Bill Text: IL HB5801 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a person serving a term of imprisonment in a Department of Corrections institution or facility is eligible for Earned Discretionary Release and a parole hearing if he or she has served the greater of: (1) a term of imprisonment of at least 20 years; (2) 25% of his or her sentence; or (3) the minimum term of imprisonment for the most serious offense for which the person was convicted. Provides that a person serving a term of natural life imprisonment is eligible for Earned Discretionary Release and a parole hearing after serving a term of imprisonment of at least 20 years. Provides that each committed person eligible for Earned Discretionary Release on the effective date of the amendatory Act shall receive a risk assessment within one year after the effective date of the amendatory Act. Deletes language providing that no person serving a term of natural life imprisonment may be paroled or released except through executive clemency. Contains a severability provision.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-11-10 - Referred to Rules Committee [HB5801 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-HB5801-Introduced.html


101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB5801

Introduced , by Rep. Jonathan "Yoni" Pizer

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
730 ILCS 5/3-3-3 from Ch. 38, par. 1003-3-3
730 ILCS 5/3-3-3.1 new
730 ILCS 5/3-5-1 from Ch. 38, par. 1003-5-1

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a person serving a term of imprisonment in a Department of Corrections institution or facility is eligible for Earned Discretionary Release and a parole hearing if he or she has served the greater of: (1) a term of imprisonment of at least 20 years; (2) 25% of his or her sentence; or (3) the minimum term of imprisonment for the most serious offense for which the person was convicted. Provides that a person serving a term of natural life imprisonment is eligible for Earned Discretionary Release and a parole hearing after serving a term of imprisonment of at least 20 years. Provides that each committed person eligible for Earned Discretionary Release on the effective date of the amendatory Act shall receive a risk assessment within one year after the effective date of the amendatory Act. Deletes language providing that no person serving a term of natural life imprisonment may be paroled or released except through executive clemency. Contains a severability provision.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

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1 AN ACT concerning criminal law.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Unified Code of Corrections is amended by
5changing Sections 3-3-3 and 3-5-1 and by adding Section 3-3-3.1
6as follows:
7 (730 ILCS 5/3-3-3) (from Ch. 38, par. 1003-3-3)
8 Sec. 3-3-3. Eligibility for parole or release.
9 (a) Except as otherwise provided in Section 3-3-3.1 and
10except Except for those offenders who accept the fixed release
11date established by the Prisoner Review Board under Section
123-3-2.1, every person serving a term of imprisonment under the
13law in effect prior to the effective date of this amendatory
14Act of 1977 shall be eligible for parole when he or she has
15served:
16 (1) the minimum term of an indeterminate sentence less
17 time credit for good behavior, or 20 years less time credit
18 for good behavior, whichever is less; or
19 (2) 20 years of a life sentence less time credit for
20 good behavior; or
21 (3) 20 years or one-third of a determinate sentence,
22 whichever is less, less time credit for good behavior.
23 (b) Except as otherwise provided in Section 3-3-3.1, no No

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1person sentenced under this amendatory Act of 1977 or who
2accepts a release date under Section 3-3-2.1 shall be eligible
3for parole.
4 (c) Except as otherwise provided in Section 3-3-3.1 and
5except Except for those sentenced to a term of natural life
6imprisonment, every person sentenced to imprisonment under
7this amendatory Act of 1977 or given a release date under
8Section 3-3-2.1 of this Act shall serve the full term of a
9determinate sentence less time credit for good behavior and
10shall then be released under the mandatory supervised release
11provisions of paragraph (d) of Section 5-8-1 of this Code.
12 (d) (Blank). No person serving a term of natural life
13imprisonment may be paroled or released except through
14executive clemency.
15 (e) Every person committed to the Department of Juvenile
16Justice under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 and confined in
17the State correctional institutions or facilities if such
18juvenile has not been tried as an adult shall be eligible for
19aftercare release under Section 3-2.5-85 of this Code. However,
20if a juvenile has been tried as an adult he or she shall only be
21eligible for parole or mandatory supervised release as an adult
22under this Section.
23(Source: P.A. 98-558, eff. 1-1-14; 99-628, eff. 1-1-17.)
24 (730 ILCS 5/3-3-3.1 new)
25 Sec. 3-3-3.1. Earned Discretionary Release; parole

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1hearings; sentences of 20 years or longer; life imprisonment;
2early release.
3 (a) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,
4including, but not limited to, this Code, Article 122 of the
5Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963, Article X of the Code of
6Civil Procedure, or Section 2-1401 of the Code of Civil
7Procedure, a person serving a term of imprisonment in a
8Department of Corrections institution or facility is eligible
9for Earned Discretionary Release and a parole hearing under
10this Article if he or she has served the greater of:
11 (1) a term of imprisonment of at least 20 years;
12 (2) 25% of his or her sentence; or
13 (3) the minimum term of imprisonment for the most
14 serious offense for which the person was convicted.
15 A person serving a term of natural life imprisonment is
16eligible for Earned Discretionary Release and a parole hearing
17under this Article after serving a term of imprisonment of at
18least 20 years. A person seeking early release under this
19Section may petition the Prisoner Review Board in the same
20manner as a person eligible for parole under Section 3-3-2.1 of
21this Code and, unless otherwise provided in this Section, the
22parole hearing shall be conducted as provided in this Article
23and the Open Parole Hearings Act.
24 (b) Veterans, as defined in Section 10 of the Veterans and
25Servicemembers Court Treatment Act, who have been honorably
26discharged are eligible for additional sentence credit as

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1determined by the Prisoner Review Board.
2 (c) A risk assessment instrument shall be used to evaluate
3every committed person described in this Section at the time of
4his or her admittance to an institution or facility of the
5Department for the offense or offenses that resulted in the
6person's sentence in order to determine the risk factors and
7identify goals or behavior that the committed person needs to
8achieve or change in order to be released.
9 (d) Each committed person eligible for Earned
10Discretionary Release under this Section on the effective date
11of this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly shall
12receive a risk assessment within one year after the effective
13date of this amendatory Act of the 101st General Assembly.
14 (e) Victims have the right to be present and involved in
15the initial outlining of the goals for a committed person
16described in this Section. Victims may have input into the
17goals that must be achieved by a committed person before the
18committed person may be released. The risk assessment
19instrument shall be the primary factor for determining what
20goals a committed person must accomplish before being released.
21Each interested party may have meaningful input before the
22determination of the committed person's final goals.
23 (f) On the effective date of this amendatory Act of the
24101st General Assembly, prior evidence of the petitioner's
25participation in rehabilitative programs shall be added to the
26petitioner's master record file under Section 3-5-1 and shall

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1be considered at the petitioner's parole hearing.
2 (g) The source code of any risk assessment instrument under
3subsection (d) shall be made available to a panel composed of
4representatives from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information
5Authority and the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council
6for periodic review for racial, religious, ethnic, gender,
7sexual orientation, and socioeconomic biases.
8 (h) The Department has a duty to provide rehabilitative
9programming for each committed person described in this
10Section.
11 (i) A committed person described in this Section may not be
12barred from rehabilitative programming because his or her
13anticipated release is not in the near future.
14 (j) A committed person described in this Section during any
15period of his or her imprisonment in a Department institution
16or facility has the right to engage in rehabilitative
17programming after meeting with a counselor and developing an
18individualized plan of rehabilitation, which shall be made
19available to the Prisoner Review Board prior to the parole
20hearing.
21 (k) On the effective date of this amendatory Act of the
22101st General Assembly, each correctional facility shall
23comprehensively evaluate how well it facilitates relationships
24between committed persons in its custody and their family
25members. This includes, but is not limited to: visiting hours
26and procedures, phone call protocol and costs, letter writing,

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1and other factors deemed relevant by the Director of
2Corrections.
3 (l) Every committed person described in this Section has
4the right to legal representation at his or her parole hearing.
5If the committed person cannot afford legal counsel, free legal
6service representatives may be utilized.
7 (m) Every committed person described in this Section may
8attend and testify at his or her parole hearing.
9 (n) Every committed person described in this Section shall
10be provided full and complete access to his or her master
11record file at least 60 days prior to any parole hearing. The
12committed person has a right to challenge any false,
13misleading, or otherwise inaccurate information contained
14therein. The Department of Corrections shall establish an
15expedited process for committed persons to challenge such
16false, misleading, or otherwise inaccurate information so that
17it can be removed prior to any parole hearing.
18 (o) Nothing in this amendatory Act of the 101st General
19Assembly guarantees release. This amendatory Act of the 101st
20General Assembly only guarantees the opportunity of the
21committed person to present evidence at his or her parole
22hearing to demonstrate his or her rehabilitation before the
23Prisoner Review Board and to seek Earned Discretionary Release.
24 (730 ILCS 5/3-5-1) (from Ch. 38, par. 1003-5-1)
25 Sec. 3-5-1. Master Record File.

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1 (a) The Department of Corrections and the Department of
2Juvenile Justice shall maintain a master record file on each
3person committed to it, which shall contain the following
4information:
5 (1) all information from the committing court;
6 (1.5) ethnic and racial background data collected in
7 accordance with Section 4.5 of the Criminal Identification
8 Act;
9 (2) reception summary;
10 (3) evaluation and assignment reports and
11 recommendations;
12 (4) reports as to program assignment and progress;
13 (5) reports of disciplinary infractions and
14 disposition, including tickets and Administrative Review
15 Board action;
16 (6) any parole or aftercare release plan;
17 (7) any parole or aftercare release reports;
18 (8) the date and circumstances of final discharge;
19 (9) criminal history;
20 (10) current and past gang affiliations and ranks;
21 (11) information regarding associations and family
22 relationships;
23 (12) any grievances filed and responses to those
24 grievances; and
25 (13) other information that the respective Department
26 determines is relevant to the secure confinement and

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1 rehabilitation of the committed person.
2 (b) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (n) of
3Section 3-3-3.l, all All files shall be confidential and access
4shall be limited to authorized personnel of the respective
5Department. Personnel of other correctional, welfare or law
6enforcement agencies may have access to files under rules and
7regulations of the respective Department. The respective
8Department shall keep a record of all outside personnel who
9have access to files, the files reviewed, any file material
10copied, and the purpose of access. If the respective Department
11or the Prisoner Review Board makes a determination under this
12Code which affects the length of the period of confinement or
13commitment, the committed person and his counsel shall be
14advised of factual information relied upon by the respective
15Department or Board to make the determination, provided that
16the Department or Board shall not be required to advise a
17person committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice any such
18information which in the opinion of the Department of Juvenile
19Justice or Board would be detrimental to his treatment or
20rehabilitation.
21 (c) The master file shall be maintained at a place
22convenient to its use by personnel of the respective Department
23in charge of the person. When custody of a person is
24transferred from the Department to another department or
25agency, a summary of the file shall be forwarded to the
26receiving agency with such other information required by law or

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1requested by the agency under rules and regulations of the
2respective Department.
3 (d) The master file of a person no longer in the custody of
4the respective Department shall be placed on inactive status
5and its use shall be restricted subject to rules and
6regulations of the Department.
7 (e) All public agencies may make available to the
8respective Department on request any factual data not otherwise
9privileged as a matter of law in their possession in respect to
10individuals committed to the respective Department.
11(Source: P.A. 97-696, eff. 6-22-12; 98-528, eff. 1-1-15;
1298-558, eff. 1-1-14; 98-756, eff. 7-16-14.)
13 Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are
14severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
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