Full Text of HB2541 101st General Assembly
HB2541enr 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning criminal law.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | 5 | | Re-Entering Citizens Civics Education Act. | 6 | | Section 5. Definitions. In this Act: | 7 | | "Committed person" means a person committed to the | 8 | | Department. | 9 | | "Commitment" means a judicially determined placement in | 10 | | the custody of the Department of Corrections or the Department | 11 | | of Juvenile Justice on the basis of conviction or delinquency. | 12 | | "Correctional institution or facility" means a Department | 13 | | of Corrections or Department of Juvenile Justice building or | 14 | | part of a Department of Corrections or Department of Juvenile | 15 | | Justice building where committed persons are detained in a | 16 | | secure manner.
| 17 | | "Department" includes the Department of Corrections and | 18 | | the Department of Juvenile Justice, unless the text solely | 19 | | specifies a particular Department. | 20 | | "Detainee" means a committed person in the physical custody | 21 | | of the Department of Corrections or the Department of Juvenile | 22 | | Justice. | 23 | | "Director" includes the Director of the Department of |
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| 1 | | Corrections and the Department of Juvenile Justice unless the | 2 | | text solely specifies a particular Director. | 3 | | "Discharge" means the end of a sentence or the final | 4 | | termination of a detainee's physical commitment to and | 5 | | confinement in the Department of Corrections or Department of | 6 | | Juvenile Justice. | 7 | | "Peer educator" means an incarcerated citizen who is | 8 | | specifically trained in voting rights education, who shall | 9 | | conduct voting and civics education workshops for detainees | 10 | | scheduled for discharge within 12 months. | 11 | | "Program" means the nonpartisan peer education and | 12 | | information instruction established by this Act. | 13 | | "Re-entering citizen" means any United States citizen who | 14 | | is: 17 years of age or older; in the physical custody of the | 15 | | Department of Corrections or Department of Juvenile Justice; | 16 | | and scheduled to be re-entering society within 12 months.
| 17 | | Section 10. Purpose; program.
The Department of | 18 | | Corrections and the Department of Juvenile Justice shall | 19 | | provide a nonpartisan peer-led civics program throughout the | 20 | | correctional institutions of this State to teach civics to | 21 | | soon-to-be released citizens who will be re-entering society. | 22 | | The goal of the program is to promote the successful | 23 | | integration of re-entering citizens, promote democracy, and | 24 | | reduce rates of recidivism within this State. This program | 25 | | shall coincide with and enhance existing laws to ensure that |
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| 1 | | re-entering citizens understand their civic responsibility and | 2 | | know how to secure or regain their right to vote as part of the | 3 | | exit process.
| 4 | | Section 15. Curriculum and eligibility. The civics peer | 5 | | education program shall consist of a rigorous curriculum, and | 6 | | participants shall be instructed on subjects including, but not | 7 | | limited to, voting rights, governmental institutions, current | 8 | | affairs, and simulations of voter registration, election, and | 9 | | democratic processes. Each workshop shall consist of 3 sessions | 10 | | that are 90 minutes each and that do not need to be taken | 11 | | consecutively. The Department must offer re-entering citizens | 12 | | scheduled to be discharged within 12 months with the civics | 13 | | peer education program, and each re-entering citizen must | 14 | | enroll in the program one to 12 months prior to his or her | 15 | | expected date of release. This workshop must be included in the | 16 | | standard exit process. The Department should aim to include | 17 | | this
workshop in conjunction with other pre-release procedures | 18 | | and movements. Delays in a workshop being provided shall not | 19 | | cause delays in discharge. Detainees may not be prevented from | 20 | | attending workshops due to staffing shortages, lockdowns, or to | 21 | | conflicts with family or legal visits, court dates, medical | 22 | | appointments, commissary visits, recreational sessions, | 23 | | dining, work, class, or bathing schedules. In case of conflict | 24 | | or staffing shortages, re-entering citizens must be given full | 25 | | opportunity to attend a workshop at a later time. |
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| 1 | | Section 20. Peer educator training. The civics peer | 2 | | education program shall be taught by peer educators who are | 3 | | citizens incarcerated in Department of Corrections and | 4 | | Department of Juvenile Justice facilities and specially | 5 | | trained by experienced peer educators and established | 6 | | nonpartisan civic organizations. Established nonpartisan civic
| 7 | | organizations may be assisted by area political science or | 8 | | civics educators at colleges,
universities, and high schools | 9 | | and by nonpartisan organizations providing re-entry services. | 10 | | The nonpartisan civic organizations shall provide adequate | 11 | | training to peer educators on matters including, but not | 12 | | limited to, voting rights, governmental institutions, current | 13 | | affairs, and simulations of voter registration, election, and | 14 | | democratic processes, and shall provide periodic updates to | 15 | | program content and to peer educators. | 16 | | Section 25. Voter and civic education program; content. | 17 | | (a) Program content shall provide the following: | 18 | | (1) nonpartisan information on voting history | 19 | | procedures; | 20 | | (2) nonpartisan definitions of local, State, and | 21 | | federal governmental
institutions and offices; and | 22 | | (3) examples and simulations of registration and | 23 | | voting processes. | 24 | | (b) Established nonpartisan civic organizations shall |
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| 1 | | provide periodic updates to program content and, if applicable, | 2 | | peer educators. Updates shall reflect major relevant changes to | 3 | | election laws and processes in Illinois. | 4 | | (c) Program content shall be delivered in the following | 5 | | manners: | 6 | | (1) verbally via peer educators; | 7 | | (2) broadcasts via Department of Corrections and | 8 | | Department of Juvenile Justice internal television | 9 | | channels; or | 10 | | (3) printed information packets. | 11 | | (d) Peer educators shall disseminate printed information | 12 | | for voting in the releasee's county, including, but not limited | 13 | | to, election authorities' addresses, all applicable Internet | 14 | | websites, and public contact information for all election | 15 | | authorities. This information shall be compiled into a civics | 16 | | handbook. The handbook shall also include key information | 17 | | condensed into a pocket information card. | 18 | | (e) This information shall also be compiled electronically | 19 | | and posted on Department of Corrections' website along with the | 20 | | Department of Corrections' Community Support Advisory Councils | 21 | | websites. | 22 | | (f) Department Directors shall ensure that the wardens or | 23 | | superintendents of all correctional institutions and | 24 | | facilities visibly post this information on all common areas of | 25 | | their respective institutions, and shall broadcast the same via | 26 | | in-house institutional information television channels. |
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| 1 | | Directors shall ensure that updated information is distributed | 2 | | in a timely, visible, and accessible manner. | 3 | | (g) The Director of Corrections shall order, in a clearly | 4 | | visible area of each parole office within this State, the | 5 | | posting of a notice stipulating voter eligibility and that | 6 | | contains the current Internet website address and voter | 7 | | registration information provided by State Board of Elections | 8 | | regarding voting rights for citizens released from the custody | 9 | | of the Department. | 10 | | (h) All program content and materials shall be distributed | 11 | | annually to the Community Support Advisory Councils of the | 12 | | Department of Corrections for use in re-entry programs across | 13 | | this State.
| 14 | | Section 30. Power of the Department. The Department of | 15 | | Corrections and the Department of Juvenile Justice shall adopt | 16 | | rules to carry out this Act within 6 months after the effective | 17 | | date of this Act. | 18 | | Section 35. Funding. The funding for the voting rights and | 19 | | registration peer education program shall be subject to | 20 | | appropriation by the General Assembly. The Department may use | 21 | | private or federal funding to administer the program, | 22 | | including, but not limited to, funds from the United States | 23 | | Department of Justice. |
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| 1 | | Section 40. Voter and civic education program monitoring | 2 | | and enforcement.
| 3 | | (a) The Director of Corrections and the Director of | 4 | | Juvenile Justice shall ensure that wardens or superintendents, | 5 | | program, educational, and security and movement staff permit | 6 | | these workshops to take place, and that re-entering citizens | 7 | | are escorted to workshops in a consistent and timely manner. | 8 | | (b) Compliance with this Act shall be monitored by a report | 9 | | published annually by the Department of Corrections and the | 10 | | Department of Juvenile Justice and containing data, including | 11 | | numbers of re-entering citizens who enrolled in the program, | 12 | | numbers of re-entering citizens who completed the program, and | 13 | | total numbers of individuals discharged. Data shall be | 14 | | disaggregated by institution, discharge, or residence address | 15 | | of citizen, and other factors.
| 16 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect on | 17 | | January 1, 2020.
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