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.)





Effective Date:  1/1/2017