102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB2191

 

Introduced 2/26/2021, by Sen. Elgie R. Sims, Jr.

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
705 ILCS 505/8  from Ch. 37, par. 439.8

    Amends the Court of Claims Act. Deletes language regarding the amount a court shall award to a person for time unjustly served in prison when the person imprisoned received a pardon on the ground of innocence of the crime for which he or she was imprisoned or he or she received a certificate of innocence. Provides instead that the court shall award $50,000 per year during which the person was wrongfully imprisoned and shall prorate that amount for a fraction of a year that the person was wrongfully imprisoned, including the number of years the person was awaiting trial. Provides that the court shall award attorney's fees in an amount not to exceed 25% of the award granted. Provides that the changes made by the amendatory Act apply to all claims pending or filed on or after the effective date.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning courts.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Court of Claims Act is amended by changing
5Section 8 as follows:
 
6    (705 ILCS 505/8)   (from Ch. 37, par. 439.8)
7    Sec. 8. Court of Claims jurisdiction; deliberation
8periods. The court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear
9and determine the following matters:
10        (a) All claims against the State founded upon any law
11    of the State of Illinois or upon any regulation adopted
12    thereunder by an executive or administrative officer or
13    agency; provided, however, the court shall not have
14    jurisdiction (i) to hear or determine claims arising under
15    the Workers' Compensation Act or the Workers' Occupational
16    Diseases Act, or claims for expenses in civil litigation,
17    or (ii) to review administrative decisions for which a
18    statute provides that review shall be in the circuit or
19    appellate court.
20        (b) All claims against the State founded upon any
21    contract entered into with the State of Illinois.
22        (c) All claims against the State for time unjustly
23    served in prisons of this State when the person imprisoned

 

 

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1    received a pardon from the Governor stating that such
2    pardon is issued on the ground of innocence of the crime
3    for which he or she was imprisoned or he or she received a
4    certificate of innocence from the Circuit Court as
5    provided in Section 2-702 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
6    The court shall award $50,000 per year during which the
7    person was wrongfully imprisoned and shall prorate that
8    amount for a fraction of a year that the person was
9    wrongfully imprisoned. The court shall award attorney's
10    fees in an amount not to exceed 25% of the award granted.
11    In its determination of the award, the court shall include
12    the number of years the person was imprisoned while
13    awaiting trial. The ; provided, the amount of the award is
14    at the discretion of the court; and provided, the court
15    shall make no award in excess of the following amounts:
16    for imprisonment of 5 years or less, not more than
17    $85,350; for imprisonment of 14 years or less but over 5
18    years, not more than $170,000; for imprisonment of over 14
19    years, not more than $199,150; and provided further, the
20    court shall fix attorney's fees not to exceed 25% of the
21    award granted. On or after the effective date of this
22    amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, the court
23    shall annually adjust the maximum awards authorized by
24    this subsection (c) to reflect the increase, if any, in
25    the Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers for the
26    previous calendar year, as determined by the United States

 

 

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1    Department of Labor, except that no annual increment may
2    exceed 5%. For the annual adjustments, if the Consumer
3    Price Index decreases during a calendar year, there shall
4    be no adjustment for that calendar year. The transmission
5    by the Prisoner Review Board or the clerk of the circuit
6    court of the information described in Section 11(b) to the
7    clerk of the Court of Claims is conclusive evidence of the
8    validity of the claim. The changes made by Public Act
9    95-970 this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly
10    apply to all claims pending on or filed on or after
11    September 22, 2008 (the effective date of Public Act
12    95-970). The changes made by this amendatory Act of the
13    102nd General Assembly apply to all claims pending on or
14    filed on or after the effective date.
15        (d) All claims against the State for damages in cases
16    sounding in tort, if a like cause of action would lie
17    against a private person or corporation in a civil suit,
18    and all like claims sounding in tort against the Medical
19    Center Commission, the Board of Trustees of the University
20    of Illinois, the Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois
21    University, the Board of Trustees of Chicago State
22    University, the Board of Trustees of Eastern Illinois
23    University, the Board of Trustees of Governors State
24    University, the Board of Trustees of Illinois State
25    University, the Board of Trustees of Northeastern Illinois
26    University, the Board of Trustees of Northern Illinois

 

 

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1    University, the Board of Trustees of Western Illinois
2    University, or the Board of Trustees of the Illinois
3    Mathematics and Science Academy; provided, that an award
4    for damages in a case sounding in tort, other than certain
5    cases involving the operation of a State vehicle described
6    in this paragraph, shall not exceed the sum of $2,000,000
7    to or for the benefit of any claimant. The $2,000,000
8    limit prescribed by this Section does not apply to an
9    award of damages in any case sounding in tort arising out
10    of the operation by a State employee of a vehicle owned,
11    leased or controlled by the State. The defense that the
12    State or the Medical Center Commission or the Board of
13    Trustees of the University of Illinois, the Board of
14    Trustees of Southern Illinois University, the Board of
15    Trustees of Chicago State University, the Board of
16    Trustees of Eastern Illinois University, the Board of
17    Trustees of Governors State University, the Board of
18    Trustees of Illinois State University, the Board of
19    Trustees of Northeastern Illinois University, the Board of
20    Trustees of Northern Illinois University, the Board of
21    Trustees of Western Illinois University, or the Board of
22    Trustees of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
23    is not liable for the negligence of its officers, agents,
24    and employees in the course of their employment is not
25    applicable to the hearing and determination of such
26    claims. The changes to this Section made by this

 

 

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1    amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly apply only to
2    claims filed on or after July 1, 2015.
3        The court shall annually adjust the maximum awards
4    authorized by this subsection to reflect the increase, if
5    any, in the Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers
6    for the previous calendar year, as determined by the
7    United States Department of Labor. The Comptroller shall
8    make the new amount resulting from each annual adjustment
9    available to the public via the Comptroller's official
10    website by January 31 of every year.
11        (e) All claims for recoupment made by the State of
12    Illinois against any claimant.
13        (f) All claims pursuant to the Line of Duty
14    Compensation Act. A claim under that Act must be heard and
15    determined within one year after the application for that
16    claim is filed with the Court as provided in that Act.
17        (g) All claims filed pursuant to the Crime Victims
18    Compensation Act.
19        (h) All claims pursuant to the Illinois National
20    Guardsman's Compensation Act. A claim under that Act must
21    be heard and determined within one year after the
22    application for that claim is filed with the Court as
23    provided in that Act.
24        (i) All claims authorized by subsection (a) of Section
25    10-55 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act for the
26    expenses incurred by a party in a contested case on the

 

 

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1    administrative level.
2(Source: P.A. 100-1124, eff. 11-27-18.)