Public Act 098-0717
 
HB4266 EnrolledLRB098 16014 RLC 51066 b


  
    AN ACT concerning criminal law.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  
 
 
    Section 3. The Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act is 
amended  by changing Section 8.5 as follows:
 


    (725 ILCS 120/8.5)



    Sec. 8.5. Statewide victim and witness notification 
system. 

    (a) The Attorney General may establish a crime victim and 
witness
notification system to assist public officials in 
carrying out their
duties to notify and inform crime victims 
and witnesses under Section 4.5 of
this Act or under 
subsections (a), (a-2), and (a-3) of Section 120 of the Sex 
Offender Community Notification Law as the Attorney General 
specifies by rule.  The system shall download
necessary

information from participating officials into its computers, 
where it shall be
maintained, updated, and automatically 
transmitted to victims and witnesses by
telephone, computer, or 
written notice.

    (b) The Illinois Department of Corrections, the Department 
of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Human
Services, and the 
Prisoner Review Board shall cooperate with the Attorney
General 
in the implementation of this Section and shall provide 
information as
necessary to the effective operation of the 
system.

    (c) State's attorneys, circuit court clerks, and local law 
enforcement
and correctional authorities
may enter into 
agreements with the Attorney General for participation in the

system.  The Attorney General may provide those who elect to 
participate with
the equipment, software, or training 
necessary to bring their offices into the
system.

    (d) The provision of information to crime victims and 
witnesses through the
Attorney General's notification system

satisfies a given State or local official's corresponding 
obligation to provide the information.

    (e) The Attorney General may provide for telephonic, 
electronic, or other
public access to the database established 
under this Section.

    (f) The Attorney General shall adopt rules as necessary to 
implement this
Section.  The rules shall include, but not be 
limited to, provisions for the
scope and operation of any 
system the Attorney General may establish
and procedures, 
requirements,
and standards for entering into agreements to 
participate in the system and to
receive equipment, software, 
or training.

    (g) There is established in the Office of the Attorney 
General a Crime
Victim and Witness Notification Advisory

Committee consisting of those victims advocates, sheriffs,
 
State's Attorneys, circuit court clerks, Illinois Department 
of
Corrections, the Department of Juvenile Justice, and 
Prisoner Review
Board
employees that the Attorney General

chooses to appoint.  The Attorney General shall designate one 
member to chair
the Committee.


        (1) The Committee shall consult with and advise the 
    Attorney General as to
the exercise of the Attorney 
    General's authority under this Section, including,
but not 
    limited
to:


            (i) the design, scope, and operation of the 
        notification system;


            (ii) the content of any rules adopted to implement 
        this Section;


            (iii) the procurement of hardware, software, and

        support for the system, including choice of supplier or 
        operator; and


            (iv) the acceptance of agreements with and the 
        award of equipment,
software, or training to officials 
        that seek to participate in the system.


        (2) The Committee shall review the status and operation 
    of the system and
report any findings and recommendations 
    for changes to the Attorney General and
the General 
    Assembly by November 1 of each year.


        (3) The members of the Committee shall receive no 
    compensation for their
services as members of the 
    Committee, but may be reimbursed for their actual
expenses 
    incurred in serving on the Committee.

    (h)  The Attorney General shall not release the names, 
addresses,
phone numbers, personal identification numbers, or 
email addresses of
any person registered to receive 
notifications to any other person except
State or local 
officials using the notification system to satisfy the 
official's
obligation to provide the information. The Attorney 
General may
grant limited access to the Automated Victim 
Notification system (AVN) to law enforcement, prosecution,
and 
other agencies that provide service to victims of violent crime 
to assist
victims in enrolling and utilizing the AVN system. 
(Source: P.A. 96-1092, eff. 1-1-11.)

 
    Section 5. The Unified Code of Corrections is amended  by 
changing Section 3-3-4 as follows:
 


    (730 ILCS 5/3-3-4)  (from Ch. 38, par. 1003-3-4)


    Sec. 3-3-4. Preparation for Parole Hearing. 

    (a) The Prisoner Review Board shall consider the parole
of 
each eligible person committed to the Department of Corrections 
at
least 30 days prior to the date he or she shall first become

eligible for parole, and shall consider the aftercare release 
of each
person committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice 
as a delinquent
at least 30 days prior to the expiration of the 
first year
of confinement.

    (b) A person eligible for parole or aftercare release 
shall, no less than 15 days in advance of
his or her parole 
interview, prepare a parole or aftercare release plan in 
accordance
with the rules of the Prisoner Review Board. The 
person
shall be assisted in preparing his or her parole or 
aftercare release plan by personnel
of the Department of 
Corrections, or the Department of Juvenile Justice in the case 
of a person committed to that Department, and may, for this 
purpose, be released
on furlough under Article 11 or on 
authorized absence under
Section 3-9-4. The appropriate 
Department shall also provide
assistance in obtaining 
information and records helpful to
the individual for his or 
her parole hearing. If the person eligible for parole or 
aftercare release has a petition or any written submissions  
prepared on his or her  behalf by an attorney or other 
representative, the attorney or representative for the  person 
eligible for parole or aftercare release must serve by 
certified mail the State's Attorney of the county where he or 
she was prosecuted with the petition or any written submissions 
15 days after his or her parole interview.  The State's Attorney 
shall provide the attorney for the person eligible for parole 
or aftercare release with a copy of his or her letter in 
opposition to parole or aftercare release via certified mail 
within 5 business days of the en banc hearing. 

    (c) Any member of the Board shall have access at all

reasonable times to any committed person and to his or her 
master
record file within the Department, and the Department 
shall
furnish such a report to the Board
concerning the conduct 
and character of any such person prior to his or her  parole 
interview.

    (d) In making its determination of parole or aftercare 
release, the Board
shall consider:

        (1) material transmitted to the Department of Juvenile 
    Justice by the
clerk of the committing court under Section 
    5-4-1 or Section
5-10 of the Juvenile Court Act or Section 
    5-750 of the Juvenile
Court Act of 1987;

        (2) the report under Section 3-8-2 or 3-10-2;

        (3) a report by the Department and any report by the

    chief administrative officer of the institution or 
    facility;

        (4) a parole or aftercare release progress report;

        (5) a medical and psychological report, if requested
by 
    the Board;

        (6) material in writing, or on film, video tape or 
    other electronic
means in the form of a recording submitted 
    by the person whose parole or aftercare release
is being 
    considered;

        (7) material in writing, or on film, video tape or 
    other electronic
means in the form of a recording or 
    testimony submitted by the State's
Attorney and the victim 
    or a concerned citizen pursuant to the Rights of Crime 
    Victims and Witnesses Act; and

        (8) the person's eligibility for commitment under the 
    Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act. 
    (e) The prosecuting State's Attorney's office shall 
receive from the Board reasonable
written notice not less than 
30 days prior to the parole or aftercare release interview and 
may
submit relevant information by oral argument or testimony 
of victims and concerned citizens, or both, in writing, or on 
film, video tape or other
electronic means or in the form of a 
recording to the Board for its
consideration. Upon written 
request of the State's Attorney's office, the Prisoner Review 
Board  shall hear protests to parole, or aftercare release, 
except in counties of 1,500,000 or more inhabitants where there 
shall be standing objections to all such petitions. If a 
State's Attorney who represents a county of less than 1,500,000 
inhabitants requests a protest hearing, the inmate's counsel or 
other representative shall also receive notice of such request.


This hearing shall take place the month  following the inmate's 
parole or aftercare release interview. If the inmate's parole 
or aftercare release interview is rescheduled then the Prisoner 
Review Board shall promptly notify the State's Attorney of the 
new date.  The person eligible for parole or aftercare release 
shall be heard at the next scheduled en banc hearing date. If 
the case is to be continued, the State's Attorney's office and 
the attorney or representative for the person eligible for 
parole or aftercare release will be notified of any continuance 
within 5 business days.  The State's Attorney may waive the 
written notice.  

    (f) The victim of the violent crime for which the prisoner 
has been
sentenced shall receive notice of a parole or 
aftercare release hearing as provided in paragraph
(4) of 
subsection (d) of Section 4.5 of the Rights of Crime Victims 
and Witnesses
Act.

    (g) Any recording considered under the provisions of 
subsection (d)(6),
(d)(7) or (e) of this Section shall be in 
the form designated by the Board.
Such recording shall be both 
visual and aural.  Every voice on the
recording and person 
present shall be identified and the recording shall
contain 
either a visual or aural statement of the person submitting 
such
recording, the date of the recording and the name of the 
person whose
parole or aftercare release eligibility is being 
considered.  Such recordings shall be retained by
the Board and 
shall be deemed to be submitted at any subsequent parole or 
aftercare release hearing
if the victim or State's Attorney 
submits in writing a declaration clearly
identifying such 
recording as representing the present position of the
victim or 
State's Attorney regarding the issues to be considered at the 
parole or aftercare release
hearing.

    (h)  The Board shall not release any material to the inmate, 
the inmate's attorney, any third party, or any other person 
containing any information from the victim or from a person 
related to the victim by blood, adoption, or marriage  who has 
written objections, testified at any hearing, or submitted 
audio or visual objections to the inmate's parole, or aftercare 
release, unless provided with a waiver from that objecting 
party. The Board shall not release the names or addresses of 
any person on its victim registry to any other person except 
the victim, a law enforcement agency, or other victim 
notification system. 
(Source: P.A. 97-523, eff. 1-1-12; 97-1075, eff. 8-24-12; 
97-1083, eff. 8-24-12; 98-463, eff. 8-16-13; 98-558, eff. 
1-1-14.)