ISBA Statehouse Review for the week of June 17

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers Juvenile Court Act (House Bill 3172), Raising the age of juvenile court (House Bill 2404), Business records (Senate Bill 1968), E-insurance card (Senate Bill 1775), Recorded interrogations (Senate Bill 1006), Concealed carry (House Bill 183), No more felony prostitution (Senate Bill 1872), Reporting of sex crimes (House Bill 804) and Drone surveillance (Senate Bill 1587). More information on each bill is available below the video.

Juvenile Court Act. House Bill 3172 (Tracy, R-Quincy; Clayborne, D- E. St. Louis) amends the “continuance under supervision” section (Section 615) to track the procedure followed in adult criminal court. It does the following: (1) Leaves current law so that a case may be continued under supervision before a finding of delinquency with the approval of the state’s attorney. (2) Amends § 615 to allow the court to continue case under supervision after a finding of delinquency. It adds the same criteria from the supervision statute in the Criminal Code that the judge must consider before ordering supervision. Regardless of when this happens, current law is retained that prohibits a case from being continued under supervision for any forcible felony, a Class X felony, and first-degree murder.

Passed both houses; effective January 1, 2014.

Raising the age of juvenile court. House Bill 2404 (Currie, D-Chicago; Steans, D-Chicago) raises the age of jurisdiction for juvenile court from 17 to 18 for most felony offenses. The jurisdictional age for most misdemeanor offenses was raised from 17 to 18 several years ago.

Drop date August 10, 2013; effective January 1, 2014.

Business records. Senate Bill 1968 (Barickman, R-Bloomington; Brady, R-Bloomington) amends the business records’ section of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It allows a court to permit live foundational testimony of business records as evidence in open court by contemporaneous audio and video transmission from outside Illinois. It is limited to offenses under Article 16 or 17 of the Criminal Code. The opposing party is allowed the right to cross-examination during the live foundational testimony and any other appropriate safeguards the court imposes.

Passed both houses; effective January 1, 2014.

E-insurance card. Senate Bill 1775 (Haine, D-Alton; Smith, D-Chicago) and House Bill 3139 (Smith, D-Chicago; Haine, D-Alton) both allow a driver to show proof of insurance via a mobile electronic device as opposed to being limited to a paper insurance card.

Passed both houses; effective immediately.

Recorded interrogations. Senate Bill 1006 (Raoul, D-Chicago; Drury, D-Highland Park) expands the offenses in which a suspect’s statement is presumed to be inadmissible unless there is an electronic recording made of the custodial interrogation. It also allows prosecutors to record and use a statement of a suspect’s statement during a custodial interrogation if the statement was given at a time when the interrogators were unaware of facts and circumstances that would create probable cause to believe that the suspect committed a crime required to be recorded.

Passed both houses; effective January 1, 2014.

Concealed carry. House Bill 183 (Phelps, D-Harrisburg; Forby, D-Benton) authorizes Illinois residents to carry a concealed weapon in public after licensing and 16 hours of training. It is banned in some public places, such as on public transit, public gatherings, schools, amusement parks, parks and playgrounds, universities and colleges, state and federal buildings, sporting events, and residential mental-health facilities. It is also banned from any establishment in which more than half of their sales come from alcohol. It preempts any ordinance by a unit of local government that is inconsistent with this Act on the regulation, licensing, possession, registration and transportation of handguns and their ammunition. Any ordinance regulating the possession or ownership of assault weapons that is inconsistent with this Act is invalid unless the ordinance is enacted on or within 10 days of the effective date of this Act.

Drop date August 3, 2013; effective immediately.

No more felony prostitution. Senate Bill 1872 (Mulroe, D-Chicago; Zalewski, D-Chicago) repeals the current enhancements for prostitution so that it is always a Class A misdemeanor. It allows a defendant charged with prostitution to be admitted into mental-health program as part of the Mental Health Court Treatment Act.

Passed both houses; effective immediately.

Reporting of sex crimes. House Bill 804 (McAsey, D-Lockport; Silverstein, D-Chicago) expands predatory criminal sexual assault of a child if that person commits “an act of contact, however slight between the sex organ or anus of one person and the part of the body of another, and the accused is 17 years of age or older and the victim is under 13 years of age.” House Bill 804 also makes it a Class A misdemeanor for a person to personally observe sexual abuse of a child under the age of 13 and fail to report it to law enforcement or under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act.

Passed both houses; effective January 1, 2014.

Drone surveillance. Senate Bill 1587 (Biss, D-Skokie; Williams, D-Chicago) presumes information to be inadmissible if gathered from drone surveillance that doesn’t comply with this new Act. It requires the law enforcement to get a search warrant under § 5/108-3 unless it meets one of the four exceptions, such as to counter a high risk of terrorism or to locate missing persons.

Passed both houses; effective January 1, 2014.

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Chris Bonjean

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