Rep. Emily McAsey

Filed: 4/11/2013

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3111

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3111 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Access to 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

 

 

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1levels of legal assistance appropriate for their individual
2circumstances.
3    (c) An increasing number of active duty service members and
4veterans in this State have a need for legal information and
5assistance in a variety of matters that are often critical to
6their safety and independence, yet they are often unable to
7access that assistance.
 
8    Section 10. Pilot programs.
9    (a) The General Assembly encourages the Supreme Court to
10develop: (i) a pilot program to create a statewide military
11personnel and veterans' legal assistance hotline and
12coordinated network of legal support resources; and (ii) a
13pilot program to provide court-based legal assistance within a
14circuit court in each appellate district of this State.
15    (b) The General Assembly recommends that the rules
16developing the pilot programs:
17        (1) provide intake, screening, and varying levels of
18    legal assistance to ensure that the parties served by these
19    programs have meaningful access to justice;
20        (2) gather information on the outcomes associated with
21    providing the services described in paragraph (1) of this
22    subsection; and
23        (3) guard against the involuntary waiver of rights or
24    disposition by default.
 

 

 

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1    Section 15. Access to Justice Fund. The Access to Justice
2Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. The
3Fund shall consist of fees collected under Section 27.3g of the
4Clerks of Courts Act. There is hereby appropriated, on a
5continuing annual basis in each fiscal year, from the Access to
6Justice Fund, the amount, if any, of funds received into the
7Access to Justice Fund to the Supreme Court for the
8administration of the pilot programs created under this Act.
 
9    Section 20. Evaluation. The Supreme Court shall study the
10effectiveness of the pilot programs implemented under this Act
11and submit a report to the General Assembly by June 1, 2017.
12The report shall include the number of people served in each
13pilot program and data on the impact of varying levels of legal
14assistance on access to justice, the effect on fair and
15efficient court administration, and the impact on government
16programs and community resources. This report shall describe
17the benefits of providing legal assistance to those who were
18previously unrepresented, both for the clients and the courts,
19and shall describe strategies and recommendations for
20maximizing the benefit of that representation in the future.
21The report shall include an assessment of the continuing unmet
22needs and, if available, data regarding those unmet needs.
 
23    Section 25. Statutory Court Fee Task Force.
24    (a) There is hereby created the Statutory Court Fee Task

 

 

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1Force. The purpose of the Task Force is to conduct a thorough
2review of the various statutory fees imposed or assessed on
3criminal defendants and civil litigants.
4    (b) The Task Force shall consist of 15 members, appointed
5as follows: one each by the Speaker of the House of
6Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of
7Representatives, the President of the Senate, and the Minority
8Leader of the Senate; 2 by the association representing circuit
9court clerks; 2 by the Governor, and 7 by the Supreme Court.
10    (c) At the direction of the Supreme Court, the
11Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts shall provide
12administrative support to the Task Force.
13    (d) The Task Force shall submit a report containing its
14findings and any recommendations to the Supreme Court and the
15General Assembly by June 1, 2014.
 
16    Section 30. The State Finance Act is amended by adding
17Section 5.826 as follows:
 
18    (30 ILCS 105/5.826 new)
19    Sec. 5.826. The Access to Justice Fund.
 
20    Section 35. The Counties Code is amended by changing
21Section 5-39001 as follows:
 
22    (55 ILCS 5/5-39001)  (from Ch. 34, par. 5-39001)

 

 

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1    Sec. 5-39001. Establishment and use; fee. The county board
2of any county may establish and maintain a county law library,
3to be located in any county building or privately or publicly
4owned building at the county seat of government. The term
5"county building" includes premises leased by the county from a
6public building commission created under the Public Building
7Commission Act. After August 2, 1976, the county board of any
8county may establish and maintain a county law library at the
9county seat of government and, in addition, branch law
10libraries in other locations within that county as the county
11board deems necessary.
12    The facilities of those libraries shall be freely available
13to all licensed Illinois attorneys, judges, other public
14officers of the county, and all members of the public, whenever
15the court house is open, and may include self-help centers and
16other legal assistance programs for the public as part of the
17services it provides on-site and online.
18    The expense of establishing and maintaining those
19libraries shall be borne by the county. To defray that expense,
20including the expense of any attendant self-help centers and
21legal assistance programs, in any county having established a
22county law library or libraries, the clerk of all trial courts
23located at the county seat of government shall charge and
24collect a county law library fee of $2, and the county board
25may authorize a county law library fee of not to exceed (i) $18
26in 2009, (ii) $19 in 2010, and (iii) $21 in 2011 and

 

 

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1thereafter, to be charged and collected by the clerks of all
2trial courts located in the county. The fee shall be paid at
3the time of filing the first pleading, paper, or other
4appearance filed by each party in all civil cases, but no
5additional fee shall be required if more than one party is
6represented in a single pleading, paper, or other appearance.
7    Each clerk shall commence those charges and collections
8upon receipt of written notice from the chairman of the county
9board that the board has acted under this Division to establish
10and maintain a law library.
11    The fees shall be in addition to all other fees and charges
12of the clerks, assessable as costs, remitted by the clerks
13monthly to the county treasurer, and retained by the county
14treasurer in a special fund designated as the County Law
15Library Fund. Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph,
16disbursements from the fund shall be by the county treasurer,
17on order of a majority of the resident circuit judges of the
18circuit court of the county. In any county with more than
192,000,000 inhabitants, the county board shall order
20disbursements from the fund and the presiding officer of the
21county board, with the advice and consent of the county board,
22may appoint a library committee of not less than 9 members,
23who, by majority vote, may recommend to the county board as to
24disbursements of the fund and the operation of the library. In
25single county circuits with 2,000,000 or fewer inhabitants,
26disbursements from the County Law Library Fund shall be made by

 

 

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1the county treasurer on the order of the chief judge of the
2circuit court of the county. In those single county circuits,
3the number of personnel necessary to operate and maintain the
4county law library shall be set by and those personnel shall be
5appointed by the chief judge. The county law library personnel
6shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority. The
7salaries of those personnel shall be fixed by the county board
8of the county. Orders shall be pre-audited, funds shall be
9audited by the county auditor, and a report of the orders and
10funds shall be rendered to the county board and to the judges.
11    Fees shall not be charged in any criminal or quasi-criminal
12case, in any matter coming to the clerk on change of venue, or
13in any proceeding to review the decision of any administrative
14officer, agency, or body.
15(Source: P.A. 96-227, eff. 8-11-09.)
 
16    Section 40. The Clerks of Courts Act is amended by adding
17Section 27.3g as follows:
 
18    (705 ILCS 105/27.3g new)
19    Sec. 27.3g. Pilot program; Access to Justice Act.
20    (a) If the Supreme Court develops a pilot program to
21provide court-based legal assistance in accordance with
22Section 10 of the Access to Justice Act, all clerks of the
23circuit court shall charge and collect at the time of filing
24the first pleading, paper, or other appearance filed by each

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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