Public Act 099-0587
 
HB6083 EnrolledLRB099 17215 HEP 41573 b

    AN ACT concerning the disclosure of information.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 1. This Act may be referred to as Molly's Law.
 
    Section 5. The Wrongful Death Act is amended by changing
Section 2 as follows:
 
    (740 ILCS 180/2)  (from Ch. 70, par. 2)
    Sec. 2. (a) Every such action shall be brought by and in
the names of the personal representatives of such deceased
person, and, except as otherwise hereinafter provided, the
amount recovered in every such action shall be for the
exclusive benefit of the surviving spouse and next of kin of
such deceased person. In every such action the jury may give
such damages as they shall deem a fair and just compensation
with reference to the pecuniary injuries resulting from such
death, including damages for grief, sorrow, and mental
suffering, to the surviving spouse and next of kin of such
deceased person.
    (b) The amount recovered in any such action shall be
distributed by the court in which the cause is heard or, in the
case of an agreed settlement, by the circuit court, to each of
the surviving spouse and next of kin of such deceased person in
the proportion, as determined by the court, that the percentage
of dependency of each such person upon the deceased person
bears to the sum of the percentages of dependency of all such
persons upon the deceased person.
    (c) Where the deceased person left no surviving spouse or
next of kin entitled to recovery, the damages shall, subject to
the following limitations inure, to the exclusive benefit of
the following persons, or any one or more of them:
        (1) (a) to the person or persons furnishing
    hospitalization or hospital services in connection with
    the last illness or injury of the deceased person, not
    exceeding $450;
        (2) (b) to the person or persons furnishing medical or
    surgical services in connection with such last illness or
    injury, not exceeding $450;
        (3) (c) to the personal representatives, as such, for
    the costs and expenses of administering the estate and
    prosecuting or compromising the action, including a
    reasonable attorney's fee. In any such case the measure of
    damages to be recovered shall be the total of the
    reasonable value of such hospitalization or hospital
    service, medical and surgical services, funeral expenses,
    and such costs and expenses of administration, including
    attorney fees, not exceeding the foregoing limitations for
    each class of such expenses and not exceeding $900 plus a
    reasonable attorney's fee.
    (d) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (e) of this
Section, every Every such action shall be commenced within 2
years after the death of such person but an action against a
defendant arising from a crime committed by the defendant in
whose name an escrow account was established under the
"Criminal Victims' Escrow Account Act" shall be commenced
within 2 years after the establishment of such account.
    (e) An action may be brought within 5 years after the date
of the death if the death is the result of violent intentional
conduct or within one year after the final disposition of the
criminal case if the defendant is charged with:
        (1) first degree murder under Section 9-1 of the
    Criminal Code of 2012;
        (2) intentional homicide of an unborn child under
    Section 9-1.2 of the Criminal Code of 2012;
        (3) second degree murder under Section 9-2 of the
    Criminal Code of 2012;
        (4) voluntary manslaughter of an unborn child under
    Section 9-2.1 of the Criminal Code of 2012;
        (5) involuntary manslaughter or reckless homicide
    under Section 9-3 of the Criminal Code of 2012;
        (6) involuntary manslaughter or reckless homicide of
    an unborn child under Section 9-3.2 of the Criminal Code of
    2012; or
        (7) drug-induced homicide under Section 9-3.3 of the
    Criminal Code of 2012.
    This subsection extends the statute of limitations only
against the individual who allegedly committed a violent
intentional act or was the defendant charged with a crime
listed in this subsection. It does not extend the statute of
limitations against any other person or entity. The changes to
this Section made by this amendatory Act of the 99th General
Assembly apply to causes of action arising on or after the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 99th General
Assembly.
    (f) For the purposes of this Section 2, next of kin
includes an adopting parent and an adopted child, and they
shall be treated as a natural parent and a natural child,
respectively. However, if a person entitled to recover benefits
under this Act, is, at the time the cause of action accrued,
within the age of 18 years, he or she may cause such action to
be brought within 2 years after attainment of the age of 18.
    (g) In any such action to recover damages, it shall not be
a defense that the death was caused in whole or in part by the
contributory negligence of one or more of the beneficiaries on
behalf of whom the action is brought, but the amount of damages
given shall be reduced in the following manner.
    (h) The trier of fact shall first determine the decedent's
contributory fault in accordance with Sections 2-1116 and
2-1107.1 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Recovery of damages
shall be barred or diminished accordingly. The trier of fact
shall then determine the contributory fault, if any, of each
beneficiary on behalf of whom the action was brought:
        (1) Where the trier of fact finds that the contributory
    fault of a beneficiary on whose behalf the action is
    brought is not more than 50% of the proximate cause of the
    wrongful death of the decedent, then the damages allowed to
    that beneficiary shall be diminished in proportion to the
    contributory fault attributed to that beneficiary. The
    amount of the reduction shall not be payable by any
    defendant.
        (2) Where the trier of fact finds that the contributory
    fault of a beneficiary on whose behalf the action is
    brought is more than 50% of the proximate cause of the
    wrongful death of the decedent, then the beneficiary shall
    be barred from recovering damages and the amount of damages
    which would have been payable to that beneficiary, but for
    the beneficiary's contributory fault, shall not inure to
    the benefit of the remaining beneficiaries and shall not be
    payable by any defendant.
    (i) The trial judge shall conduct a hearing to determine
the degree of dependency of each beneficiary upon the decedent.
The trial judge shall calculate the amount of damages to be
awarded each beneficiary, taking into account any reduction
arising from either the decedent's or the beneficiary's
contributory fault.
    (j) This amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly
applies to all actions pending on or filed after the effective
date of this amendatory Act.
    (k) This amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly
applies to causes of actions accruing on or after its effective
date.
(Source: P.A. 95-3, eff. 5-31-07.)