State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Public Acts

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Public Act 91-0429

HB1164 Enrolled                                LRB9102474RCks

    AN ACT in relation to probation officers.

    Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section  5.   The Probation and Probation Officers Act is
amended by changing Section 10 as follows:

    (730 ILCS 110/10) (from Ch. 38, par. 204-2)
    Sec. 10. Before entering upon the duties of  his  or  her
office, each probation officer shall take and subscribe to an
oath  before  the  Chief  Judge  county  clerk  of his or her
circuit  or  his  or  her  designee  county  to  support  the
constitution and laws of the United States and of  the  State
of  Illinois,  and faithfully to perform the duties of his or
her office.
(Source: P.A. 84-692.)

    Section 10.  The Adoption  Act  is  amended  by  changing
Section 6 as follows:

    (750 ILCS 50/6) (from Ch. 40, par. 1508)
    Sec.  6.  A.  Investigation;  all  cases.  Within 10 days
after the filing of a petition for the adoption  of  a  child
other  than  a related child, the court shall appoint a child
welfare agency approved by the  Department  of  Children  and
Family  Services  or  a probation officer of the court, or in
Cook County the Court Services Division of  the  Cook  County
Department  of  Public Aid, or the Department of Children and
Family Services if the court determines that no child welfare
agency is available or that  the  petitioner  is  financially
unable   to   pay   for  the  investigation,  to  investigate
accurately, fully and promptly, the allegations contained  in
the  petition;  the character, reputation, health and general
standing in the community of the petitioners;  the  religious
faith  of the petitioners and, if ascertainable, of the child
sought to be adopted; and whether the petitioners are  proper
persons  to adopt the child and whether the child is a proper
subject of adoption. The investigation  required  under  this
Section  shall  include  a  criminal  background check with a
review of fingerprints by State and federal authorities.  The
criminal background check  required  by  this  Section  shall
include  a  listing  of  when, where and by whom the criminal
background check was prepared.  The criminal background check
required by this Section shall not be  more  than  two  years
old.
    Neither  a  clerk  of  the  circuit court nor a judge may
require that  a  criminal  background  check  or  fingerprint
review  be  filed  with,  or  at the same time as, an initial
petition for adoption.
    B.  Investigation; foreign-born child.  In the case of  a
child  born outside the United States or a territory thereof,
in addition to the investigation  required  under  subsection
(A)  of this Section, a post-placement investigation shall be
conducted in accordance with the requirements  of  the  Child
Care  Act of 1969, the Interstate Compact on the Placement of
Children, and regulations of the foreign placing  agency  and
the supervising agency.
    The  requirements of a post-placement investigation shall
be deemed to have been satisfied if a valid  final  order  or
judgment of adoption has been entered by a court of competent
jurisdiction  in  a country other than the United States or a
territory  thereof  with  respect  to  such  child  and   the
petitioners.
    C.  Report  of  investigation.  The court shall determine
whether the costs of the investigation shall  be  charged  to
the petitioners. The information obtained as a result of such
investigation  shall  be  presented to the court in a written
report. The results of the criminal background check required
under subsection (A) shall be provided to the court  for  its
review.    The  court  may,  in  its  discretion,  weigh  the
significance of the results of the criminal background  check
against  the  entirety  of the background of the petitioners.
The Court, in its discretion, may accept the  report  of  the
investigation  previously  made  by  a licensed child welfare
agency, if made within one year prior to  the  entry  of  the
judgment.  Such  report  shall be treated as confidential and
withheld from  inspection  unless  findings  adverse  to  the
petitioners  or  to  the  child  sought  to  be  adopted  are
contained  therein,  and in that event the court shall inform
the petitioners of the relevant portions  pertaining  to  the
adverse  findings.  In  no event shall any facts set forth in
the report be considered at the hearing  of  the  proceeding,
unless established by competent evidence. The report shall be
filed  with  the  record  of  the  proceeding.   If  the file
relating to the proceeding is not impounded, the report shall
be impounded by the clerk of the  court  and  shall  be  made
available for inspection only upon order of the court.
    D.  Related  adoption.  Such  investigation  shall not be
made when the petition seeks to adopt a related child  or  an
adult unless the court, in its discretion, shall so order. In
such an event the court may appoint a person deemed competent
by the court.
(Source: P.A. 87-1129; 88-148.)

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