Public Act 094-0340
 		





SB0469 Enrolled
LRB094 08528 RXD 38735 b






    AN ACT concerning criminal law.

 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:


 
    Section 5. The Capital Crimes Litigation Act is amended  by 
changing Section 5 as follows:
 



    (725 ILCS 124/5)



    Sec. 5. Appointment of trial counsel in death penalty 
cases. If an
indigent defendant
is charged with an offense for 
which a sentence of death is authorized, and the
State's

Attorney has not, at or before arraignment, filed
a certificate 
indicating he or she will not seek the
death penalty or
stated 
on the record in open court that the death penalty will not be 
sought,
the trial court
shall immediately appoint the Public 
Defender, or such other qualified attorney
or
attorneys as the 
Illinois Supreme Court shall by rule provide, to represent the

defendant as trial counsel.
If the Public Defender is 
appointed, he or she shall immediately assign such
attorney or

attorneys who are public defenders to represent the defendant.  
The counsel
shall meet the
qualifications
as the Supreme Court 
shall by rule provide. At the request of court appointed 
counsel in a case in which the death penalty is sought, 
attorneys employed by the State Appellate Defender may enter an 
appearance for the limited purpose of assisting counsel 
appointed under this Section.


(Source: P.A. 91-589, eff. 1-1-00.)

 
    Section 10. The State Appellate Defender Act is amended  by 
changing Section 10 as follows:
 



    (725 ILCS 105/10)  (from Ch. 38, par. 208-10)


    Sec. 10. Powers and duties of State Appellate Defender. 

    (a) The State Appellate Defender shall represent indigent 
persons on
appeal in criminal and delinquent minor proceedings, 
when appointed to do so by
a court under a Supreme Court Rule 
or law of this State. 

    (b) The State Appellate Defender shall submit a budget for 
the
approval of the State Appellate Defender Commission.

    (c) The State Appellate Defender may:


        (1) maintain a panel of private attorneys available to 
    serve as
counsel on a case basis;


        (2) establish programs, alone or in conjunction with 
    law schools,
for the purpose of utilizing volunteer law 
    students as legal assistants;


        (3) cooperate and consult with state agencies, 
    professional
associations, and other groups concerning the 
    causes of criminal
conduct, the rehabilitation and 
    correction of persons charged with and
convicted of crime, 
    the administration of criminal justice, and, in
counties of 
    less than 1,000,000 population, study, design, develop and

    implement model systems for the delivery of trial level 
    defender
services, and make an annual report to the General 
    Assembly;


        (4) hire investigators to provide investigative 
    services to appointed counsel and county
public defenders;


        (5) in cases in which a death sentence is an authorized 
    disposition,
provide trial counsel with legal advice and 
    the assistance of expert witnesses, investigators,
and 
    mitigation specialists from funds appropriated to the 
    State Appellate
Defender specifically for that
purpose by 
    the General Assembly.  The Office of State Appellate 
    Defender shall
not be appointed to serve as trial counsel 
    in capital cases.

    Investigators employed by the Death Penalty Trial 
Assistance and Capital
Litigation Division of the State 
Appellate Defender shall be authorized to
inquire
through the 
Illinois State Police or local law enforcement with the Law

Enforcement
Agencies Data System (LEADS) under Section 
2605-375 of the Civil Administrative
Code of Illinois to 
ascertain whether their potential witnesses have a criminal

background, including: (i) warrants; (ii) arrests; (iii) 
convictions; and (iv)
officer
safety information. This 
authorization applies only to information held on the
State

level and shall be used only to protect the personal safety of 
the
investigators. Any
information that is obtained through 
this inquiry may not be disclosed by the
investigators.

    (d) For each State fiscal year, the
State Appellate 
Defender shall appear before the General Assembly and request

appropriations to be made from the Capital Litigation Trust 
Fund to the State
Treasurer for the purpose of providing 
defense assistance in capital cases
outside of Cook County and 
for expenses incurred by the the State Appellate Defender in 
representing petitioners in capital cases in post-conviction 
proceedings under Article 122 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 
of 1963 and in relation to petitions filed under Section 2-1401 
of the Code of Civil Procedure in relation to capital cases and 
for the representation of those petitioners by attorneys 
approved by or contracted with the State Appellate Defender.  
The State Appellate Defender may appear before the
General 
Assembly at other times during the State's fiscal year to 
request
supplemental appropriations from the Trust Fund to the 
State Treasurer.

    (e) The requirement for reporting to the General Assembly 
shall be
satisfied
by filing copies of the report with the 
Speaker, the Minority Leader and
the Clerk of the House of 
Representatives and the President, the Minority
Leader and the 
Secretary of the Senate and the Legislative Research
Unit, as 
required by Section 3.1 of the General Assembly Organization

Act and filing such additional copies with the State Government 
Report
Distribution Center for
the General Assembly as is 
required under paragraph (t) of Section 7 of the
State Library 
Act.

(Source: P.A. 93-972, eff. 8-20-04; 93-1011, eff. 1-1-05; 
revised 10-14-04.)