Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SB1808
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Full Text of SB1808  93rd General Assembly

SB1808 93rd General Assembly


093_SB1808

 
                                     LRB093 10649 RLC 10969 b

 1        AN ACT in relation to criminal law.

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

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

 6        (730 ILCS 5/3-3-13) (from Ch. 38, par. 1003-3-13)
 7        Sec. 3-3-13.  Procedure for Executive Clemency.
 8        (a)  Petitions seeking pardon, commutation,  or  reprieve
 9    shall  be  addressed  to  the  Governor  and  filed  with the
10    Prisoner Review Board.  The petition shall be in writing  and
11    signed  by  the person under conviction or by a person on his
12    behalf. It shall contain a brief history  of  the  case,  the
13    reasons  for  seeking  executive clemency, and other relevant
14    information the Board may require.
15        (a-5)  After a petition has been denied by the  Governor,
16    the  Board  may  not  accept  a repeat petition for executive
17    clemency for the same person until one full year has  elapsed
18    from  the  date of the denial.  The Chairman of the Board may
19    waive the one-year requirement if the  petitioner  offers  in
20    writing   new   information   that  was  unavailable  to  the
21    petitioner at the time of the filing of  the  prior  petition
22    and  which  the  Chairman  determines to be significant.  The
23    Chairman also may waive the one-year waiting  period  if  the
24    petitioner  can  show  that  a  change  in circumstances of a
25    compelling humanitarian nature has arisen since the denial of
26    the prior petition.
27        (b)  Notice of the proposed application shall be given by
28    the Board to the committing court and the state's attorney of
29    the county where the conviction was had.
30        (c)  The Board shall, if requested and upon  due  notice,
31    give  a  hearing to each application, allowing representation
 
                            -2-      LRB093 10649 RLC 10969 b
 1    by counsel, if desired, after which it  shall  confidentially
 2    advise   the   Governor   by   a   written   report   of  its
 3    recommendations which shall be determined by  majority  vote.
 4    The  written report shall be a public record. The Board shall
 5    meet to consider such petitions no less  than  4  times  each
 6    year.
 7        Application for executive clemency under this Section may
 8    not be commenced on behalf of a person who has been sentenced
 9    to death without the written consent of the defendant, unless
10    the  defendant, because of a mental or physical condition, is
11    incapable of asserting his or her own claim.
12        (d)  The  Governor  shall  decide  each  application  and
13    communicate his decision to the Board which shall notify  the
14    petitioner.
15        In  the  event  a  petitioner who has been convicted of a
16    Class X felony is granted a release, after the  Governor  has
17    communicated such decision to the Board, the Board shall give
18    written  notice  to  the Sheriff of the county from which the
19    offender was sentenced if such  sheriff  has  requested  that
20    such  notice  be  given on a continuing basis. In cases where
21    arrest of the offender or the commission of the offense  took
22    place  in  any  municipality  with  a population of more than
23    10,000 persons, the Board shall also give written  notice  to
24    the proper law enforcement agency for said municipality which
25    has requested notice on a continuing basis.
26        (e)  Nothing  in this Section shall be construed to limit
27    the power of the Governor under the constitution to  grant  a
28    reprieve, commutation of sentence, or pardon.
29    (Source: P.A. 89-112, eff. 7-7-95; 89-684, eff. 6-1-97.)

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