97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB1609

 

Introduced , by Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
750 ILCS 5/606  from Ch. 40, par. 606

    Amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Provides that in a hearing to determine custody, a false allegation that the child who is the subject of the hearing is an abused child, within the meaning of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, operates as an absolute bar to a parent's right to make decisions regarding the child's upbringing. Defines "false allegation". Provides that the failure to report alleged abuse contemporaneously with the alleged abuse to local law enforcement officials or the Department of Children and Family Services shall be deemed conclusive evidence of the falsity of the claim. Provides that a parent barred from making decisions regarding the child's upbringing is entitled to reasonable parenting time, not inconsistent with protecting the child. Provides that a second false allegation by the same parent operates to permanently bar parenting time with the child.


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A BILL FOR

 

HB1609LRB097 08472 AJO 48599 b

1    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of
5Marriage Act is amended by changing Section 606 as follows:
 
6    (750 ILCS 5/606)  (from Ch. 40, par. 606)
7    Sec. 606. Hearings.
8    (a) Custody proceedings shall receive priority in being set
9for hearing.
10    (b) The court may tax as costs the payment of necessary
11travel and other expenses incurred by any person whose presence
12at the hearing the court deems necessary to determine the best
13interest of the child.
14    (c) The court, without a jury, shall determine questions of
15law and fact. If it finds that a public hearing may be
16detrimental to the child's best interest, the court may exclude
17the public from a custody hearing, but may admit any person who
18has a direct and legitimate interest in the particular case or
19a legitimate educational or research interest in the work of
20the court.
21    (d) If the court finds it necessary, in order to protect
22the child's welfare, that the record of any interview, report,
23investigation, or testimony in a custody proceeding be kept

 

 

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1secret, the court may make an appropriate order sealing the
2record.
3    (e) Previous statements made by the child relating to any
4allegations that the child is an abused or neglected child
5within the meaning of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting
6Act, or an abused or neglected minor within the meaning of the
7Juvenile Court Act of 1987, shall be admissible in evidence in
8a hearing concerning custody of or visitation with the child.
9No such statement, however, if uncorroborated and not subject
10to cross-examination, shall be sufficient in itself to support
11a finding of abuse or neglect.
12    (f) False allegations that the child is an abused or
13neglected child within the meaning of the Abused and Neglected
14Child Reporting Act, in a proceeding to determine custody,
15shall operate as an absolute bar to a parent's right to make
16decisions regarding the child's upbringing, including but not
17limited to the child's education, religious training, and
18medical treatment. For the purpose of this Section, a "false
19allegation" is one that is either known to be false or that a
20reasonable person should have known to be false. "False
21allegation" includes, but is not limited to, a finding by the
22Department of Children and Family Services that the alleged
23abuse was "not substantiated", or any disposition under a lower
24standard of evidence (such as "unfounded", or "closed without
25investigation"). The failure to report the alleged abuse
26contemporaneously with the act alleged to local law enforcement

 

 

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1officials or the Department of Children and Family Services
2shall be deemed conclusive evidence of the falsity of the claim
3so made. A parent barred under this subsection from making
4decisions regarding the child's upbringing, shall nonetheless
5be entitled to reasonable parenting time not inconsistent with
6protecting the child from further false abuse allegations, the
7terms of which shall be defined with specificity by the court
8along with procedures to prevent further false reports. A
9second false allegation as defined, notwithstanding the
10court's protective procedures, by the same parent, shall
11operate to permanently bar parenting time with the child so
12involved by that parent, in addition to the previous sanctions
13imposed.
14(Source: P.A. 87-1081.)