102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB0723

 

Introduced 2/8/2021, by Rep. Dagmara Avelar

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
15 ILCS 205/4  from Ch. 14, par. 4
15 ILCS 205/10 new
55 ILCS 5/3-9005  from Ch. 34, par. 3-9005
55 ILCS 5/3-9014 new

    Amends the Attorney General Act. Provides that the Attorney General shall appoint an Opioid Coordinator who shall be an attorney under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Attorney General. Provides for the responsibilities of the Opioid Coordinator appointed by the Attorney General. Provides that the Opioid Coordinator appointed by the Attorney General shall coordinate with and provide necessary assistance to all county opioid coordinators appointed by each county state's attorney. Amends the Counties Code. Provides for the appointment of an opioid coordinator by each state's attorney. Provides for the responsibilities of each opioid coordinator appointed by a state's attorney. Provides that each opioid coordinator shall, when necessary, coordinate with the State Opioid Coordinator appointed by the Attorney General. Makes conforming changes.


LRB102 10751 RJF 16080 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB0723LRB102 10751 RJF 16080 b

1    AN ACT concerning government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Attorney General Act is amended by changing
5Section 4 and by adding Section 10 as follows:
 
6    (15 ILCS 205/4)  (from Ch. 14, par. 4)
7    Sec. 4. The duties of the Attorney General shall be--
8    First - To appear for and represent the people of the State
9before the supreme court in all cases in which the State or the
10people of the State are interested.
11    Second - To institute and prosecute all actions and
12proceedings in favor of or for the use of the State, which may
13be necessary in the execution of the duties of any State
14officer.
15    Third - To defend all actions and proceedings against any
16State officer, in his official capacity, in any of the courts
17of this State or the United States.
18    Fourth - To consult with and advise the several State's
19Attorneys in matters relating to the duties of their office;
20and when, in his judgment, the interest of the people of the
21State requires it, he shall attend the trial of any party
22accused of crime, and assist in the prosecution. When the
23Attorney General has requested in writing that a State's

 

 

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1Attorney initiate court proceedings to enforce any provisions
2of the Election Code or to initiate a criminal prosecution
3with respect to a violation of the Election Code, and when the
4State's Attorney has declined in writing to initiate those
5proceedings or prosecutions or when the State's Attorney has
6neither initiated the proceedings or prosecutions nor
7responded in writing to the Attorney General within 60 days of
8the receipt of the request, the Attorney General may,
9concurrently with or independently of the State's Attorney,
10initiate such proceedings or prosecutions. The Attorney
11General may investigate and prosecute any violation of the
12Election Code at the request of the State Board of Elections or
13a State's Attorney.
14    Fifth - To investigate alleged violations of the statutes
15which the Attorney General has a duty to enforce and to conduct
16other investigations in connection with assisting in the
17prosecution of a criminal offense at the request of a State's
18Attorney.
19    Sixth - To consult with and advise the governor and other
20State officers, and give, when requested, written opinions
21upon all legal or constitutional questions relating to the
22duties of such officers respectively.
23    Seventh - To prepare, when necessary, proper drafts for
24contracts and other writings relating to subjects in which the
25State is interested.
26    Eighth - To give written opinions, when requested by

 

 

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1either branch of the general assembly, or any committee
2thereof, upon constitutional or legal questions.
3    Ninth - To enforce the proper application of funds
4appropriated to the public institutions of the State,
5prosecute breaches of trust in the administration of such
6funds, and, when necessary, prosecute corporations for failure
7or refusal to make the reports required by law.
8    Tenth - To keep, a register of all cases prosecuted or
9defended by him, in behalf of the State or its officers, and of
10all proceedings had in relation thereto, and to deliver the
11same to his successor in office.
12    Eleventh - To keep on file in his office a copy of the
13official opinions issued by the Attorney General and deliver
14same to his successor.
15    Twelfth - To pay into the State treasury all moneys
16received by him for the use of the State.
17    Thirteenth - To attend to and perform any other duty which
18may, from time to time, be required of him by law.
19    Fourteenth - To attend, present evidence to and prosecute
20indictments returned by each Statewide Grand Jury.
21    Fifteenth - To give written binding and advisory public
22access opinions as provided in Section 7 of this Act.
23    Sixteenth – To appoint an Opioid Coordinator as provided
24under Section 10 of this Act.
25(Source: P.A. 95-699, eff. 11-9-07; 96-542, eff. 1-1-10.)
 

 

 

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1    (15 ILCS 205/10 new)
2    Sec. 10. State Opioid Coordinator.
3    (a) The Attorney General shall appoint an Opioid
4Coordinator who shall be an attorney under the jurisdiction of
5the Office of the Attorney General.
6    (b) The Opioid Coordinator shall be responsible for: (i)
7facilitating intake of cases involving prescription opioids,
8heroin, and fentanyl; (ii) convening a task force of State and
9local law enforcement personnel to identify opioid cases for
10prosecution, facilitate interdiction efforts, and tailor the
11State's response to the needs of its citizens; (iii) providing
12legal advice and training to Assistant Attorneys General
13regarding the prosecution of opioid offenses; (iv) maintaining
14statistics on the opioid prosecutions in the State; and (v)
15developing and continually evaluating the effectiveness of the
16Attorney General's strategy to combat the opioid epidemic.
17    (c) The Opioid Coordinator appointed by the Attorney
18General shall coordinate with and provide necessary assistance
19to all county opioid coordinators appointed by each county
20state's attorney under Section 3-8014 of the Counties Code.
 
21    Section 10. The Counties Code is amended by changing
22Section 3-9005 and by adding Section 3-9014 as follows:
 
23    (55 ILCS 5/3-9005)  (from Ch. 34, par. 3-9005)
24    Sec. 3-9005. Powers and duties of State's Attorney.

 

 

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1    (a) The duty of each State's Attorney shall be:
2        (1) To commence and prosecute all actions, suits,
3    indictments and prosecutions, civil and criminal, in the
4    circuit court for his county, in which the people of the
5    State or county may be concerned.
6        (2) To prosecute all forfeited bonds and
7    recognizances, and all actions and proceedings for the
8    recovery of debts, revenues, moneys, fines, penalties and
9    forfeitures accruing to the State or his county, or to any
10    school district or road district in his county; also, to
11    prosecute all suits in his county against railroad or
12    transportation companies, which may be prosecuted in the
13    name of the People of the State of Illinois.
14        (3) To commence and prosecute all actions and
15    proceedings brought by any county officer in his official
16    capacity.
17        (4) To defend all actions and proceedings brought
18    against his county, or against any county or State
19    officer, in his official capacity, within his county.
20        (5) To attend the examination of all persons brought
21    before any judge on habeas corpus, when the prosecution is
22    in his county.
23        (6) To attend before judges and prosecute charges of
24    felony or misdemeanor, for which the offender is required
25    to be recognized to appear before the circuit court, when
26    in his power so to do.

 

 

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1        (7) To give his opinion, without fee or reward, to any
2    county officer in his county, upon any question or law
3    relating to any criminal or other matter, in which the
4    people or the county may be concerned.
5        (8) To assist the Attorney General whenever it may be
6    necessary, and in cases of appeal from his county to the
7    Supreme Court, to which it is the duty of the Attorney
8    General to attend, he shall furnish the Attorney General
9    at least 10 days before such is due to be filed, a
10    manuscript of a proposed statement, brief and argument to
11    be printed and filed on behalf of the people, prepared in
12    accordance with the rules of the Supreme Court. However,
13    if such brief, argument or other document is due to be
14    filed by law or order of court within this 10-day period,
15    then the State's Attorney shall furnish such as soon as
16    may be reasonable.
17        (9) To pay all moneys received by him in trust,
18    without delay, to the officer who by law is entitled to the
19    custody thereof.
20        (10) To notify, by first class mail, complaining
21    witnesses of the ultimate disposition of the cases arising
22    from an indictment or an information.
23        (11) To perform such other and further duties as may,
24    from time to time, be enjoined on him by law.
25        (12) To appear in all proceedings by collectors of
26    taxes against delinquent taxpayers for judgments to sell

 

 

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1    real estate, and see that all the necessary preliminary
2    steps have been legally taken to make the judgment legal
3    and binding.
4        (13) To notify, by first-class mail, the State
5    Superintendent of Education, the applicable regional
6    superintendent of schools, and the superintendent of the
7    employing school district or the chief school
8    administrator of the employing nonpublic school, if any,
9    upon the conviction of any individual known to possess a
10    certificate or license issued pursuant to Article 21 or
11    21B, respectively, of the School Code of any offense set
12    forth in Section 21B-80 of the School Code or any other
13    felony conviction, providing the name of the certificate
14    holder, the fact of the conviction, and the name and
15    location of the court where the conviction occurred. The
16    certificate holder must also be contemporaneously sent a
17    copy of the notice.
18        (14) To appoint an opioid coordinator as provided
19    under Section 3-9014 of this Code.
20    (b) The State's Attorney of each county shall have
21authority to appoint one or more special investigators to
22serve subpoenas and summonses, make return of process, and
23conduct investigations which assist the State's Attorney in
24the performance of his duties. In counties of the first and
25second class, the fees for service of subpoenas and summonses
26are allowed by this Section and shall be consistent with those

 

 

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1set forth in Section 4-5001 of this Act, except when increased
2by county ordinance as provided for in Section 4-5001. In
3counties of the third class, the fees for service of subpoenas
4and summonses are allowed by this Section and shall be
5consistent with those set forth in Section 4-12001 of this
6Act. A special investigator shall not carry firearms except
7with permission of the State's Attorney and only while
8carrying appropriate identification indicating his employment
9and in the performance of his assigned duties.
10    Subject to the qualifications set forth in this
11subsection, special investigators shall be peace officers and
12shall have all the powers possessed by investigators under the
13State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor's Act.
14    No special investigator employed by the State's Attorney
15shall have peace officer status or exercise police powers
16unless he or she successfully completes the basic police
17training course mandated and approved by the Illinois Law
18Enforcement Training Standards Board or such board waives the
19training requirement by reason of the special investigator's
20prior law enforcement experience or training or both. Any
21State's Attorney appointing a special investigator shall
22consult with all affected local police agencies, to the extent
23consistent with the public interest, if the special
24investigator is assigned to areas within that agency's
25jurisdiction.
26    Before a person is appointed as a special investigator,

 

 

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1his fingerprints shall be taken and transmitted to the
2Department of State Police. The Department shall examine its
3records and submit to the State's Attorney of the county in
4which the investigator seeks appointment any conviction
5information concerning the person on file with the Department.
6No person shall be appointed as a special investigator if he
7has been convicted of a felony or other offense involving
8moral turpitude. A special investigator shall be paid a salary
9and be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred in performing
10his assigned duties. The county board shall approve the salary
11and actual expenses and appropriate the salary and expenses in
12the manner prescribed by law or ordinance.
13    (c) The State's Attorney may request and receive from
14employers, labor unions, telephone companies, and utility
15companies location information concerning putative fathers and
16noncustodial parents for the purpose of establishing a child's
17paternity or establishing, enforcing, or modifying a child
18support obligation. In this subsection, "location information"
19means information about (i) the physical whereabouts of a
20putative father or noncustodial parent, (ii) the putative
21father or noncustodial parent's employer, or (iii) the salary,
22wages, and other compensation paid and the health insurance
23coverage provided to the putative father or noncustodial
24parent by the employer of the putative father or noncustodial
25parent or by a labor union of which the putative father or
26noncustodial parent is a member.

 

 

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1    (d) (Blank).
2    (e) The State's Attorney shall have the authority to enter
3into a written agreement with the Department of Revenue for
4pursuit of civil liability under subsection (E) of Section
517-1 of the Criminal Code of 2012 against persons who have
6issued to the Department checks or other orders in violation
7of the provisions of paragraph (1) of subsection (B) of
8Section 17-1 of the Criminal Code of 2012, with the Department
9to retain the amount owing upon the dishonored check or order
10along with the dishonored check fee imposed under the Uniform
11Penalty and Interest Act, with the balance of damages, fees,
12and costs collected under subsection (E) of Section 17-1 of
13the Criminal Code of 2012 or under Section 17-1a of that Code
14to be retained by the State's Attorney. The agreement shall
15not affect the allocation of fines and costs imposed in any
16criminal prosecution.
17(Source: P.A. 101-275, eff. 8-9-19.)
 
18    (55 ILCS 5/3-9014 new)
19    Sec. 3-9014. County opioid coordinators.
20    (a) Each state's attorney shall appoint an opioid
21coordinator who shall be an attorney under the jurisdiction of
22each state's attorney.
23    (b) Each opioid coordinator shall be responsible for: (i)
24facilitating intake of cases involving prescription opioids,
25heroin, and fentanyl; (ii) convening a task force of local law

 

 

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1enforcement personnel to identify opioid cases for
2prosecution, facilitate interdiction efforts, and tailor the
3county's response to the needs of the community; (iii)
4providing legal advice and training to assistant state's
5attorneys regarding the prosecution of opioid offenses; (iv)
6maintaining statistics on the opioid prosecutions in the
7county; and (v) developing and continually evaluating the
8effectiveness of each state's attorney's strategy to combat
9the opioid epidemic.
10    (c) Each opioid coordinator shall, when necessary,
11coordinate with the State Opioid Coordinator appointed by the
12Attorney General under Section 10 of the Attorney General Act.