730 ILCS 167/ Veterans and Servicemembers Court Treatment Act.

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730 ILCS 167/1

(730 ILCS 167/1)

Sec. 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the

Veterans and Servicemembers Court
Treatment Act.

(Source: P.A. 96-924, eff. 6-14-10.)

730 ILCS 167/5

(730 ILCS 167/5)

Sec. 5. Purposes.

The General Assembly recognizes that veterans and active, Reserve
and National Guard servicemembers have provided or are currently providing an invaluable
service to our country. In so doing, some may suffer the effects of, including but not limited to,
post traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, depression and may also suffer drug and
alcohol dependency or addiction and co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse problems.
As a result of this, some veterans or active duty servicemembers come into contact with the
criminal justice system and are charged with felony or misdemeanor offenses. There is a critical
need for the criminal justice system to recognize these veterans, provide accountability for their
wrongdoing, provide for the safety of the public and provide for the treatment of our veterans. It
is the intent of the General Assembly to create specialized veteran and servicemember courts or
programs with the necessary flexibility to meet the specialized problems faced by these veteran
and servicemember defendants.

(Source: P.A. 96-924, eff. 6-14-10.)

730 ILCS 167/10

(730 ILCS 167/10)

Sec. 10. Definitions. In this Act:

"Combination Veterans and Servicemembers Court program" means a court program that
includes a pre-adjudicatory and a post-adjudicatory Veterans and Servicemembers court
program.

    "Court" means Veterans and Servicemembers Court.
    "IDVA" means the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs.

"Post-adjudicatory Veterans and Servicemembers Court Program" means a program in
which the defendant has admitted guilt or has been found guilty and agrees, along with the
prosecution, to enter a Veterans and Servicemembers Court program as part of the defendant's
sentence.

"Pre-adjudicatory Veterans and Servicemembers Court Program" means a program that
allows the defendant with the consent of the prosecution, to expedite the defendant's criminal
case before conviction or before filing of a criminal case and requires successful completion of
the Veterans and Servicemembers Court programs as part of the agreement.

"Servicemember" means a person who is currently serving in the Army, Air Force,
Marines, Navy, or Coast Guard on active duty, reserve status or in the National Guard.

"VA" means the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs.

"Veteran" means a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and who
was discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable.

"Veterans and Servicemembers Court professional" means a member of the Veterans and
Servicemembers Court team, including but not limited to a judge, prosecutor, defense
attorney, probation officer, coordinator, treatment provider, or  peer recovery coach.

"Veterans and Servicemembers Court" means a court or program with an immediate and
highly structured judicial intervention process for substance abuse treatment, mental health, or
other assessed treatment needs of eligible veteran and servicemember defendants that brings
together substance abuse professionals, mental health professionals, VA professionals, local
social programs and intensive judicial monitoring in accordance with the nationally
recommended 10 key components of drug courts.

(Source: P.A. 96-924, eff. 6-14-10; 97-946, eff. 8-13-12.)

730 ILCS 167/15

(730 ILCS 167/15)

Sec. 15. Authorization.

The Chief Judge of each judicial circuit may establish a
Veterans and Servicemembers Court program including a format under which it operates under
this Act. The Veterans and Servicemembers Court may, at the discretion of the Chief Judge, be a
separate court or a program of a problem-solving court, including but not limited to a drug court or mental health court. At the discretion of the Chief
Judge, the Veterans and Servicemembers Court program may be operated in one county in the
Circuit, and allow veteran and servicemember defendants from all counties within the Circuit to
participate.

(Source: P.A. 96-924, eff. 6-14-10; 97-946, eff. 8-13-12.)

730 ILCS 167/20

(730 ILCS 167/20)

Sec. 20. Eligibility.

Veterans and Servicemembers are eligible for Veterans and
Servicemembers Courts, provided the following:

(a) A defendant may be admitted into a Veterans and Servicemembers Court program
only upon the agreement of the prosecutor and the defendant and with the approval of the Court.

(b) A defendant shall be excluded from Veterans and Servicemembers Court program if
any of one of the following applies:

(1) The crime is a crime of violence as set forth in

clause (3) of this subsection (b).

(2) The defendant does not demonstrate a willingness

to participate in a treatment program.

(3) The defendant has been convicted of a crime of

violence within the past 10 years excluding incarceration time, including but not limited to: first degree murder, second degree murder, predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, aggravated criminal sexual assault, criminal sexual assault, armed robbery, aggravated arson, arson, aggravated kidnapping and kidnapping, aggravated battery resulting in great bodily harm or permanent disability, stalking, aggravated stalking, or any offense involving the discharge of a firearm or where occurred serious bodily injury or death to any person.

(4) (Blank).

(Source: P.A. 96-924, eff. 6-14-10; 97-946, eff. 8-13-12.)

730 ILCS 167/25

(730 ILCS 167/25)

Sec. 25. Procedure.

(a) The Court shall order the defendant to submit to an eligibility screening and an
assessment through the VA and/or the IDVA to provide information on the defendant's veteran
or servicemember status.

(b) The Court shall order the defendant to submit to an eligibility screening and mental
health and drug/alcohol screening and assessment of the defendant by the VA or by the IDVA to
provide assessment services for Illinois Courts. The assessment shall include a risks
assessment and be based, in part, upon the known availability of treatment resources available to
the Veterans and Servicemembers Court. The assessment shall also include recommendations
for treatment of the conditions which are indicating a need for treatment under the monitoring
of the Court and be reflective of a level of risk assessed for the individual seeking admission. An
assessment need not be ordered if the Court finds a valid screening and/or assessment related to
the present charge pending against the defendant has been completed within the previous 60
days.

(c) The judge shall inform the defendant that if the defendant fails to meet the conditions
of the Veterans and Servicemembers Court program, eligibility to participate in the program may
be revoked and the defendant may be sentenced or the prosecution continued as provided in the
Unified Code of Corrections for the crime charged.

(d) The defendant shall execute a written agreement with the Court as to his or her
participation in the program and shall agree to all of the terms and conditions of the program,
including but not limited to the possibility of sanctions or incarceration for failing to abide or
comply with the terms of the program.

(e) In addition to any conditions authorized under the Pretrial Services Act and Section 5-6-3 of the Unified Code of Corrections, the Court may order the defendant to complete substance
abuse treatment in an outpatient, inpatient, residential, or jail-based custodial treatment program,
order the defendant to complete mental health counseling in an inpatient or outpatient basis,
comply with physicians' recommendation regarding medications and all follow up treatment.
This treatment may include but is not limited to post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain
injury and depression.

(Source: P.A. 96-924, eff. 6-14-10.)

730 ILCS 167/30

(730 ILCS 167/30)

Sec. 30. Mental health and substance abuse treatment.

(a) The Veterans and Servicemembers Court program may maintain a network of
substance abuse treatment programs representing a continuum of graduated substance abuse
treatment options commensurate with the needs of defendants; these shall include programs with
the VA, IDVA, the State of Illinois and community-based programs supported and sanctioned by
either or both.

(b) Any substance abuse treatment program to which defendants are referred must meet
all of the rules and governing programs in Parts 2030 and 2060 of Title 77 of the Illinois
Administrative Code.

(c) The Veterans and Servicemembers Court program may, in its discretion, employ
additional services or interventions, as it deems necessary on a case by case basis.

(d) The Veterans and Servicemembers Court program may maintain or collaborate with a
network of mental health treatment programs and, if it is a co-occurring mental health and
substance abuse court program, a network of substance abuse treatment programs representing a
continuum of treatment options commensurate with the needs of the defendant and available
resources including programs with the VA, the IDVA and the State of Illinois.

(Source: P.A. 96-924, eff. 6-14-10.)

730 ILCS 167/35

(730 ILCS 167/35)

Sec. 35. Violation; termination; discharge.

(a) If the Court finds from the evidence presented including but not limited to the reports
or proffers of proof from the Veterans and Servicemembers Court professionals that:

(1) the defendant is not performing satisfactorily in

the assigned program;

(2) the defendant is not benefitting from education,

treatment, or rehabilitation;

(3) the defendant has engaged in criminal conduct

rendering him or her unsuitable for the program; or

(4) the defendant has otherwise violated the terms

and conditions of the program or his or her sentence or is for any reason unable to participate; the Court may impose reasonable sanctions under prior written agreement of the defendant, including but not limited to imprisonment or dismissal of the defendant from the program and the Court may reinstate criminal proceedings against him or her or proceed under Section 5-6-4 of the Unified Code of Corrections for a violation of probation, conditional discharge, or supervision hearing.

(b) Upon successful completion of the terms and conditions of the program, the Court
may dismiss the original charges against the defendant or successfully terminate the defendant's
sentence or otherwise discharge him or her from any further proceedings against him or her in
the original prosecution.

(Source: P.A. 96-924, eff. 6-14-10.)

730 ILCS 167/90

(730 ILCS 167/90)

Sec. 90. (Amendatory provisions; text omitted).

(Source: P.A. 96-924, eff. 6-14-10; text omitted.)

730 ILCS 167/99

(730 ILCS 167/99)

Sec. 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.

(Source: P.A. 96-924, eff. 6-14-10.)