Full Text of HB3933 99th General Assembly
HB3933ham001 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Rep. Emily McAsey Adopted in House on Apr 14, 2015
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| 1 | | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3933
| 2 | | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3933 by replacing | 3 | | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
| 4 | | "Section 5. The Access to Justice Act is amended by | 5 | | changing Sections 5, 10, 15, and 20 and by adding Section 7 as | 6 | | follows: | 7 | | (705 ILCS 95/5)
| 8 | | Sec. 5. Findings. | 9 | | (a) The justice system in this State can only function | 10 | | fairly and effectively when there is meaningful access to legal | 11 | | information, resources, and assistance for all litigants, | 12 | | regardless of their income or circumstances.
| 13 | | (b) Increasing numbers of people throughout this State , | 14 | | including an increasing number of active duty service members | 15 | | and veterans, are coming into the courts without legal | 16 | | representation for cases involving important legal matters |
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| 1 | | impacting the basics of life such as health, safety, and | 2 | | shelter. In order for the courts to provide fair and efficient | 3 | | administration of justice in these cases, it is critical that | 4 | | people , and active duty service members and veterans in | 5 | | particular, have better access to varying levels of legal | 6 | | assistance appropriate for their individual circumstances , | 7 | | which will reduce the number of cases the courts must manage | 8 | | and reduce unnecessary backlogs and delays in the court system | 9 | | for the benefit of all litigants .
| 10 | | (c) An increasing number of active duty service members and | 11 | | veterans in this State have a need for legal information and | 12 | | assistance in a variety of matters that are often critical to | 13 | | their safety and independence, yet they are often unable to | 14 | | access that assistance. Providing access to legal advice and a | 15 | | referral system of attorneys for veterans and active duty | 16 | | service members, who often have underlying issues relating to | 17 | | their military service, increases the efficiency of the court | 18 | | system and advances access to justice for everyone in this | 19 | | State.
| 20 | | (Source: P.A. 98-351, eff. 8-15-13.) | 21 | | (705 ILCS 95/7 new) | 22 | | Sec. 7. Definitions. As used in this Act: | 23 | | (a)
"Foundation" means the Illinois Equal Justice | 24 | | Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation created by the | 25 | | Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association |
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| 1 | | and recognized under the Illinois Equal Justice Act. | 2 | | (b) "Illinois Access to Civil Justice Council" or "Council" | 3 | | means a special advisory body created by the Foundation. The | 4 | | Council consists of 7 members, appointed as follows: one by the | 5 | | Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois, one by the Chicago Bar | 6 | | Foundation, one by the Illinois Bar Foundation, one by the | 7 | | Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs, one by the Illinois | 8 | | Attorney General, and 2 by the Foundation or any successor | 9 | | entities or agencies as designated by the Council. | 10 | | (705 ILCS 95/10)
| 11 | | Sec. 10. Pilot programs. | 12 | | (a) The Illinois Access to Civil Justice Council shall | 13 | | General Assembly encourages the Supreme Court to develop: (i) a | 14 | | pilot program to create a statewide military personnel and | 15 | | veterans' legal assistance hotline and coordinated network of | 16 | | legal support resources; and (ii) a pilot program to provide | 17 | | court-based legal assistance within a circuit court in each | 18 | | appellate district of this State. | 19 | | (b) The General Assembly recommends that the rules | 20 | | developing the pilot programs: | 21 | | (1) provide intake, screening, and varying levels of | 22 | | legal assistance to ensure that the parties served by these | 23 | | programs have meaningful access to justice; | 24 | | (2) gather information on the outcomes associated with | 25 | | providing the services described in paragraph (1) of this |
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| 1 | | subsection; and | 2 | | (3) guard against the involuntary waiver of rights or | 3 | | disposition by default.
| 4 | | (Source: P.A. 98-351, eff. 8-15-13.) | 5 | | (705 ILCS 95/15)
| 6 | | Sec. 15. Access to Justice Fund. | 7 | | (a) The Access to Justice Fund is created as a special fund | 8 | | in the State treasury. The Fund shall consist of fees collected | 9 | | under Section 27.3g of the Clerks of Courts Act. Moneys Subject | 10 | | to appropriation, moneys in the Access to Justice Fund shall be | 11 | | appropriated to used by the Attorney General for disbursement | 12 | | to the Foundation. The Foundation shall use the moneys to make | 13 | | grants and distributions Supreme Court for the administration | 14 | | of the pilot programs created under this Act. Grants or | 15 | | distributions made under this Act by the Foundation are subject | 16 | | to the requirements of the Illinois Grant Funds Recovery Act. | 17 | | (b) In accordance with the requirements of the Illinois | 18 | | Equal Justice Act, the Foundation may make grants, enter into | 19 | | contracts, and take other actions recommended by the Council to | 20 | | effectuate the pilot programs and comply with the other | 21 | | requirements of this Act. | 22 | | (c) The governing board of the Foundation must prepare and | 23 | | submit an annual report to the Governor, the President of the | 24 | | Senate, the Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the | 25 | | House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of |
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| 1 | | Representatives, and the Justices of the Illinois Supreme | 2 | | Court. The report must include: (i) a statement of the total | 3 | | receipts and a breakdown by source during each of the previous | 4 | | 2 calendar years; (ii) a list of the names and addresses of the | 5 | | recipients that are currently receiving grants or | 6 | | distributions and that received grants or distributions in the | 7 | | previous year and the amounts committed to recipients for the | 8 | | current year and paid in the previous year; (iii) a breakdown | 9 | | of the amounts of grants or distributions paid during the | 10 | | previous year to recipients and the amounts committed to each | 11 | | recipient for the current year; (iv) a breakdown of the | 12 | | Foundation's costs in administering the Fund; (v) a statement | 13 | | of the Fund balance at the start and at the close of the | 14 | | previous year and the interest earned during the previous year; | 15 | | and (vi) any notices the Foundation issued denying applications | 16 | | for grants or distributions under this Act. The report, in its | 17 | | entirety, is a public record, and the Foundation and the | 18 | | Governor shall make the report available for inspection upon | 19 | | request. | 20 | | (d) The Foundation may annually retain a portion of the | 21 | | disbursement it receives under this Section to reimburse the | 22 | | Foundation for the actual cost of administering the Council and | 23 | | for making the grants and distributions pursuant to this Act | 24 | | during that year. | 25 | | (e) No moneys distributed by the Foundation from the Access | 26 | | to Justice Fund may be directly or indirectly used for lobbying |
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| 1 | | activities, as defined in Section 2 of the Lobbyist | 2 | | Registration Act or as defined in any ordinance or resolution | 3 | | of a municipality, county, or other unit of local government in | 4 | | Illinois.
| 5 | | (f) The Foundation may make, enter into, and execute | 6 | | contracts, agreements, leases, and other instruments with any | 7 | | person, including without limitation any federal, State, or | 8 | | local governmental agency, and may take other actions that may | 9 | | be necessary or convenient to accomplish any purpose authorized | 10 | | by this Act. | 11 | | (g) The Foundation has the authority to receive and accept | 12 | | any and all grants, loans, subsidies, matching funds, | 13 | | reimbursements, federal grant moneys, fees for services, and | 14 | | other things of value from the federal or State government or | 15 | | any agency of any other state or from any institution, person, | 16 | | firm, or corporation, public or private, to be used to carry | 17 | | out the purposes of this Act. | 18 | | (Source: P.A. 98-351, eff. 8-15-13.) | 19 | | (705 ILCS 95/20)
| 20 | | Sec. 20. Evaluation. The Council Supreme Court shall study | 21 | | the effectiveness of the pilot programs implemented under this | 22 | | Act and submit a report to the Governor and General Assembly by | 23 | | June 1, 2021 2017 . The report shall include the number of | 24 | | people served in each pilot program and data on the impact of | 25 | | varying levels of legal assistance on access to justice, the |
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| 1 | | effect on fair and efficient court administration, and the | 2 | | impact on government programs and community resources. This | 3 | | report shall describe the benefits of providing legal | 4 | | assistance to those who were previously unrepresented, both for | 5 | | the clients and the courts, and shall describe strategies and | 6 | | recommendations for maximizing the benefit of that | 7 | | representation in the future. The report shall include an | 8 | | assessment of the continuing unmet needs and, if available, | 9 | | data regarding those unmet needs.
| 10 | | (Source: P.A. 98-351, eff. 8-15-13.) | 11 | | Section 10. The Clerks of Courts Act is amended by changing | 12 | | Section 27.3g as follows: | 13 | | (705 ILCS 105/27.3g) | 14 | | (Section scheduled to be repealed on August 15, 2018) | 15 | | Sec. 27.3g. Pilot program; Access to Justice Act. | 16 | | (a) On and after September 1, 2015 If the Supreme Court | 17 | | develops a pilot program to provide court-based legal | 18 | | assistance in accordance with Section 10 of the Access to | 19 | | Justice Act , all clerks of the circuit court shall charge and | 20 | | collect at the time of filing the first pleading, paper, or | 21 | | other appearance filed by each party in all civil cases, in | 22 | | addition to any other fees, a fee of $10, but no additional fee | 23 | | shall be required if more than one party is represented in a | 24 | | single pleading, paper, or other appearance. Fees received by |
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| 1 | | the clerk of the circuit court under this Section shall be | 2 | | remitted by the clerk of the circuit court to the State | 3 | | Treasurer , within one month after receipt, to the Supreme Court | 4 | | for deposit into the Access to Justice Fund created under | 5 | | Section 15 of the Access to Justice Act. | 6 | | (b) This Section is repealed on September 1, 2020 5 years | 7 | | after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 98th | 8 | | General Assembly .
| 9 | | (Source: P.A. 98-351, eff. 8-15-13.)
| 10 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 11 | | becoming law.".
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