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91_HB0790
LRB9104579RCks
1 AN ACT to amend the Statewide Grand Jury Act by changing
2 Sections 2 and 3.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Statewide Grand Jury Act is amended by
6 changing Sections 2 and 3 as follows:
7 (725 ILCS 215/2) (from Ch. 38, par. 1702)
8 Sec. 2. (a) County grand juries and State's Attorneys
9 have always had and shall continue to have primary
10 responsibility for investigating, indicting, and prosecuting
11 persons who violate the criminal laws of the State of
12 Illinois. However, in recent years certain criminal
13 enterprises have developed that require investigation,
14 indictment, and prosecution on a statewide or multicounty
15 level. These enterprises exist as a result of the allure of
16 profitability present in narcotic activity, the unlawful sale
17 and transfer of firearms, and streetgang related felonies. In
18 order to weaken or eliminate these enterprises, the profit
19 must be removed. State statutes exist that can accomplish
20 that goal. Among them are the offense of money laundering,
21 the Cannabis and Controlled Substances Tax Act, the Narcotics
22 Profit Forfeiture Act, and gunrunning. Local prosecutors
23 need investigative personnel and specialized training to
24 attack and eliminate these profits. In light of the
25 transitory and complex nature of conduct that constitutes
26 these criminal activities, the many diverse property
27 interests that may be acquired directly or indirectly as a
28 result of these criminal activities, and the many places that
29 illegally obtained property may be located, it is the purpose
30 of this Act to create a limited, multicounty Statewide Grand
31 Jury with authority to investigate, indict, and prosecute:
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1 narcotic activity, including cannabis and controlled
2 substance trafficking, narcotics racketeering, money
3 laundering, and violations of the Cannabis and Controlled
4 Substances Tax Act; the unlawful sale and transfer of
5 firearms; gunrunning; and streetgang related felonies.
6 (b) A Statewide Grand Jury may also investigate, indict,
7 and prosecute violations facilitated by the use of a computer
8 of any of the following offenses: indecent solicitation of a
9 child, sexual exploitation of a child, soliciting for a
10 juvenile prostitute, keeping a place of juvenile
11 prostitution, juvenile pimping, or child pornography.
12 (Source: P.A. 88-677, eff. 12-15-94; 89-8, eff. 3-21-95.)
13 (725 ILCS 215/3) (from Ch. 38, par. 1703)
14 Sec. 3. Written application for the appointment of a
15 Circuit Judge to convene and preside over a Statewide Grand
16 Jury, with jurisdiction extending throughout the State, shall
17 be made to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Upon such
18 written application, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
19 shall appoint a Circuit Judge from the circuit where the
20 Statewide Grand Jury is being sought to be convened, who
21 shall make a determination that the convening of a Statewide
22 Grand Jury is necessary.
23 In such application the Attorney General shall state that
24 the convening of a Statewide Grand Jury is necessary because
25 of an alleged offense or offenses set forth in this Section
26 involving more than one county of the State and identifying
27 any such offense alleged; and
28 (a) that he or she believes that the grand jury
29 function for the investigation and indictment of the
30 offense or offenses cannot effectively be performed by a
31 county grand jury together with the reasons for such
32 belief, and
33 (b) (1) that each State's Attorney with
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1 jurisdiction over an offense or offenses to be
2 investigated has consented to the impaneling of the
3 Statewide Grand Jury, or
4 (2) if one or more of the State's Attorneys
5 having jurisdiction over an offense or offenses to
6 be investigated fails to consent to the impaneling
7 of the Statewide Grand Jury, the Attorney General
8 shall set forth good cause for impaneling the
9 Statewide Grand Jury.
10 If the Circuit Judge determines that the convening of a
11 Statewide Grand Jury is necessary, he or she shall convene
12 and impanel the Statewide Grand Jury with jurisdiction
13 extending throughout the State to investigate and return
14 indictments:
15 (a) For violations of any of the following or for
16 any other criminal offense committed in the course of
17 violating any of the following: the Illinois Controlled
18 Substances Act, the Cannabis Control Act, the Narcotics
19 Profit Forfeiture Act, or the Cannabis and Controlled
20 Substances Tax Act; a streetgang related felony offense;
21 Section 24-2.1, 24-2.2, 24-3, 24-3A, 24-3.1, 24-3.3,
22 24-3.4, 24-4, or 24-5 or subsection 24-1(a)(4),
23 24-1(a)(6), 24-1(a)(7), 24-1(a)(9), 24-1(a)(10), or
24 24-1(c) of the Criminal Code of 1961; or a money
25 laundering offense; provided that the violation or
26 offense involves acts occurring in more than one county
27 of this State; and
28 (a-5) For violations facilitated by the use of a
29 computer, including the use of the Internet, the World
30 Wide Web, electronic mail, message board, newsgroup, or
31 any other commercial or noncommercial on-line service, of
32 any of the following offenses: indecent solicitation of
33 a child, sexual exploitation of a child, soliciting for a
34 juvenile prostitute, keeping a place of juvenile
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1 prostitution, juvenile pimping, or child pornography; and
2
3 (b) For the offenses of perjury, subornation of
4 perjury, communicating with jurors and witnesses, and
5 harassment of jurors and witnesses, as they relate to
6 matters before the Statewide Grand Jury.
7 "Streetgang related" has the meaning ascribed to it in
8 Section 10 of the Illinois Streetgang Terrorism Omnibus
9 Prevention Act.
10 Upon written application by the Attorney General for the
11 convening of an additional Statewide Grand Jury, the Chief
12 Justice of the Supreme Court shall appoint a Circuit Judge
13 from the circuit for which the additional Statewide Grand
14 Jury is sought. The Circuit Judge shall determine the
15 necessity for an additional Statewide Grand Jury in
16 accordance with the provisions of this Section. No more than
17 2 Statewide Grand Juries may be empaneled at any time.
18 (Source: P.A. 88-677, eff. 12-15-94; 89-8, eff. 3-21-95;
19 89-688, eff. 6-1-97.)