102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB4790

 

Introduced 1/27/2022, by Rep. Deb Conroy

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
55 ILCS 5/3-9005  from Ch. 34, par. 3-9005
55 ILCS 5/5-1069.3
215 ILCS 5/356z.53 new

    Amends the Counties Code. Removes a provision limiting a special investigator appointed by a State's Attorney to carrying a firearm only in the performance of the special investigators assigned duties (currently, a special investigator shall not carry firearms except with permission of the State's Attorney and only while carrying appropriate identification indicating the special investigator's employment and in the performance of the special investigator's assigned duties). Provides that a State's Attorney shall require annual mental health wellness checks for each special investigator appointed. Provides that the annual mental health wellness checks for special investigators shall be provided through the health insurance provided to State's Attorney employees at no cost to the county or State's Attorney's office. Further amends the Counties Code and amends the Illinois Insurance Code making conforming changes.


LRB102 25205 AWJ 34474 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB4790LRB102 25205 AWJ 34474 b

1    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing
5Sections 3-9005 and 5-1069.3 as follows:
 
6    (55 ILCS 5/3-9005)  (from Ch. 34, par. 3-9005)
7    Sec. 3-9005. Powers and duties of State's Attorney.
8    (a) The duty of each State's Attorney shall be:
9        (1) To commence and prosecute all actions, suits,
10    indictments and prosecutions, civil and criminal, in the
11    circuit court for the county, in which the people of the
12    State or county may be concerned.
13        (2) To prosecute all forfeited bonds and
14    recognizances, and all actions and proceedings for the
15    recovery of debts, revenues, moneys, fines, penalties and
16    forfeitures accruing to the State or the county, or to any
17    school district or road district in the county; also, to
18    prosecute all suits in the county against railroad or
19    transportation companies, which may be prosecuted in the
20    name of the People of the State of Illinois.
21        (3) To commence and prosecute all actions and
22    proceedings brought by any county officer in the county
23    officer's official capacity.

 

 

HB4790- 2 -LRB102 25205 AWJ 34474 b

1        (4) To defend all actions and proceedings brought
2    against the county, or against any county or State
3    officer, in the county or State officer's official
4    capacity, within the county.
5        (5) To attend the examination of all persons brought
6    before any judge on habeas corpus, when the prosecution is
7    in the county.
8        (6) To attend before judges and prosecute charges of
9    felony or misdemeanor, for which the offender is required
10    to be recognized to appear before the circuit court, when
11    in the State's Attorney's power so to do.
12        (7) To give the State's Attorney's opinion, without
13    fee or reward, to any county officer in the county, upon
14    any question or law relating to any criminal or other
15    matter, in which the people or the county may be
16    concerned.
17        (8) To assist the Attorney General whenever it may be
18    necessary, and in cases of appeal from the county to the
19    Supreme Court, to which it is the duty of the Attorney
20    General to attend, the State's Attorney shall furnish the
21    Attorney General at least 10 days before such is due to be
22    filed, a manuscript of a proposed statement, brief and
23    argument to be printed and filed on behalf of the people,
24    prepared in accordance with the rules of the Supreme
25    Court. However, if such brief, argument or other document
26    is due to be filed by law or order of court within this

 

 

HB4790- 3 -LRB102 25205 AWJ 34474 b

1    10-day period, then the State's Attorney shall furnish
2    such as soon as may be reasonable.
3        (9) To pay all moneys received by the State's Attorney
4    in trust, without delay, to the officer who by law is
5    entitled to the custody thereof.
6        (10) To notify, by first class mail, complaining
7    witnesses of the ultimate disposition of the cases arising
8    from an indictment or an information.
9        (11) To perform such other and further duties as may,
10    from time to time, be enjoined on the State's Attorney by
11    law.
12        (12) To appear in all proceedings by collectors of
13    taxes against delinquent taxpayers for judgments to sell
14    real estate, and see that all the necessary preliminary
15    steps have been legally taken to make the judgment legal
16    and binding.
17        (13) To notify, by first-class mail, the State
18    Superintendent of Education, the applicable regional
19    superintendent of schools, and the superintendent of the
20    employing school district or the chief school
21    administrator of the employing nonpublic school, if any,
22    upon the conviction of any individual known to possess a
23    certificate or license issued pursuant to Article 21 or
24    21B, respectively, of the School Code of any offense set
25    forth in Section 21B-80 of the School Code or any other
26    felony conviction, providing the name of the certificate

 

 

HB4790- 4 -LRB102 25205 AWJ 34474 b

1    holder, the fact of the conviction, and the name and
2    location of the court where the conviction occurred. The
3    certificate holder must also be contemporaneously sent a
4    copy of the notice.
5    (b) The State's Attorney of each county shall have
6authority to appoint one or more special investigators to
7serve subpoenas and summonses, make return of process, and
8conduct investigations which assist the State's Attorney in
9the performance of the State's Attorney duties. In counties of
10the first and second class, the fees for service of subpoenas
11and summonses are allowed by this Section and shall be
12consistent with those set forth in Section 4-5001 of this Act,
13except when increased by county ordinance as provided for in
14Section 4-5001. In counties of the third class, the fees for
15service of subpoenas and summonses are allowed by this Section
16and shall be consistent with those set forth in Section
174-12001 of this Act. A special investigator shall not carry
18firearms except with permission of the State's Attorney and
19only while carrying appropriate identification indicating the
20special investigator's employment and in the performance of
21the special investigator's assigned duties.
22    Subject to the qualifications set forth in this
23subsection, special investigators shall be peace officers and
24shall have all the powers possessed by investigators under the
25State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor's Act.
26    No special investigator employed by the State's Attorney

 

 

HB4790- 5 -LRB102 25205 AWJ 34474 b

1shall have peace officer status or exercise police powers
2unless the special investigator successfully completes the
3basic police training course mandated and approved by the
4Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board or such
5board waives the training requirement by reason of the special
6investigator's prior law enforcement experience or training or
7both. Any State's Attorney appointing a special investigator
8shall consult with all affected local police agencies, to the
9extent consistent with the public interest, if the special
10investigator is assigned to areas within that agency's
11jurisdiction.
12    Before a person is appointed as a special investigator,
13the person's fingerprints shall be taken and transmitted to
14the Department of State Police. The Department shall examine
15its records and submit to the State's Attorney of the county in
16which the investigator seeks appointment any conviction
17information concerning the person on file with the Department.
18No person shall be appointed as a special investigator if the
19person has been convicted of a felony or other offense
20involving moral turpitude. A special investigator shall be
21paid a salary and be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred
22in performing the special investigator's assigned duties. The
23county board shall approve the salary and actual expenses and
24appropriate the salary and expenses in the manner prescribed
25by law or ordinance.
26    A State's Attorney shall require annual mental health

 

 

HB4790- 6 -LRB102 25205 AWJ 34474 b

1wellness checks for each special investigator appointed. The
2annual mental health wellness checks for special investigators
3shall be provided through the health insurance provided to
4State's Attorney employees at no cost to the county or State's
5Attorney's office.
6    (c) The State's Attorney may request and receive from
7employers, labor unions, telephone companies, and utility
8companies location information concerning putative fathers and
9noncustodial parents for the purpose of establishing a child's
10paternity or establishing, enforcing, or modifying a child
11support obligation. In this subsection, "location information"
12means information about (i) the physical whereabouts of a
13putative father or noncustodial parent, (ii) the putative
14father or noncustodial parent's employer, or (iii) the salary,
15wages, and other compensation paid and the health insurance
16coverage provided to the putative father or noncustodial
17parent by the employer of the putative father or noncustodial
18parent or by a labor union of which the putative father or
19noncustodial parent is a member.
20    (d) (Blank).
21    (e) The State's Attorney shall have the authority to enter
22into a written agreement with the Department of Revenue for
23pursuit of civil liability under subsection (E) of Section
2417-1 of the Criminal Code of 2012 against persons who have
25issued to the Department checks or other orders in violation
26of the provisions of paragraph (1) of subsection (B) of

 

 

HB4790- 7 -LRB102 25205 AWJ 34474 b

1Section 17-1 of the Criminal Code of 2012, with the Department
2to retain the amount owing upon the dishonored check or order
3along with the dishonored check fee imposed under the Uniform
4Penalty and Interest Act, with the balance of damages, fees,
5and costs collected under subsection (E) of Section 17-1 of
6the Criminal Code of 2012 or under Section 17-1a of that Code
7to be retained by the State's Attorney. The agreement shall
8not affect the allocation of fines and costs imposed in any
9criminal prosecution.
10    (f) In a county with less than 2,000,000 inhabitants, and
11only upon receipt of a written request by the superintendent
12of the county Veterans Assistance Commission for the county in
13which the State's Attorney is located, the State's Attorney
14shall have the discretionary authority to render an opinion,
15without fee or reward, upon any question of law relating to a
16matter in which the county Veterans Assistance Commission may
17be concerned. The State's Attorney shall have the discretion
18to grant or decline such a request.
19(Source: P.A. 101-275, eff. 8-9-19; 102-56, eff. 7-9-21.)
 
20    (55 ILCS 5/5-1069.3)
21    Sec. 5-1069.3. Required health benefits. If a county,
22including a home rule county, is a self-insurer for purposes
23of providing health insurance coverage for its employees, the
24coverage shall include coverage for the post-mastectomy care
25benefits required to be covered by a policy of accident and

 

 

HB4790- 8 -LRB102 25205 AWJ 34474 b

1health insurance under Section 356t and the coverage required
2under Sections 356g, 356g.5, 356g.5-1, 356q, 356u, 356w, 356x,
3356z.6, 356z.8, 356z.9, 356z.10, 356z.11, 356z.12, 356z.13,
4356z.14, 356z.15, 356z.22, 356z.25, 356z.26, 356z.29,
5356z.30a, 356z.32, 356z.33, 356z.36, 356z.40, 356z.41,
6356z.45, 356z.46, 356z.47, 356z.48, 356z.51, and 356z.53 and
7356z.43 of the Illinois Insurance Code. The coverage shall
8comply with Sections 155.22a, 355b, 356z.19, and 370c of the
9Illinois Insurance Code. The Department of Insurance shall
10enforce the requirements of this Section. The requirement that
11health benefits be covered as provided in this Section is an
12exclusive power and function of the State and is a denial and
13limitation under Article VII, Section 6, subsection (h) of the
14Illinois Constitution. A home rule county to which this
15Section applies must comply with every provision of this
16Section.
17    Rulemaking authority to implement Public Act 95-1045, if
18any, is conditioned on the rules being adopted in accordance
19with all provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure
20Act and all rules and procedures of the Joint Committee on
21Administrative Rules; any purported rule not so adopted, for
22whatever reason, is unauthorized.
23(Source: P.A. 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-281, eff. 1-1-20;
24101-393, eff. 1-1-20; 101-461, eff. 1-1-20; 101-625, eff.
251-1-21; 102-30, eff. 1-1-22; 102-103, eff. 1-1-22; 102-203,
26eff. 1-1-22; 102-306, eff. 1-1-22; 102-443, eff. 1-1-22;

 

 

HB4790- 9 -LRB102 25205 AWJ 34474 b

1102-642, eff. 1-1-22; 102-665, eff. 10-8-21; revised
210-26-21.)
 
3    Section 10. The Illinois Insurance Code is amended by
4adding Section 356z.53 as follows:
 
5    (215 ILCS 5/356z.53 new)
6    Sec. 356z.53. Coverage for annual mental health wellness
7checks for State's Attorney special investigators. A group or
8individual policy of accident and health insurance (or a
9managed care plan) that is amended, delivered, issued, or
10renewed on or after January 1, 2023 shall provide coverage for
11annual mental health wellness checks for State's Attorney
12special investigators. A policy subject to this Section shall
13not impose a deductible, coinsurance, copayment, or any other
14cost-sharing requirement on the coverage provided and provide
15the coverage at no additional cost to the county or State's
16Attorney's office that provides the insurance for the special
17investigators.