Full Text of HB4626 98th General Assembly
HB4626 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014 HB4626 Introduced , by Rep. Robert F. Martwick SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
| 705 ILCS 405/2-18 | from Ch. 37, par. 802-18 |
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Amends the Juvenile Court Act of 1987. Provides that proof that a minor has a constellation of injuries is prima facie evidence of abuse. Effective immediately.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning courts.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is amended by | 5 | | changing Section 2-18 as follows: | 6 | | (705 ILCS 405/2-18) (from Ch. 37, par. 802-18) | 7 | | Sec. 2-18. Evidence. | 8 | | (1) At the adjudicatory hearing, the court shall first | 9 | | consider only the
question whether the minor is abused, | 10 | | neglected or dependent. The standard of
proof and the rules of | 11 | | evidence in the nature of civil proceedings in this
State are | 12 | | applicable to proceedings under this Article. If the petition | 13 | | also
seeks the appointment of a guardian of the person with
| 14 | | power to consent to adoption of the minor under Section 2-29, | 15 | | the court may
also consider legally admissible evidence at the | 16 | | adjudicatory hearing that one
or more grounds of unfitness | 17 | | exists under subdivision D of Section 1 of the
Adoption Act. | 18 | | (2) In any hearing under this Act, the following shall | 19 | | constitute prima
facie evidence of abuse or neglect, as the | 20 | | case may be: | 21 | | (a) proof that a minor has a medical diagnosis of | 22 | | battered child syndrome
or has a constellation of injuries | 23 | | is prima facie evidence of abuse; |
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| 1 | | (b) proof that a minor has a medical diagnosis of | 2 | | failure to thrive
syndrome is prima facie evidence of | 3 | | neglect; | 4 | | (c) proof that a minor has a medical diagnosis of fetal | 5 | | alcohol syndrome
is prima facie evidence of neglect; | 6 | | (d) proof that a minor has a medical diagnosis at birth | 7 | | of withdrawal
symptoms from narcotics or barbiturates is | 8 | | prima facie evidence of neglect; | 9 | | (e) proof of injuries sustained by a minor or of the | 10 | | condition of a minor
of such a nature as would ordinarily | 11 | | not be sustained or exist except by
reason of the acts or | 12 | | omissions of the parent, custodian or guardian of
such | 13 | | minor shall be prima facie evidence of abuse or neglect, as | 14 | | the case may
be; | 15 | | (f) proof that a parent, custodian or guardian of a | 16 | | minor repeatedly used
a drug, to the extent that it has or | 17 | | would ordinarily have the effect of
producing in the user a | 18 | | substantial state of stupor, unconsciousness,
| 19 | | intoxication, hallucination, disorientation or | 20 | | incompetence, or a
substantial impairment of judgment, or a | 21 | | substantial manifestation of
irrationality, shall be prima | 22 | | facie evidence of neglect; | 23 | | (g) proof that a parent, custodian, or guardian of a | 24 | | minor repeatedly
used a controlled substance, as defined in | 25 | | subsection (f) of Section 102 of the
Illinois Controlled | 26 | | Substances Act, in the presence of the minor or a sibling
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| 1 | | of the minor is prima facie evidence of neglect. "Repeated | 2 | | use", for the
purpose of this subsection, means more than | 3 | | one use of a controlled substance
as defined in subsection | 4 | | (f) of Section 102 of the Illinois Controlled
Substances | 5 | | Act; | 6 | | (h) proof that a newborn infant's blood, urine, or | 7 | | meconium contains any
amount of a controlled substance as | 8 | | defined in subsection (f) of Section 102 of
the Illinois | 9 | | Controlled Substances Act, or a metabolite of a controlled
| 10 | | substance, with the exception of controlled substances or | 11 | | metabolites of those
substances, the presence of which is | 12 | | the result of medical treatment
administered to the mother | 13 | | or the newborn, is prime facie evidence of
neglect; | 14 | | (i) proof that a minor was present in a structure or | 15 | | vehicle in which the minor's parent, custodian, or guardian | 16 | | was involved in the manufacture of methamphetamine | 17 | | constitutes prima facie evidence of abuse and neglect;
| 18 | | (j) proof that a parent, custodian, or guardian of a | 19 | | minor allows, encourages, or requires a minor to perform, | 20 | | offer, or agree to perform any act of sexual penetration as | 21 | | defined in Section 11-0.1 of the Criminal Code of 2012 for | 22 | | any money, property, token, object, or article or anything | 23 | | of value, or any touching or fondling of the sex organs of | 24 | | one person by another person, for any money, property, | 25 | | token, object, or article or anything of value, for the | 26 | | purpose of sexual arousal or gratification, constitutes |
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| 1 | | prima facie evidence of abuse and neglect; | 2 | | (k) proof that a parent, custodian, or guardian of a | 3 | | minor commits or allows to be committed the offense of | 4 | | involuntary servitude, involuntary sexual servitude of a | 5 | | minor, or trafficking in persons as defined in Section 10-9 | 6 | | of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, | 7 | | upon such minor, constitutes prima facie evidence of abuse | 8 | | and neglect. | 9 | | (3) In any hearing under this Act, proof of the abuse, | 10 | | neglect or dependency
of one minor shall be admissible evidence | 11 | | on the issue of the abuse, neglect or
dependency of any other | 12 | | minor for whom the respondent is responsible. | 13 | | (4) (a) Any writing, record, photograph or x-ray of any | 14 | | hospital or public
or private agency, whether in the form of an | 15 | | entry in a book or otherwise,
made as a memorandum or record of | 16 | | any condition, act, transaction, occurrence
or event relating | 17 | | to a minor in an abuse, neglect or
dependency proceeding, shall | 18 | | be
admissible in evidence as proof of that condition, act, | 19 | | transaction, occurrence
or event, if the court finds that the | 20 | | document was made in the regular course
of the business of the | 21 | | hospital or agency and that it was in the regular
course of | 22 | | such business to make it, at the time of the act, transaction,
| 23 | | occurrence or event, or within a reasonable time thereafter. A | 24 | | certification
by the head or responsible employee of the | 25 | | hospital or agency that the writing,
record, photograph or | 26 | | x-ray is the full and complete record of the condition,
act, |
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| 1 | | transaction, occurrence or event and that it satisfies the | 2 | | conditions
of this paragraph shall be prima facie evidence of | 3 | | the facts contained in
such certification. A certification by | 4 | | someone other than the head of the
hospital or agency shall be | 5 | | accompanied by a photocopy of a delegation of
authority signed | 6 | | by both the head of the hospital or agency and by such
other | 7 | | employee. All other circumstances of the making of the | 8 | | memorandum,
record, photograph or x-ray, including lack of | 9 | | personal knowledge of the
maker, may be proved to affect the | 10 | | weight to be accorded such evidence,
but shall not affect its | 11 | | admissibility. | 12 | | (b) Any indicated report filed pursuant to the Abused and | 13 | | Neglected Child
Reporting Act shall be admissible in evidence. | 14 | | (c) Previous statements made by the minor relating to any | 15 | | allegations
of abuse or neglect shall be admissible in | 16 | | evidence. However, no such
statement, if uncorroborated and not | 17 | | subject to cross-examination, shall be
sufficient in itself to | 18 | | support a finding of abuse or neglect. | 19 | | (d) There shall be a rebuttable presumption that a minor is | 20 | | competent
to testify in abuse or neglect proceedings. The court | 21 | | shall determine how
much weight to give to the minor's | 22 | | testimony, and may allow the minor to
testify in chambers with | 23 | | only the court, the court reporter and attorneys
for the | 24 | | parties present. | 25 | | (e) The privileged character of communication between any | 26 | | professional
person and patient or client, except privilege |
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| 1 | | between attorney and client,
shall not apply to proceedings | 2 | | subject to this Article. | 3 | | (f) Proof of the impairment of emotional health or | 4 | | impairment of mental
or emotional condition as a result of the | 5 | | failure of the respondent to exercise
a minimum degree of care | 6 | | toward a minor may include competent opinion or
expert | 7 | | testimony, and may include proof that such impairment lessened | 8 | | during
a period when the minor was in the care, custody or | 9 | | supervision of a person
or agency other than the respondent. | 10 | | (5) In any hearing under this Act alleging neglect for | 11 | | failure to
provide education as required by law under | 12 | | subsection (1) of Section 2-3,
proof that a minor under 13 | 13 | | years of age who is subject to compulsory
school attendance | 14 | | under the School Code is a chronic truant as defined
under the | 15 | | School Code shall be prima facie evidence of neglect by the
| 16 | | parent or guardian in any hearing under this Act and proof that | 17 | | a minor who
is 13 years of age or older who is subject to | 18 | | compulsory school attendance
under the School Code is a chronic | 19 | | truant shall raise a rebuttable
presumption of neglect by the | 20 | | parent or guardian. This subsection (5)
shall not apply in | 21 | | counties with 2,000,000 or more inhabitants. | 22 | | (6) In any hearing under this Act, the court may take | 23 | | judicial notice of
prior sworn testimony or evidence admitted | 24 | | in prior proceedings involving
the same minor if (a) the | 25 | | parties were either represented by counsel at such
prior | 26 | | proceedings or the right to counsel was knowingly waived and |
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| 1 | | (b) the
taking of judicial notice would not result in admitting | 2 | | hearsay evidence at a
hearing where it would otherwise be | 3 | | prohibited. | 4 | | (Source: P.A. 96-1464, eff. 8-20-10; 97-897, eff. 1-1-13; | 5 | | 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)
| 6 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 7 | | becoming law.
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