HB3111 EnrolledLRB098 10885 HEP 41444 b

1    AN ACT concerning legal assistance.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Access
5to Justice Act.
 
6    Section 5. Findings.
7    (a) The justice system in this State can only function
8fairly and effectively when there is meaningful access to legal
9information, resources, and assistance for all litigants,
10regardless of their income or circumstances.
11    (b) Increasing numbers of people throughout this State are
12coming into the courts without legal representation for cases
13involving important legal matters impacting the basics of life
14such as health, safety, and shelter. In order for the courts to
15provide fair and efficient administration of justice in these
16cases, it is critical that people have better access to varying
17levels of legal assistance appropriate for their individual
18circumstances.
19    (c) An increasing number of active duty service members and
20veterans in this State have a need for legal information and
21assistance in a variety of matters that are often critical to
22their safety and independence, yet they are often unable to
23access that assistance.
 

 

 

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1    Section 10. Pilot programs.
2    (a) The General Assembly encourages the Supreme Court to
3develop: (i) a pilot program to create a statewide military
4personnel and veterans' legal assistance hotline and
5coordinated network of legal support resources; and (ii) a
6pilot program to provide court-based legal assistance within a
7circuit court in each appellate district of this State.
8    (b) The General Assembly recommends that the rules
9developing the pilot programs:
10        (1) provide intake, screening, and varying levels of
11    legal assistance to ensure that the parties served by these
12    programs have meaningful access to justice;
13        (2) gather information on the outcomes associated with
14    providing the services described in paragraph (1) of this
15    subsection; and
16        (3) guard against the involuntary waiver of rights or
17    disposition by default.
 
18    Section 15. Access to Justice Fund. The Access to Justice
19Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. The
20Fund shall consist of fees collected under Section 27.3g of the
21Clerks of Courts Act. Subject to appropriation, moneys in the
22Access to Justice Fund shall be used by the Supreme Court for
23the administration of the pilot programs created under this
24Act.

 

 

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1    No moneys distributed from the Access to Justice Fund may
2be directly or indirectly used for lobbying activities, as
3defined in Section 2 of the Lobbyist Registration Act or as
4defined in any ordinance or resolution of a municipality,
5county, or other unit of local government in Illinois.
 
6    Section 20. Evaluation. The Supreme Court shall study the
7effectiveness of the pilot programs implemented under this Act
8and submit a report to the General Assembly by June 1, 2017.
9The report shall include the number of people served in each
10pilot program and data on the impact of varying levels of legal
11assistance on access to justice, the effect on fair and
12efficient court administration, and the impact on government
13programs and community resources. This report shall describe
14the benefits of providing legal assistance to those who were
15previously unrepresented, both for the clients and the courts,
16and shall describe strategies and recommendations for
17maximizing the benefit of that representation in the future.
18The report shall include an assessment of the continuing unmet
19needs and, if available, data regarding those unmet needs.
 
20    Section 25. Statutory Court Fee Task Force.
21    (a) There is hereby created the Statutory Court Fee Task
22Force. The purpose of the Task Force is to conduct a thorough
23review of the various statutory fees imposed or assessed on
24criminal defendants and civil litigants.

 

 

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1    (b) The Task Force shall consist of 15 members, appointed
2as follows: one each by the Speaker of the House of
3Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of
4Representatives, the President of the Senate, and the Minority
5Leader of the Senate; 2 by the association representing circuit
6court clerks; 2 by the Governor, and 7 by the Supreme Court.
7    (c) At the direction of the Supreme Court, the
8Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts shall provide
9administrative support to the Task Force.
10    (d) The Task Force shall submit a report containing its
11findings and any recommendations to the Supreme Court and the
12General Assembly by June 1, 2014.
 
13    Section 30. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
14Section 5.826 as follows:
 
15    (30 ILCS 105/5.826 new)
16    Sec. 5.826. The Access to Justice Fund.
 
17    Section 35. The Counties Code is amended by changing
18Section 5-39001 as follows:
 
19    (55 ILCS 5/5-39001)  (from Ch. 34, par. 5-39001)
20    Sec. 5-39001. Establishment and use; fee. The county board
21of any county may establish and maintain a county law library,
22to be located in any county building or privately or publicly

 

 

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1owned building at the county seat of government. The term
2"county building" includes premises leased by the county from a
3public building commission created under the Public Building
4Commission Act. After August 2, 1976, the county board of any
5county may establish and maintain a county law library at the
6county seat of government and, in addition, branch law
7libraries in other locations within that county as the county
8board deems necessary.
9    The facilities of those libraries shall be freely available
10to all licensed Illinois attorneys, judges, other public
11officers of the county, and all members of the public, whenever
12the court house is open, and may include self-help centers and
13other legal assistance programs for the public as part of the
14services it provides on-site and online.
15    The expense of establishing and maintaining those
16libraries shall be borne by the county. To defray that expense,
17including the expense of any attendant self-help centers and
18legal assistance programs, in any county having established a
19county law library or libraries, the clerk of all trial courts
20located at the county seat of government shall charge and
21collect a county law library fee of $2, and the county board
22may authorize a county law library fee of not to exceed (i) $18
23in 2009, (ii) $19 in 2010, and (iii) $21 in 2011 and
24thereafter, to be charged and collected by the clerks of all
25trial courts located in the county. The fee shall be paid at
26the time of filing the first pleading, paper, or other

 

 

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1appearance filed by each party in all civil cases, but no
2additional fee shall be required if more than one party is
3represented in a single pleading, paper, or other appearance.
4    Each clerk shall commence those charges and collections
5upon receipt of written notice from the chairman of the county
6board that the board has acted under this Division to establish
7and maintain a law library.
8    The fees shall be in addition to all other fees and charges
9of the clerks, assessable as costs, remitted by the clerks
10monthly to the county treasurer, and retained by the county
11treasurer in a special fund designated as the County Law
12Library Fund. Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph,
13disbursements from the fund shall be by the county treasurer,
14on order of a majority of the resident circuit judges of the
15circuit court of the county. In any county with more than
162,000,000 inhabitants, the county board shall order
17disbursements from the fund and the presiding officer of the
18county board, with the advice and consent of the county board,
19may appoint a library committee of not less than 9 members,
20who, by majority vote, may recommend to the county board as to
21disbursements of the fund and the operation of the library. In
22single county circuits with 2,000,000 or fewer inhabitants,
23disbursements from the County Law Library Fund shall be made by
24the county treasurer on the order of the chief judge of the
25circuit court of the county. In those single county circuits,
26the number of personnel necessary to operate and maintain the

 

 

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1county law library shall be set by and those personnel shall be
2appointed by the chief judge. The county law library personnel
3shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority. The
4salaries of those personnel shall be fixed by the county board
5of the county. Orders shall be pre-audited, funds shall be
6audited by the county auditor, and a report of the orders and
7funds shall be rendered to the county board and to the judges.
8    Fees shall not be charged in any criminal or quasi-criminal
9case, in any matter coming to the clerk on change of venue, or
10in any proceeding to review the decision of any administrative
11officer, agency, or body.
12    No moneys distributed from the County Law Library Fund may
13be directly or indirectly used for lobbying activities, as
14defined in Section 2 of the Lobbyist Registration Act or as
15defined in any ordinance or resolution of a municipality,
16county, or other unit of local government in Illinois.
17(Source: P.A. 96-227, eff. 8-11-09.)
 
18    Section 40. The Clerks of Courts Act is amended by adding
19Section 27.3g as follows:
 
20    (705 ILCS 105/27.3g new)
21    Sec. 27.3g. Pilot program; Access to Justice Act.
22    (a) If the Supreme Court develops a pilot program to
23provide court-based legal assistance in accordance with
24Section 10 of the Access to Justice Act, all clerks of the

 

 

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1circuit court shall charge and collect at the time of filing
2the first pleading, paper, or other appearance filed by each
3party in all civil cases, in addition to any other fees, a fee
4of $10, but no additional fee shall be required if more than
5one party is represented in a single pleading, paper, or other
6appearance. Fees received by the clerk of the circuit court
7under this Section shall be remitted, within one month after
8receipt, to the Supreme Court for deposit into the Access to
9Justice Fund created under Section 15 of the Access to Justice
10Act.
11    (b) This Section is repealed 5 years after the effective
12date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly.
 
13    Section 45. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by
14changing Section 5-105.5 as follows:
 
15    (735 ILCS 5/5-105.5)
16    Sec. 5-105.5. Representation by civil legal services
17provider.
18    (a) As used in this Section:
19    "Civil legal services" means legal services in noncriminal
20matters provided without charge to indigent persons who have
21been found eligible under financial eligibility guidelines
22established by the civil legal services provider.
23    "Civil legal services provider" means a not-for-profit
24corporation that (i) employs one or more attorneys who are

 

 

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1licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois and who
2directly provide free civil legal services or (ii) is
3established for the purpose of providing free civil legal
4services by an organized panel of pro bono attorneys.
5    "Court-sponsored pro bono program" means a pro bono program
6established by or in partnership with a court in this State for
7the purpose of providing free civil legal services by an
8organized panel of pro bono attorneys.
9    "Eligible client" means an indigent person who has been
10found eligible for civil legal services by a civil legal
11services provider or court-sponsored pro bono program.
12    "Indigent person" means a person whose income is 125% or
13less of the current official federal poverty income guidelines
14or who is otherwise eligible to receive civil legal services
15under the eligibility guidelines of the civil legal services
16provider or court-sponsored pro bono program Legal Services
17Corporation Act of 1974.
18    (b) When a party is represented in a civil action by a
19civil legal services provider or attorney in a court-sponsored
20pro bono program, all fees and costs relating to filing,
21appearing, transcripts on appeal, and service of process shall
22be waived without the necessity of a motion for that purpose,
23and the case shall be given an index number or other
24appropriate filing number, provided that (i) a determination
25has been made by the civil legal services provider or attorney
26in a court-sponsored pro bono program that the party is an

 

 

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1indigent person and (ii) an attorney's certification that that
2determination has been made is filed with the clerk of the
3court along with the complaint, the appearance, or any other
4paper that would otherwise require payment of a fee.
5    (c) The changes made to this Section by this amendatory Act
6of the 98th General Assembly apply to all actions commenced on
7or after July 1, 2013. The changes made to this Section by this
8amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly also apply to all
9actions pending on or after the effective date of this
10amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly, but only with
11respect to fees and costs that become due in those actions
12after July 1, 2013.
13(Source: P.A. 88-41.)
 
14    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
15becoming law.