Full Text of HB2723 100th General Assembly
HB2723eng 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning civil law.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by | 5 | | changing Sections 21-101 and 21-103 and by adding Sections | 6 | | 21-102.5 and 21-106 as follows:
| 7 | | (735 ILCS 5/21-101) (from Ch. 110, par. 21-101)
| 8 | | Sec. 21-101. Proceedings; parties. If any person who is a | 9 | | resident of
this State and has resided in this State for 6 | 10 | | months desires to change his
or her name and to assume another | 11 | | name by which to be afterwards called and
known, the person may | 12 | | file a petition in the circuit court of the county
wherein he | 13 | | or she resides praying for that relief. If it appears to the
| 14 | | court that the conditions hereinafter mentioned have been | 15 | | complied with and
that there is no reason why the prayer should | 16 | | not be granted, the court, by
an order to be entered of record, | 17 | | may direct and provide that the name of
that person be changed | 18 | | in accordance with the prayer in the petition. The
filing of a | 19 | | petition in accordance with this Section shall be the sole and
| 20 | | exclusive means by which any person committed under the laws of | 21 | | this State
to a penal institution may change his or her name | 22 | | and assume another
name. However, any person convicted of a | 23 | | felony in this State or any other
state
who has not been |
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| 1 | | pardoned may not file a
petition for a name change until 10 | 2 | | years have passed since completion and
discharge from his or | 3 | | her sentence. A person who has been convicted of identity | 4 | | theft, aggravated identity theft, felony or misdemeanor | 5 | | criminal
sexual abuse when the victim of the offense at the | 6 | | time of its commission is
under 18 years of age, felony or | 7 | | misdemeanor sexual exploitation of a child, felony or | 8 | | misdemeanor
indecent solicitation of a child, or felony or | 9 | | misdemeanor indecent solicitation of an
adult, or any other | 10 | | offense for which a person is required to register under the | 11 | | Sex Offender Registration Act in this State or any other state | 12 | | who has not been pardoned shall not be permitted to file a | 13 | | petition for a name change in the courts of Illinois. A | 14 | | petitioner may include his or her
spouse
and adult unmarried | 15 | | children,
with their consent, and his or her minor children | 16 | | where it appears to the
court that it is for their best | 17 | | interest, in the petition and prayer, and
the court's order | 18 | | shall then include the spouse and children. Whenever any
minor | 19 | | has resided in the family of any person for the space of 3 | 20 | | years
and has been recognized and known as an adopted child in | 21 | | the family of
that person, the application herein provided for | 22 | | may be made by the person
having that minor in his or her | 23 | | family.
| 24 | | An order shall be entered as to a minor only if the court | 25 | | finds by
clear and convincing evidence that the change is | 26 | | necessary to serve the
best interest of the child. In |
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| 1 | | determining the best interest of a minor
child under this | 2 | | Section, the court shall consider all relevant factors,
| 3 | | including:
| 4 | | (1) The wishes of the child's parents and any person | 5 | | acting as a parent
who has physical custody of the child.
| 6 | | (2) The wishes of the child and the reasons for those | 7 | | wishes. The
court may interview the child in chambers to | 8 | | ascertain the child's wishes
with respect to the change of | 9 | | name. Counsel shall be present at the
interview unless | 10 | | otherwise agreed upon by the parties. The court shall
cause | 11 | | a court reporter to be present who shall make a complete | 12 | | record of
the interview instantaneously to be part of the | 13 | | record in the case.
| 14 | | (3) The interaction and interrelationship of the child | 15 | | with his or her
parents or persons acting as parents who | 16 | | have physical custody of the
child, step-parents, | 17 | | siblings, step-siblings, or any other person who may
| 18 | | significantly affect the child's best interest.
| 19 | | (4) The child's adjustment to his or her home, school, | 20 | | and community.
| 21 | | (Source: P.A. 94-944, eff. 1-1-07.)
| 22 | | (735 ILCS 5/21-102.5 new) | 23 | | Sec. 21-102.5. Notice; objection. | 24 | | (a) The circuit court clerk shall promptly
serve a copy of | 25 | | the petition on the State's Attorney where the petitioner |
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| 1 | | resides. | 2 | | (b) The State's Attorney
may file an objection if the | 3 | | petitioner: | 4 | | (1) is the defendant in a pending criminal offense | 5 | | charge; | 6 | | (2) has been convicted of identity theft, aggravated | 7 | | identity theft, felony or misdemeanor criminal
sexual | 8 | | abuse when the victim of the offense at the time of its | 9 | | commission is
under 18 years of age, felony or misdemeanor | 10 | | sexual exploitation of a child, felony or misdemeanor
| 11 | | indecent solicitation of a child, or felony or misdemeanor | 12 | | indecent solicitation of an
adult; or | 13 | | (3) has been convicted of any other offense for which | 14 | | he or she is required to register under the Sex Offender | 15 | | Registration Act in this State or any other state; and | 16 | | (4) has not been pardoned for the conviction of an | 17 | | offense listed under paragraph (2) or (3) of this | 18 | | subsection (b). | 19 | | (c) All objections shall be in writing, shall be filed with | 20 | | the circuit court clerk, and shall state with specificity the | 21 | | basis of the objection. Objections to a petition must be filed | 22 | | within 30 days of the date of service of the petition upon the | 23 | | State's Attorney.
| 24 | | (735 ILCS 5/21-103) (from Ch. 110, par. 21-103)
| 25 | | Sec. 21-103. Notice by publication.
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| 1 | | (a) Previous notice shall be given of the intended | 2 | | application by
publishing a notice thereof in some newspaper | 3 | | published in the municipality
in which the person resides if | 4 | | the municipality is in a county with a
population under | 5 | | 2,000,000, or if the person does not reside
in a municipality | 6 | | in a county with a population under 2,000,000,
or if no | 7 | | newspaper is published in the municipality or if the person | 8 | | resides
in a county with a population of 2,000,000 or more, | 9 | | then in some newspaper
published in the county where the person | 10 | | resides, or if no newspaper
is published in that county, then | 11 | | in some convenient newspaper published
in this State. The | 12 | | notice shall be inserted for 3 consecutive weeks after filing, | 13 | | the
first insertion to be at least 6 weeks before the return | 14 | | day upon which
the petition is to be heard, and shall be signed | 15 | | by the petitioner or, in
case of a minor, the minor's parent or | 16 | | guardian, and shall set
forth the return day of court on which | 17 | | the petition is to be heard and the
name sought to be assumed.
| 18 | | (b) The publication requirement of subsection (a) shall not | 19 | | be
required in any application for a change of name involving a | 20 | | minor if,
before making judgment under this Article, reasonable | 21 | | notice and opportunity
to be heard is given to any parent whose | 22 | | parental rights have not been
previously terminated and to any | 23 | | person who has physical custody of the
child. If any of these | 24 | | persons are outside this State, notice and
opportunity to be | 25 | | heard shall be given under Section 21-104.
| 26 | | (c) The Director of State Police or his or her designee may |
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| 1 | | apply to the
circuit court
for an order directing that the | 2 | | notice and publication requirements of
this Section be waived | 3 | | if the Director or his or her designee certifies that
the name | 4 | | change being sought is intended to protect a witness during and
| 5 | | following a criminal investigation or proceeding. The court may | 6 | | waive the publication requirement under subsection (a) and | 7 | | order that the record of the proceeding be designated | 8 | | confidential if the court finds good cause for entering such an | 9 | | order. Good cause includes, but is not limited to, evidence | 10 | | that publication or availability of a record of the proceeding | 11 | | will place the petitioner or another individual in physical | 12 | | danger and evidence that the petitioner or another individual | 13 | | has been the victim of stalking or assaultive behavior.
| 14 | | (Source: P.A. 94-147, eff. 1-1-06 .)
| 15 | | (735 ILCS 5/21-106 new) | 16 | | Sec. 21-106. Sealing. | 17 | | The court may
order that the records of the clerk of the | 18 | | circuit court of a proceeding under this Article be sealed | 19 | | until further order of the court upon good cause shown. Good | 20 | | cause includes, but is not limited to, evidence
that | 21 | | availability of the records of the proceeding
will place the | 22 | | petitioner or another person in physical
danger; evidence that | 23 | | the petitioner or another person
has been the victim of | 24 | | stalking, domestic violence, or assaultive behavior; or | 25 | | evidence of certification by the Department of State Police |
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| 1 | | under subsection (c) of Section 21-103 of this Article of the | 2 | | name change to protect a witness during or following a criminal | 3 | | investigation or proceeding.
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