Rep. Daniel J. Burke

Filed: 4/8/2008

 

 


 

 


 
09500HB2747ham001 LRB095 01002 RLC 48990 a

1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2747

2     AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2747 by replacing
3 the title with the following:
4     "AN ACT concerning corrections, which may be referred to as
5 the Access to Religious Ministry Act of 2008."; and
 
6 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
7 following:
 
8     "Section 5. The County Jail Act is amended by adding
9 Section 26 as follows:
 
10     (730 ILCS 125/26 new)
11     Sec. 26. Detainees in immigration custody; religious
12 worker access to jails.
13     (a) Any county jail in the State of Illinois for which an
14 intergovernmental agreement has been entered into with United
15 States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for detention

 

 

09500HB2747ham001 - 2 - LRB095 01002 RLC 48990 a

1 of immigration related detainees shall be required to provide
2 to religious workers reasonable access to such jail.
3     (b) For purposes of this Section, "reasonable access" means
4 the ability to enter the jail facility to visit with and
5 minister to the spiritual and other needs of individual
6 immigration detainees of their respective faith housed at the
7 jail. Such access shall be at any time during the facility's
8 regular visitation hours and other hours as may be appropriate,
9 and shall be no less than the access provided to religious
10 workers at facilities administered by the Illinois Department
11 of Corrections for detainees in criminal custody. A religious
12 worker seeking access to a jail under this Section shall not be
13 required to provide to the jail administration the name of any
14 particular detainee at the jail in order to gain access. Such
15 religions workers shall have the right to an unlimited number
16 of visits to the jail. Such visits shall not be counted against
17 the visitation time or number of visits to which a detainee is
18 otherwise entitled under the facility's visitation policies.
19     (c) The facility shall have the right to screen individuals
20 seeking access to immigration detainees at the facility under
21 this Act to ensure that such individuals are in fact bona fide
22 clergy, members of religious orders, lay volunteers, or other
23 representatives of established and reputable religious
24 institutions. Such religious workers shall be encouraged but
25 not required to have obtained training in prison ministry from
26 programs similar to that provided by the Archdiocese of Chicago

 

 

09500HB2747ham001 - 3 - LRB095 01002 RLC 48990 a

1 Kolbe House.
2     (d) The provisions of this Section shall apply to any
3 county jail established pursuant to this Act, regardless of
4 whether such jail is administered or operated by the county or
5 by private entities that have contracted with the county.".