Full Text of HB4893 93rd General Assembly
HB4893 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004 HB4893
Introduced 02/04/04, by Kevin Joyce SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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510 ILCS 70/3.04 |
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510 ILCS 70/3.05 |
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Amends the Humane Care for Animals Act. Provides that the State's Attorney shall, at anytime prior to trial, file a "petition for forfeiture prior to trial" asking for permanent forfeiture of a seized companion animal (now within 14 days after seizure). Eliminates a provision that states that a court may waive the posting of security in cases regarding companion animals and animals used for fighting purposes for good cause shown. Effective January 1, 2005.
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A BILL FOR
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HB4893 |
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LRB093 20195 RAS 45940 b |
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| AN ACT concerning animals.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Humane Care for Animals Act is amended by | 5 |
| changing Sections 3.04 and 3.05 as follows:
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| (510 ILCS 70/3.04)
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| Sec. 3.04. Arrests and seizures.
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| (a) Any law enforcement officer making an arrest for an | 9 |
| offense involving
one or more companion animals under Section | 10 |
| 3.01, 3.02, or 3.03 of this Act
may lawfully take possession of | 11 |
| some or all of the companion animals in the
possession of the | 12 |
| person arrested. The officer, after taking possession of the
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| companion animals, must file with the court before whom the | 14 |
| complaint is made
against any person so arrested an affidavit | 15 |
| stating the name of the person
charged in the complaint, a | 16 |
| description of the condition of the companion
animal or | 17 |
| companion animals taken, and the time and place the companion | 18 |
| animal
or companion animals were taken, together with the name | 19 |
| of the person from
whom the companion animal or companion | 20 |
| animals were taken and name of the
person who claims to own the | 21 |
| companion animal or companion animals if different
from the | 22 |
| person from whom the companion animal or companion animals were
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| seized. He or she must at the same time deliver an inventory of | 24 |
| the companion
animal or companion animals taken to the court of | 25 |
| competent jurisdiction. The
officer must place the companion | 26 |
| animal or companion animals in the custody of
an animal control | 27 |
| or animal shelter and the agency must retain custody of the
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| companion animal or companion animals subject to an order of | 29 |
| the court
adjudicating the charges on the merits and before | 30 |
| which the person complained
against is required to appear for | 31 |
| trial. The State's Attorney shall, at anytime prior to trial
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| may, within 14
days after the seizure , file a "petition for |
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HB4893 |
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LRB093 20195 RAS 45940 b |
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| forfeiture prior to trial" before
the court having criminal | 2 |
| jurisdiction over the alleged charges, asking for
permanent | 3 |
| forfeiture of the companion animals seized. The petition shall | 4 |
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filed with the court, with copies served on the impounding | 5 |
| agency, the owner,
and anyone claiming an interest in the | 6 |
| animals. In a "petition for forfeiture
prior to trial", the | 7 |
| burden is on the prosecution to prove by a preponderance
of the | 8 |
| evidence that the person arrested violated Section 3.01, 3.02, | 9 |
| 3.03, or
4.01 of this Act or Section 26-5 of the Criminal Code | 10 |
| of 1961.
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| (b) An owner whose companion animal or companion animals | 12 |
| are removed by a
law enforcement officer under this Section | 13 |
| must be given written notice of
the circumstances of the | 14 |
| removal and of any legal remedies available to him
or her. The | 15 |
| notice must be posted at the place of seizure, or delivered to
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| a person residing at the place of seizure or, if the address of | 17 |
| the owner is
different from the address of the person from whom | 18 |
| the companion animal or
companion animals were seized, | 19 |
| delivered by registered mail to his or her last
known address.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-454, eff. 1-1-02; 92-650, eff. 7-11-02.)
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| (510 ILCS 70/3.05)
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| Sec. 3.05. Security for companion animals and animals used | 23 |
| for fighting
purposes.
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| (a) In the case of companion animals as defined in Section | 25 |
| 2.01a or animals
used for fighting purposes in violation of | 26 |
| Section 4.01
of this Act or Section 26-5 of the Criminal Code | 27 |
| of 1961, the animal
control or animal shelter having custody of | 28 |
| the animal or animals may file a
petition with the court | 29 |
| requesting that the person from whom the animal or
animals are | 30 |
| seized, or the owner of the animal or animals, be ordered to | 31 |
| post
security. The security must be in an amount sufficient to | 32 |
| secure payment of
all reasonable expenses expected to be | 33 |
| incurred by the animal control or animal
shelter in caring for | 34 |
| and providing for the animal or animals pending the
disposition | 35 |
| of the charges. Reasonable expenses include, but are not |
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HB4893 |
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LRB093 20195 RAS 45940 b |
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| limited
to, estimated medical care and boarding of the animal | 2 |
| or animals for 30 days.
The amount of the security shall be | 3 |
| determined by the court after taking into
consideration all of | 4 |
| the facts and circumstances of the case, including, but
not | 5 |
| limited to, the recommendation of the impounding organization | 6 |
| having
custody and care of the seized animal or animals and the | 7 |
| cost of caring for
the animal or animals. If security has been | 8 |
| posted in accordance with this
Section, the animal control or | 9 |
| animal shelter may draw from the security the
actual costs | 10 |
| incurred by the agency in caring for the seized animal or | 11 |
| animals.
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| (b) Upon receipt of a petition, the court must set a | 13 |
| hearing on the
petition, to be conducted within 5 business days | 14 |
| after the petition is filed.
The petitioner must serve a true | 15 |
| copy of the petition upon the defendant and
the State's | 16 |
| Attorney for the county in which the animal or animals were | 17 |
| seized.
The petitioner must also serve a true copy of the | 18 |
| petition on any interested
person. For the purposes of this | 19 |
| subsection, "interested person" means an
individual, | 20 |
| partnership, firm, joint stock company, corporation, | 21 |
| association,
trust, estate, or other legal entity that the | 22 |
| court determines may have a
pecuniary interest in the animal or | 23 |
| animals that are the subject of the
petition. The court must | 24 |
| set a hearing date to determine any interested
parties. The | 25 |
| court may waive for good cause shown the posting of security.
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| (c) If the court orders the posting of security, the | 27 |
| security must be
posted with the clerk of the court within 5 | 28 |
| business days after the hearing.
If the person ordered to post | 29 |
| security does not do so, the animal or animals
are forfeited by | 30 |
| operation of law and the animal control or animal shelter
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| having control of the animal or animals must dispose of the | 32 |
| animal or animals
through adoption or must humanely euthanize | 33 |
| the animal. In no event may the
defendant or any person | 34 |
| residing in the defendant's household adopt the animal
or | 35 |
| animals.
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| (d) The impounding organization may file a petition with |
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| the court upon the
expiration of the 30-day period requesting | 2 |
| the posting of additional security.
The court may order the | 3 |
| person from whom the animal or animals were seized, or
the | 4 |
| owner of the animal or animals, to post additional security | 5 |
| with the
clerk of the court to secure payment of reasonable | 6 |
| expenses for an additional
period of time pending a | 7 |
| determination by the court of the charges against the
person | 8 |
| from whom the animal or animals were seized.
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| (e) In no event may the security prevent the impounding | 10 |
| organization having
custody and care of the animal or animals | 11 |
| from disposing of the animal or
animals before the expiration | 12 |
| of the 30-day period covered by the security if
the court makes | 13 |
| a final determination of the charges against the person from
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| whom the animal or animals were seized. Upon the adjudication | 15 |
| of the charges,
the person who posted the security is entitled | 16 |
| to a refund of the security, in
whole or in part, for any | 17 |
| expenses not incurred by the impounding organization.
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| (f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section to | 19 |
| the contrary,
the court may order a person charged with any | 20 |
| violation of this Act to provide
necessary food, water, | 21 |
| shelter, and care for any animal or animals that are the
basis | 22 |
| of the charge without the removal of the animal or animals from | 23 |
| their
existing location and until the charges against the | 24 |
| person are adjudicated.
Until a final determination of the | 25 |
| charges is made, any law enforcement
officer, animal control | 26 |
| officer, Department investigator, or an approved humane
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| investigator may be authorized by an order of the court to make | 28 |
| regular visits
to the place where the animal or animals are | 29 |
| being kept to ascertain if the
animal or animals are receiving | 30 |
| necessary food, water, shelter, and care.
Nothing in this | 31 |
| Section prevents any law enforcement officer, Department
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| investigator, or approved humane investigator from applying | 33 |
| for a warrant under
this Section to seize any animal or animals | 34 |
| being held by the person charged
pending the adjudication of | 35 |
| the charges if it is determined that the animal or
animals are | 36 |
| not receiving the necessary food, water, shelter, or care.
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LRB093 20195 RAS 45940 b |
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| (g) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent the | 2 |
| voluntary,
permanent relinquishment of any animal by its owner | 3 |
| to an animal
control or animal shelter in lieu of posting | 4 |
| security or proceeding to a
forfeiture hearing. Voluntary | 5 |
| relinquishment shall have no effect on the
criminal charges | 6 |
| that may be pursued by the appropriate authorities.
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| (h) If an owner of a companion animal is acquitted by the | 8 |
| court of charges
made pursuant to this Act, the court shall | 9 |
| further order that any security that
has been posted for the | 10 |
| animal shall be returned to the owner by the impounding
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| organization.
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| (i) The provisions of this Section only pertain to | 13 |
| companion animals and
animals used for fighting purposes.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-454, eff. 1-1-02; 92-650, eff. 7-11-02.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January | 16 |
| 1, 2005.
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