093_SB0883eng

 
SB883 Engrossed                      LRB093 09883 RLC 10132 b

 1        AN ACT concerning the exercise of police powers by  State
 2    employees.

 3        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 4    represented in the General Assembly:

 5        Section  5.  The State Appellate Defender Act is  amended
 6    by changing Section 10 as follows:

 7        (725 ILCS 105/10) (from Ch. 38, par. 208-10)
 8        Sec. 10.  Powers and duties of State Appellate Defender.
 9        (a)  The   State   Appellate   Defender  shall  represent
10    indigent persons on appeal in criminal and  delinquent  minor
11    proceedings,  when  appointed  to  do  so  by a court under a
12    Supreme Court Rule or law of this State.
13        (b)  The State Appellate Defender shall submit  a  budget
14    for the approval of the State Appellate Defender Commission.
15        (c)  The State Appellate Defender may:
16             (1)  maintain a panel of private attorneys available
17        to serve as counsel on a case basis;
18             (2)  establish  programs,  alone  or  in conjunction
19        with law schools, for the purpose of utilizing  volunteer
20        law students as legal assistants;
21             (3)  cooperate  and  consult  with  state  agencies,
22        professional  associations,  and  other groups concerning
23        the causes of criminal conduct,  the  rehabilitation  and
24        correction  of  persons  charged  with  and  convicted of
25        crime, the administration of criminal  justice,  and,  in
26        counties   of  less  than  1,000,000  population,  study,
27        design, develop  and  implement  model  systems  for  the
28        delivery  of  trial  level defender services, and make an
29        annual report to the General Assembly;
30             (4)  hire  investigators  to  provide  investigative
31        services  to  appointed   counsel   and   county   public
 
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 1        defenders;
 2             (5)  in  cases  in  which  a  death  sentence  is an
 3        authorized disposition, provide trial  counsel  with  the
 4        assistance   of   expert  witnesses,  investigators,  and
 5        mitigation specialists from  funds  appropriated  to  the
 6        State Appellate Defender specifically for that purpose by
 7        the  General  Assembly.   The  Office  of State Appellate
 8        Defender shall not be appointed to serve as trial counsel
 9        in capital cases.
10        Investigators  employed  by  the  Death   Penalty   Trial
11    Assistance  and  Capital  Litigation  Division  of  the State
12    Appellate Defender shall be authorized to inquire through the
13    Illinois State Police or local law enforcement with  the  Law
14    Enforcement   Agencies  Data  System  (LEADS)  under  Section
15    2605-375 of the Civil  Administrative  Code  of  Illinois  to
16    ascertain  whether  their potential witnesses have a criminal
17    background, including:  (i)  warrants;  (ii)  arrests;  (iii)
18    convictions;   and  (iv)  officer  safety  information.  This
19    authorization applies only to information held on  the  State
20    level  and  shall be used only to protect the personal safety
21    of  the  investigators.  Any  information  that  is  obtained
22    through  this  inquiry  may   not   be   disclosed   by   the
23    investigators.
24        (d)  For  each  State  fiscal  year,  the State Appellate
25    Defender shall appear before the General Assembly and request
26    appropriations to be made from the Capital  Litigation  Trust
27    Fund  to  the  State  Treasurer  for the purpose of providing
28    defense assistance in capital cases outside of  Cook  County.
29    The  State  Appellate  Defender may appear before the General
30    Assembly at other times during the  State's  fiscal  year  to
31    request  supplemental  appropriations  from the Trust Fund to
32    the State Treasurer.
33        (e)  The  requirement  for  reporting  to   the   General
34    Assembly  shall  be  satisfied by filing copies of the report
 
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 1    with the Speaker, the Minority Leader and the  Clerk  of  the
 2    House  of  Representatives  and  the  President, the Minority
 3    Leader and the Secretary of the Senate  and  the  Legislative
 4    Research  Unit,  as  required  by  Section 3.1 of the General
 5    Assembly Organization Act and filing such  additional  copies
 6    with  the State Government Report Distribution Center for the
 7    General Assembly  as  is  required  under  paragraph  (t)  of
 8    Section 7 of the State Library Act.
 9    (Source: P.A. 91-589, eff. 1-1-00.)