Bill Text: IL HB5396 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that the Prisoner Review Board shall place no additional restrictions, limitations, or requirements than that provided by the statute creating the procedure for medical release. Provides that upon a determination that the petitioner is eligible for a hearing on medical release, the Prisoner Review Board shall: (1) provide public notice of the petitioner's name, docket number, counsel, and hearing date; and (2) provide a copy of the evaluation and any medical records provided by the Department of Corrections to the petitioner or the petitioner's attorney upon scheduling the institutional hearing. Provides that a hearing on a petitioner's application for medical release is public unless the petitioner requests a non-public hearing. Provides that members of the public shall be permitted to freely attend public hearings on medical release without restriction. Provides that upon denying an eligible petitioner's application for medical release, the Prisoner Review Board shall publish a decision letter outlining the reason for denial. Provides that the decision letter must include an explanation of each statutory factor and the estimated annual cost of the petitioner's continued incarceration, including the petitioner's medical care. Makes technical changes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-04-18 - Referred to Assignments [HB5396 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB5396-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning 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
changing Section 3-3-14 as follows:
(730 ILCS 5/3-3-14)
Sec. 3-3-14. Procedure for medical release.
(a) Definitions.
(1) As used in this Section, "medically incapacitated"
means that a petitioner an inmate has any diagnosable
medical condition, including dementia and severe,
permanent medical or cognitive disability, that prevents
the petitioner inmate from completing more than one
activity of daily living without assistance or that
incapacitates the petitioner inmate to the extent that
institutional confinement does not offer additional
restrictions, and that the condition is unlikely to
improve noticeably in the future.
(2) As used in this Section, "terminal illness" means
a condition that satisfies all of the following criteria:
(i) the condition is irreversible and incurable;
and
(ii) in accordance with medical standards and a

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reasonable degree of medical certainty, based on an
individual assessment of the petitioner inmate, the
condition is likely to cause death to the petitioner
inmate within 18 months.
(b) The Prisoner Review Board shall consider an
application for compassionate release on behalf of any
petitioner inmate who meets any of the following:
(1) is suffering from a terminal illness; or
(2) has been diagnosed with a condition that will
result in medical incapacity within the next 6 months; or
(3) has become medically incapacitated subsequent to
sentencing due to illness or injury.
(c) Initial application.
(1) An initial application for medical release may be
filed with the Prisoner Review Board by the petitioner an
inmate, a prison official, a medical professional who has
treated or diagnosed the petitioner inmate, or the
petitioner's an inmate's spouse, parent, guardian,
grandparent, aunt or uncle, sibling, child over the age of
eighteen years, or attorney. If the initial application is
made by someone other than the petitioner inmate, the
petitioner inmate, or if the petitioner inmate is
medically unable to consent, the guardian or family member
designated to represent the petitioner's inmate's
interests must consent to the application at the time of
the institutional hearing.

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(2) Application materials shall be maintained on the
Prisoner Review Board's website and the Department of
Corrections' website and maintained in a clearly visible
place within the law library and the infirmary of every
penal institution and facility operated by the Department
of Corrections.
(3) The initial application need not be notarized, can
be sent via email or facsimile, and must contain the
following information:
(i) the petitioner's inmate's name and Illinois
Department of Corrections number;
(ii) the petitioner's inmate's diagnosis;
(iii) a statement that the petitioner inmate meets
one of the following diagnostic criteria:
(A) the petitioner inmate is suffering from a
terminal illness;
(B) the petitioner inmate has been diagnosed
with a condition that will result in medical
incapacity within the next 6 months; or
(C) the petitioner inmate has become medically
incapacitated subsequent to sentencing due to
illness or injury.
(3.5) The Prisoner Review Board shall place no
additional restrictions, limitations, or requirements on
applications from petitioners.
(4) Upon receiving the petitioner's inmate's initial

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application, the Board shall order the Department of
Corrections to have a physician or nurse practitioner
evaluate the petitioner inmate and create a written
evaluation within ten days of the Board's order. The
evaluation shall include but need not be limited to:
(i) a concise statement of the petitioner's
inmate's medical diagnosis, including prognosis,
likelihood of recovery, and primary symptoms, to
include incapacitation; and
(ii) a statement confirming or denying that the
petitioner inmate meets one of the criteria stated in
subsection (b) of this Section.
(5) Upon a determination that the petitioner is
eligible for a hearing, the Prisoner Review Board shall:
(i) provide public notice of the petitioner's
name, docket number, counsel, and hearing date; and
(ii) provide a copy of the evaluation and any
medical records provided by the Department of
Corrections to the petitioner or the petitioner's
attorney upon scheduling the institutional hearing.
(d) Institutional hearing. No public institutional hearing
is required for consideration of a petition, but shall be
granted at the request of the petitioner. Hearings are public
unless the petitioner requests a non-public hearing. The
petitioner has a right to attend the hearing and to speak on
the petitioner's own behalf. The petitioner inmate may be

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represented by counsel and may present witnesses to the Board
members. Hearings shall be governed by the Open Parole
Hearings Act. Members of the public shall be permitted to
freely attend public hearings without restriction.
(e) Voting procedure. Petitions shall be considered by
three-member panels, and decisions shall be made by simple
majority. Voting shall take place during the public hearing.
(f) Consideration. In considering a petition for release
under the statute, the Prisoner Review Board may consider the
following factors:
(i) the petitioner's inmate's diagnosis and
likelihood of recovery;
(ii) the approximate cost of health care to the
State should the petitioner inmate remain in custody;
(iii) the impact that the petitioner's inmate's
continued incarceration may have on the provision of
medical care within the Department;
(iv) the present likelihood of and ability to pose
a substantial danger to the physical safety of a
specifically identifiable person or persons;
(v) any statements by the victim regarding
release; and
(vi) whether the petitioner's inmate's condition
was explicitly disclosed to the original sentencing
judge and taken into account at the time of
sentencing.

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(f-1) Upon denying an eligible petitioner's application
for medical release, the Prisoner Review Board shall publish a
decision letter outlining the reason for denial. The decision
letter must include an explanation of each statutory factor
and the estimated annual cost of the petitioner's continued
incarceration, including the petitioner's medical care.
(g) Petitioners Inmates granted medical release shall be
released on mandatory supervised release for a period of 5
years subject to Section 3-3-8, which shall operate to
discharge any remaining term of years imposed upon him or her.
However, in no event shall the eligible person serve a period
of mandatory supervised release greater than the aggregate of
the discharged underlying sentence and the mandatory
supervised release period as set forth in Section 5-4.5-20.
(h) Within 90 days of the receipt of the initial
application, the Prisoner Review Board shall conduct a hearing
if a hearing is requested and render a decision granting or
denying the petitioner's request for release.
(i) Nothing in this statute shall preclude a petitioner
from seeking alternative forms of release, including clemency,
relief from the sentencing court, post-conviction relief, or
any other legal remedy.
(j) This act applies retroactively, and shall be
applicable to all currently incarcerated people in Illinois.
(k) Data report. The Department of Corrections and the
Prisoner Review Board shall release a report annually

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published on their websites that reports the following
information about the Medical Release Program:
(1) The number of applications for medical release
received by the Board in the preceding year, and
information about those applications, including:
(i) demographic data about the petitioner
individual, including race or ethnicity, gender, age,
and institution;
(ii) the highest class of offense for which the
petitioner individual is incarcerated;
(iii) the relationship of the petitioner applicant
to the person completing the application;
(iv) whether the petitioner applicant had applied
for medical release before and been denied, and, if
so, when;
(v) whether the petitioner person applied as a
person who is medically incapacitated or a person who
is terminally ill; and
(vi) a basic description of the underlying medical
condition that led to the application ; and .
(vii) the institution in which the petitioner was
confined at the time of the application.
(2) The number of medical statements from the
Department of Corrections received by the Board.
(3) The number of institutional hearings on medical
release applications conducted by the Board including: .

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(i) whether the petitioner was represented by an
attorney; and
(ii) whether the application was considered in a
public or non-public hearing.
(4) The number of people approved for medical release,
and information about them, including:
(i) demographic data about the individual
including race or ethnicity, gender, age, and zip code
to which they were released;
(ii) whether the person applied as a person who is
medically incapacitated or a person who is terminally
ill;
(iii) a basic description of the underlying
medical condition that led to the application; and
(iv) a basic description of the medical setting
the person was released to; .
(v) whether the petitioner was represented by an
attorney; and
(vi) whether the application was considered in a
public or non-public hearing.
(5) The number of people released on the medical
release program.
(6) The number of people approved for medical release
who experienced more than a one-month delay between
release decision and ultimate release, including:
(i) demographic data about the individuals

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including race or ethnicity, gender and age;
(ii) the reason for the delay;
(iii) whether the person remains incarcerated; and
(iv) a basic description of the underlying medical
condition of the applying person.
(7) For those individuals released on mandatory
supervised release due to a granted application for
medical release:
(i) the number of individuals who were serving
terms of mandatory supervised release because of
medical release applications during the previous year;
(ii) the number of individuals who had their
mandatory supervised release revoked; and
(iii) the number of individuals who died during
the previous year.
(8) Information on seriously ill individuals
incarcerated at the Department of Corrections, including:
(i) the number of people currently receiving
full-time one-on-one medical care or assistance with
activities of daily living within Department of
Corrections facilities and whether that care is
provided by a medical practitioner or an incarcerated
person inmate, along with the institutions at which
they are incarcerated; and
(ii) the number of people who spent more than one
month in outside hospital care during the previous

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