SB1829sam002 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. John J. Cullerton

Filed: 4/11/2005

09400SB1829sam002 LRB094 11234 RLC 44813 a

AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1829

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1829, AS AMENDED, by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

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

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

Sec. 3-3-3. Eligibility for Parole or Release.

(a) Except for those offenders who accept the fixed release date established by the Prisoner Review Board under Section 3-3-2.1, every person serving a term of imprisonment under the law in effect prior to the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1977 shall be eligible for parole when he has served:

(1) the minimum term of an indeterminate sentence less time credit for good behavior, or 20 years less time credit for good behavior, whichever is less; or

(2) 20 years of a life sentence less time credit for good behavior; or

(3) 20 years or one-third of a determinate sentence, whichever is less, less time credit for good behavior.

(b) No person sentenced under this amendatory Act of 1977 or who accepts a release date under Section 3-3-2.1 shall be eligible for parole.

(c) Except for those sentenced to a term of natural life imprisonment, every person sentenced to imprisonment under this amendatory Act of 1977 or given a release date under Section 3-3-2.1 of this Act shall serve the full term of a determinate sentence less time credit for good behavior and shall then be released under the mandatory supervised release provisions of paragraph (d) of Section 5-8-1 of this Code.

(d) No person serving a term of natural life imprisonment may be paroled or released except through executive clemency.

(e) Every person committed to the Juvenile Division under Section 5-10 of the Juvenile Court Act or Section 5-750 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 or Section 5-8-6 of this Code and confined in the State correctional institutions or facilities if such juvenile has not been tried as an adult shall be eligible for parole without regard to the length of time the person has been confined or whether the person has served any minimum term imposed. However, if a juvenile has been tried as an adult he shall only be eligible for parole or mandatory supervised release as an adult under this Section.

(f) Medical parole.

(1) Legislative purpose. Medical parole is made available in consideration of the fiscal costs of treating seriously ill prisoners within facilities maintained by the Department of Corrections.

(2) Application for benefits by persons on medical parole.

(A) If a person has been released on medical parole pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subsection (f) and applies for public assistance, including without limitation medical assistance under any program funded in whole or in part by the federal government, the Department of Corrections shall forward the application for assistance to the Department of Human Services and advise the Prisoner Review Board of the application.

(B) The Department of Human Services shall, within 60 days after receipt of a medical parole application for assistance, determine the eligibility of the person for any program for which he or she may be eligible, including without limitation any medical assistance which is funded in whole or in part by the federal government.

(C) For a person who is released on medical parole and who is in need of public assistance, including without limitation medical assistance, the Department of Human Services shall be responsible for the administrative costs of the initial and any subsequent eligibility determination and for the costs of any public assistance, including medical assistance, following a person's release on medical parole for as long as the person is eligible for such assistance.

(3) Medical parole. A prisoner committed to the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections, except those prisoners subject to subsection (d), may be eligible for medical parole under the following circumstances:

(A) If the Department of Corrections makes a recommendation to, or the prisoner makes application to, the Prisoner Review Board with supporting medical evidence which includes a statement from a licensed physician certifying one of the following:

(i) The prisoner suffers from a serious illness or serious disease which at the time of the application or recommendation has permanently physically incapacitated the prisoner. "Permanently physically incapacitated" for this purpose means suffering from a condition caused by injury, disease, illness, old age, or other similar causes which, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, permanently and irreversibly physically incapacitates the prisoner to the extent that the prisoner is confined to bed or a wheelchair or otherwise unable to perform any degree of personal care or other similar activities of daily living without assistance; or

(ii) The prisoner is terminally ill and is expected, with a reasonable degree of medical certainty, to die within the following 6 months. "Terminally ill" for this purpose means suffering from a condition caused by injury (except self-inflicted injury), disease, or illness which to a reasonable degree of medical certainty will result in death within 6 months.

(B) After reviewing the recommendation, the Prisoner Review Board, acting through a panel of at least 3 members, shall determine all of the following:

(i) whether the prisoner is eligible for medical parole under subparagraph (A); and

(ii) whether the prisoner can be released without detriment to the community or to the prisoner.

(C) Prior to making a determination under subparagraph (B), the Prisoner Review Board shall consider the nature of the crime of which the prisoner was convicted, the length of the sentence, the likelihood that the prisoner will commit another crime, and the impact on the victim of the crime should the prisoner be released on medical parole. The Prisoner Review Board and the Department of Corrections shall provide a report from the Director which shall contain, at a minimum: (i) a medical assessment from the treating physician or physicians regarding the prisoner's condition, including a diagnosis and related medical history, a description of the condition and treatment thereof, a prognosis, including life expectancy, likelihood of recovery, likelihood of improvement, rate of debilitation, degree of incapacity, including an assessment of whether the prisoner is ambulatory, capable of engaging in any substantial physical activity, and the extent of that activity; (ii) a statement by the Department's Medical Director as to whether he or she agrees that the prisoner is terminally ill or permanently physically incapacitated within the meaning of paragraph (3) of this subsection (f); (iii) a recommendation as to the medical treatment which the prisoner would require were he or she to be granted medical parole; and (iv) any security concerns which the Director believes should be considered by the Prisoner Review Board, including the prisoner's disciplinary history and conduct in prison. The Prisoner Review Board may also request of the Department of Corrections that a medical examination of the prisoner be conducted.

(D) If the Prisoner Review Board orders the prisoner released on medical parole, the Prisoner Review Board, in cooperation with the Department of Corrections, shall determine the level of appropriate supervision in accordance with the provisions of this Code, including but not limited to Sections 3-3-7, 3-14-2, and 5-8A-4. At a minimum, such supervision shall include electronic monitoring or other similar means for ensuring that the person's movement shall be limited to what is necessary for obtaining appropriate medical treatment. In addition to any other terms and conditions of medical parole, supervision of a person on medical parole shall consist of periodic medical evaluations at intervals to be determined by the Prisoner Review Board at the time of release. A person on medical parole who violates his or her conditions of parole is subject to the same disciplinary procedures and penalties as other non-medical parolees, up to and including re-incarceration for the remainder of his or her sentence.

(E) After a person is released on medical parole, statutory or other good time shall not reduce the remainder of the person's sentence while the person is on medical parole. The term of parole for a person on medical parole shall equal the remainder of the sentence of the person plus any applicable term of parole or mandatory supervised release.

(F) If the Prisoner Review Board finds a change in circumstances or discovers new information concerning a person who has been released on medical parole, the Prisoner Review Board may rescind the medical parole or revise the previously granted medical parole release date.

(G) The Prisoner Review Board shall issue its decision to release a prisoner on medical parole or deny a prisoner's medical parole or to rescind the medical parole or revise the medical parole release date of the prisoner in writing and provide a basis for the decision. A copy of the decision shall be provided to the prisoner.

(Source: P.A. 90-590, eff. 1-1-99.)".