HB2747ham002 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Daniel J. Burke

Filed: 4/9/2008

09500HB2747ham002 LRB095 01002 RLC 49209 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2747

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2747 by replacing the title with the following:

"AN ACT concerning corrections, which may be referred to as the Access to Religious Ministry Act of 2008."; and

by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 5. The County Jail Act is amended by adding Section 26 as follows:

(730 ILCS 125/26 new)

Sec. 26. Detainees in immigration custody; religious worker access to jails.

(a) Any county jail in the State of Illinois for which an intergovernmental agreement has been entered into with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for detention of immigration-related detainees shall be required to provide to religious workers reasonable access to such jail.

(b) For purposes of this Section, "reasonable access" means the ability of the religious worker to enter the jail facility to be available to meet with immigration detainees who wish to consult with the religious worker regarding their spiritual and other needs. Such access shall be at times during the facility's regular visitation hours and other hours as may be appropriate, provided that such times shall be no less than those provided to religious workers at facilities administered by the Illinois Department of Corrections for detainees in criminal custody. The facility shall provide advance notice to the immigration detainees of the times during which religious workers shall be available for consultation under this Section, and shall not limit the access of detainees to such religious workers without good cause. Such consultation periods shall be distinct from religious services offered by the facility for immigration detainees and from visits by religious workers to individual detainees during the facility's regular visitation hours. Consultations with religious workers under this Section and any other visits to detainees by religious workers outside such consultation periods shall not be counted against the visitation time or number of visits to which a detainee is otherwise entitled under the facility's visitation policies.

(c) The facility shall have the right to screen individuals seeking access to immigration detainees at the facility under this Act to ensure that such individuals are in fact bona fide clergy, members of religious orders, or lay volunteers representing established and reputable religious institutions. The facility shall seek to make available for consultation religious workers of various faiths reflecting the range of faiths within the facility's immigration detained population. Such religious workers shall be encouraged but not required to have obtained training in prison ministry from programs similar to that provided by the Archdiocese of Chicago Kolbe House.

(d) The provisions of this Section shall apply to any county jail established pursuant to this Act, regardless of whether such jail is administered or operated by the county or by private entities that have contracted with the county.".