State for time unjustly served
in prisons of this State or in a county jail when the person
imprisoned received a pardon from the governor stating that

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such pardon is issued on the ground of innocence of the crime
for which he or she was imprisoned or he or she received a
certificate of innocence from the Circuit Court as provided in
Section 2-702 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The court shall
make an award of $50,000 per year during which the person was
wrongfully imprisoned and shall prorate that amount for a
fraction of a year that the person was wrongfully imprisoned.
The court shall fix attorney's fees not to exceed 25% of the
award granted. The court shall include the number of years the
person was imprisoned awaiting trial in its determination of
the award. The court shall include an additional $25,000 for
each year served on parole, probation, or registered as a sex
offender after imprisonment. The ; provided, the amount of the
award is at the discretion of the court; and provided, the
court shall make no award in excess of the following amounts:
for imprisonment of 5 years or less, not more than $85,350; for
imprisonment of 14 years or less but over 5 years, not more
than $170,000; for imprisonment of over 14 years, not more than
$199,150; and provided further, the court shall fix attorney's
fees not to exceed 25% of the award granted. On or after the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 95th General
Assembly, the court shall annually adjust the maximum awards
authorized by this subsection (c) to reflect the increase, if
any, in the Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers for
the previous calendar year, as determined by the United States
Department of Labor, except that no annual increment may exceed

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5%. For the annual adjustments, if the Consumer Price Index
decreases during a calendar year, there shall be no adjustment
for that calendar year. The transmission by the Prisoner Review
Board or the clerk of the circuit court of the information
described in Section 11(b) to the clerk of the Court of Claims
is conclusive evidence of the validity of the claim. The
changes made by Public Act 95-970 this amendatory Act of the
95th General Assembly apply to all claims pending on or filed
on or after September 22, 2008 (the effective date of Public
Act 95-970). The changes made by this amendatory Act of the
101st General Assembly apply to all claims pending or filed on
or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 101st
General Assembly.
(d) All claims against the State for damages in cases
sounding in tort, if a like cause of action would lie against a
private person or corporation in a civil suit, and all like
claims sounding in tort against the Medical Center Commission,
the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, the Board
of Trustees of Southern Illinois University, the Board of
Trustees of Chicago State University, the Board of Trustees of
Eastern Illinois University, the Board of Trustees of Governors
State University, the Board of Trustees of Illinois State
University, the Board of Trustees of Northeastern Illinois
University, the Board of Trustees of Northern Illinois
University, the Board of Trustees of Western Illinois
University, or the Board of Trustees of the Illinois

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Mathematics and Science Academy; provided, that an award for
damages in a case sounding in tort, other than certain cases
involving the operation of a State vehicle described in this
paragraph, shall not exceed the sum of $100,000 to or for the
benefit of any claimant. The $100,000 limit prescribed by this
Section does not apply to an award of damages in any case
sounding in tort arising out of the operation by a State
employee of a vehicle owned, leased or controlled by the State.
The defense that the State or the Medical Center Commission or
the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, the Board
of Trustees of Southern Illinois University, the Board of
Trustees of Chicago State University, the Board of Trustees of
Eastern Illinois University, the Board of Trustees of Governors
State University, the Board of Trustees of Illinois State
University, the Board of Trustees of Northeastern Illinois
University, the Board of Trustees of Northern Illinois
University, the Board of Trustees of Western Illinois
University, or the Board of Trustees of the Illinois
Mathematics and Science Academy is not liable for the
negligence of its officers, agents, and employees in the course
of their employment is not applicable to the hearing and
determination of such claims.
(e) All claims for recoupment made by the State of Illinois
against any claimant.
(f) All claims pursuant to the Line of Duty Compensation
Act. A claim under that Act must be heard and determined within

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one year after the application for that claim is filed with the
Court as provided in that Act.
(g) All claims filed pursuant to the Crime Victims
Compensation Act.
(h) All claims pursuant to the Illinois National
Guardsman's Compensation Act. A claim under that Act must be
heard and determined within one year after the application for
that claim is filed with the Court as provided in that Act.
(i) All claims authorized by subsection (a) of Section
10-55 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act for the
expenses incurred by a party in a contested case on the
administrative level.
(Source: P.A. 95-970, eff. 9-22-08; 96-80, eff. 7-27-09.)
(705 ILCS 505/11) (from Ch. 37, par. 439.11)
Sec. 11. Filing claims.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this
Section and subsection (4) of Section 24, the claimant shall in
all cases set forth fully in his petition the claim, the action
thereon, if any, on behalf of the State, what persons are
owners thereof or interested therein, when and upon what
consideration such persons became so interested; that no
assignment or transfer of the claim or any part thereof or
interest therein has been made, except as stated in the
petition; that the claimant is justly entitled to the amount
therein claimed from the State of Illinois, after allowing all

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just credits; and that claimant believes the facts stated in
the petition to be true. The petition shall be verified, as to
statements of facts, by the affidavit of the claimant, his
agent, or attorney.
(b) Whenever a person has served a term of imprisonment and
has received a pardon by the Governor stating that such pardon
was issued on the ground of innocence of the crime for which he
or she was imprisoned, the Prisoner Review Board shall transmit
this information to the clerk of the Court of Claims, together
with the claimant's current address. Whenever a person has
served a term of imprisonment or has been incarcerated as a
pretrial detainee and has received a certificate of innocence
from the Circuit Court as provided in Section 2-702 of the Code
of Civil Procedure, the clerk of the issuing Circuit Court
shall transmit this information to the clerk of the Court of
Claims, together with the claimant's current address. The clerk
of the Court of Claims shall immediately docket the case for
consideration by the Court of Claims, and shall provide notice
to the claimant of such docketing together with all hearing
dates and applicable deadlines. The Court of Claims shall hear
the case and render a decision within 90 days after its
docketing.
(Source: P.A. 95-970, eff. 9-22-08; 96-328, eff. 8-11-09.)
Section 10. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by
changing Section 2-702 as follows:

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(735 ILCS 5/2-702)
Sec. 2-702. Petition for a certificate of innocence that
the petitioner was innocent of all offenses for which he or she
was incarcerated.
(a) The General Assembly finds and declares that innocent
persons who have been wrongly charged with or convicted of
crimes in Illinois and subsequently have been incarcerated
prior to trial or imprisoned have been frustrated in seeking
legal redress due to a variety of substantive and technical
obstacles in the law and that such persons should have an
available avenue to obtain a finding of innocence so that they
may obtain relief through a petition in the Court of Claims.
The General Assembly further finds misleading the current legal
nomenclature which compels an innocent person to seek a pardon
for being wrongfully incarcerated. It is the intent of the
General Assembly that the court, in exercising its discretion
as permitted by law regarding the weight and admissibility of
evidence submitted pursuant to this Section, shall, in the
interest of justice, give due consideration to difficulties of
proof caused by the passage of time, the death or
unavailability of witnesses, the destruction of evidence or
other factors not caused by such persons or those acting on
their behalf.
(b) Any person criminally prosecuted and incarcerated
prior to trial or convicted and subsequently imprisoned for one

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or more felonies by the State of Illinois which he or she did
not commit may, under the conditions hereinafter provided, file
a petition for certificate of innocence in the circuit court of
the county in which the person was convicted or incarcerated
prior to trial. The petition shall request a certificate of
innocence finding that the petitioner was innocent of all
offenses for which he or she was incarcerated.
(c) In order to present the claim for certificate of
innocence of an unjust conviction and imprisonment or pretrial
incarceration, the petitioner must attach to his or her
petition documentation demonstrating that:
(1) he or she has been convicted of one or more
felonies by the State of Illinois and subsequently
sentenced to a term of imprisonment, and has served all or
any part of the sentence, or he or she was incarcerated
prior to trial for 30 days or longer and the case resulted
in a dismissal or acquittal of the charge or charges, but
did not result in a conviction for a lesser included
offense; and
(2) if convicted, his or her judgment of conviction was
reversed or vacated, and the indictment or information
dismissed or, if a new trial was ordered, either he or she
was found not guilty at the new trial or he or she was not
retried and the indictment or information dismissed; or the
statute, or application thereof, on which the indictment or
information was based violated the Constitution of the

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United States or the State of Illinois; and
(3) his or her claim is not time barred by the
provisions of subsection (i) of this Section.
(d) The petition shall state facts in sufficient detail to
permit the court to find that the petitioner is likely to
succeed at trial in proving that the petitioner is innocent of
the offenses charged in the indictment or information or his or
her acts or omissions charged in the indictment or information
did not constitute a felony or misdemeanor against the State of
Illinois, and the petitioner did not by his or her own conduct
voluntarily cause or bring about his or her conviction. The
petition shall be verified by the petitioner.
(e) A copy of the petition shall be served on the Attorney
General and the State's Attorney of the county where the
conviction was had. The Attorney General and the State's
Attorney of the county where the conviction was had shall have
the right to intervene as parties.
(f) In any hearing seeking a certificate of innocence, the
court may take judicial notice of prior sworn testimony or
evidence admitted in the criminal proceedings related to the
charges or convictions which resulted in the alleged wrongful
incarceration, if the petitioner was either represented by
counsel at such prior proceedings or the right to counsel was
knowingly waived.
(g) If the petitioner was imprisoned because of a
conviction, in In order to obtain a certificate of innocence

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the petitioner must prove by a preponderance of evidence that:
(1) the petitioner was convicted of one or more
felonies by the State of Illinois and subsequently
sentenced to a term of imprisonment, and has served all or
any part of the sentence;
(2)(A) the judgment of conviction was reversed or
vacated, and the indictment or information dismissed or, if
a new trial was ordered, either the petitioner was found
not guilty at the new trial or the petitioner was not
retried and the indictment or information dismissed; or (B)
the statute, or application thereof, on which the
indictment or information was based violated the
Constitution of the United States or the State of Illinois;
(3) the petitioner is innocent of the offenses charged
in the indictment or information or his or her acts or
omissions charged in the indictment or information did not
constitute a felony or misdemeanor against the State; and
(4) the petitioner did not by his or her own conduct
voluntarily cause or bring about his or her conviction.
(g-5) If the petitioner was incarcerated prior to trial for
30 days or longer but not convicted of any of the charged
offenses or a lesser included offense, in order to obtain a
certificate of innocence the petitioner must prove by a
preponderance of evidence that:
(1) the petitioner was incarcerated prior to trial for
30 days or longer in a prosecution which resulted in an

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acquittal or dismissal;
(2) the prosecution did not result in a conviction of a
lesser included offense;
(3) the petitioner is innocent of the charges on which
the petitioner's pretrial detention was based, or the
charges did not constitute a felony or misdemeanor; and
(4) the petitioner did not by his or her own conduct
voluntarily cause or bring about the charges which resulted
in his or her pretrial incarceration.
(h) If the court finds that the petitioner is entitled to a
judgment, it shall enter a certificate of innocence finding
that the petitioner was innocent of all offenses for which he
or she was incarcerated. Upon entry of the certificate of
innocence or pardon from the Governor stating that such pardon
was issued on the ground of innocence of the crime for which he
or she was incarcerated prior to trial or imprisoned, (1) the
clerk of the court shall transmit a copy of the certificate of
innocence to the clerk of the Court of Claims, together with
the claimant's current address; and (2) the court shall enter
an order expunging the record of arrest from the official
records of the arresting authority and order that the records
of the clerk of the circuit court and Department of State
Police be sealed until further order of the court upon good
cause shown or as otherwise provided herein, and the name of
the defendant obliterated from the official index requested to
be kept by the circuit court clerk under Section 16 of the

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Clerks of Courts Act in connection with the arrest and
conviction for the offense but the order shall not affect any
index issued by the circuit court clerk before the entry of the
order. The court shall enter the expungement order regardless
of whether the petitioner has prior criminal convictions.
All records sealed by the Department of State Police may be
disseminated by the Department only as required by law or to
the arresting authority, the State's Attorney, the court upon a
later arrest for the same or similar offense, or for the
purpose of sentencing for any subsequent felony. Upon
conviction for any subsequent offense, the Department of
Corrections shall have access to all sealed records of the
Department pertaining to that individual.
Upon entry of the order of expungement, the clerk of the
circuit court shall promptly mail a copy of the order to the
person whose records were expunged and sealed.
(i) Any person seeking a certificate of innocence under
this Section based on the dismissal of an indictment or
information or acquittal that occurred before September 22,
2008 (the effective date of Public Act 95-970) this amendatory
Act of the 95th General Assembly shall file his or her petition
within 2 years after September 22, 2008 the effective date of
this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly. Any person
seeking a certificate of innocence under this Section based on
the dismissal of an indictment or information or acquittal that
occurred on or after September 22, 2008 the effective date of

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this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly shall file his
or her petition within 2 years after the dismissal.
(j) The decision to grant or deny a certificate of
innocence shall be binding only with respect to claims filed in
the Court of Claims and shall not have a res judicata effect on
any other proceedings.
(Source: P.A. 98-133, eff. 1-1-14.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.
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INDEX
Statutes amended in order of appearance