HB5399 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB096 18317 RLC 33692 b

96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
HB5399

Introduced 2/5/2010, by Rep. Constance A. Howard

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

730 ILCS 5/3-3-13

from Ch. 38, par. 1003-3-13

Amends the Unified Code of Corrections relating to executive clemency. Provides that the Governor shall decide each application and communicate his or her decision to the Prisoner Review Board within one year after the hearing by the Board on the petition seeking a pardon, commutation, or reprieve. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning criminal law.

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

Section 5. The Unified Code of Corrections is amended by changing Section 3-3-13 as follows:

(730 ILCS 5/3-3-13) (from Ch. 38, par. 1003-3-13)

Sec. 3-3-13. Procedure for Executive Clemency.

(a) Petitions seeking pardon, commutation, or reprieve shall be addressed to the Governor and filed with the Prisoner Review Board. The petition shall be in writing and signed by the person under conviction or by a person on his behalf. It shall contain a brief history of the case, the reasons for seeking executive clemency, and other relevant information the Board may require.

(a-5) After a petition has been denied by the Governor, the Board may not accept a repeat petition for executive clemency for the same person until one full year has elapsed from the date of the denial. The Chairman of the Board may waive the one-year requirement if the petitioner offers in writing new information that was unavailable to the petitioner at the time of the filing of the prior petition and which the Chairman determines to be significant. The Chairman also may waive the one-year waiting period if the petitioner can show that a change in circumstances of a compelling humanitarian nature has arisen since the denial of the prior petition.

(b) Notice of the proposed application shall be given by the Board to the committing court and the state's attorney of the county where the conviction was had.

(c) The Board shall, if requested and upon due notice, give a hearing to each application, allowing representation by counsel, if desired, after which it shall confidentially advise the Governor by a written report of its recommendations which shall be determined by majority vote. The Board shall meet to consider such petitions no less than 4 times each year.

Application for executive clemency under this Section may not be commenced on behalf of a person who has been sentenced to death without the written consent of the defendant, unless the defendant, because of a mental or physical condition, is incapable of asserting his or her own claim.

(d) The Governor shall decide each application and communicate his decision to the Board within one year after the hearing by the Board on the petition seeking a pardon, commutation, or reprieve. The Board which shall notify the petitioner of the Governor's decision.

In the event a petitioner who has been convicted of a Class X felony is granted a release, after the Governor has communicated such decision to the Board, the Board shall give written notice to the Sheriff of the county from which the offender was sentenced if such sheriff has requested that such notice be given on a continuing basis. In cases where arrest of the offender or the commission of the offense took place in any municipality with a population of more than 10,000 persons, the Board shall also give written notice to the proper law enforcement agency for said municipality which has requested notice on a continuing basis.

(e) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to limit the power of the Governor under the constitution to grant a reprieve, commutation of sentence, or pardon.

(Source: P.A. 89-112, eff. 7-7-95; 89-684, eff. 6-1-97.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.