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90_HB0777 750 ILCS 5/603 from Ch. 40, par. 603 750 ILCS 5/607 from Ch. 40, par. 607 Amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Provides that the General Assembly finds that the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services entered into a consent decree in Bates v. Johnson, case no. 85-C-10054 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division in which the Department agreed that "reasonable visitation" includes at least one visit per week for parents whose children are in the temporary custody of or under the guardianship of the Department, absent documented harm caused to a child by the visits, and also finds that visitation should occur at least as often for parents whose children are not in the temporary custody of or under the guardianship of the Department. Provides that "reasonable visitation" means at least one visit per week. Sets forth procedures for the granting of temporary visitation rights in a proceeding under the Act. LRB9000872WHdvA LRB9000872WHdvA 1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of 2 Marriage Act by changing Sections 603 and 607. 3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 4 represented in the General Assembly: 5 Section 5. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of 6 Marriage Act is amended by changing Sections 603 and 607 as 7 follows: 8 (750 ILCS 5/603) (from Ch. 40, par. 603) 9 Sec. 603. Temporary Orders. 10 (a) A party to a custody proceeding, including a 11 proceeding to modify custody, may move for a temporary 12 custody order. The court may award temporary custody under 13 the standards of Section 602 and the standards and procedures 14 of Section 602.1, after a hearing, or, if there is no 15 objection, solely on the basis of the affidavits. 16 (b) If a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or legal 17 separation or declaration of invalidity of marriage is 18 dismissed, any temporary custody order is vacated unless a 19 parent or the child's custodian moves that the proceeding 20 continue as a custody proceeding and the court finds, after a 21 hearing, that the circumstances of the parents and the best 22 interest of the child requires that a custody judgment be 23 issued. 24 (c) If a custody proceeding commenced in the absence of 25 a petition for dissolution of marriage or legal separation, 26 under either subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (1), or paragraph 27 (2), of subsection (d) of Section 601, is dismissed, any 28 temporary custody order is vacated. 29 (d) A party may file a petition for temporary visitation 30 rights if a petition for dissolution of marriage has been 31 filed and no temporary order regarding custody and -2- LRB9000872WHdvA 1 visitation has been entered. A petition for temporary 2 visitation shall be heard and decided not later than 5 days 3 after the date it is filed, unless the petitioning party 4 fails to give the other party at least 48 hours notice of the 5 hearing. Unless the court finds, based on evidence 6 presented at the hearing, that granting reasonable 7 visitation to the petitioning party would seriously endanger 8 the child's physical, mental, moral, or emotional health, 9 the court shall grant reasonable visitation rights to the 10 petitioning party on specific days and times set forth in the 11 order. This subsection (d) is intended to provide for the 12 establishment of a visitation schedule as soon as possible 13 after the commencement of a proceeding under this Act 14 without the injection of other issues so that a child's 15 relationship with each parent is not interrupted during the 16 pendency of a proceeding, and the fact that a party has 17 sought temporary visitation rights under this subsection (d) 18 shall not be construed to prejudice the rights of that party 19 at subsequent hearings in the proceeding on any matters 20 pertaining to custody or visitation. The petition for 21 temporary visitation may be filed and heard separately from 22 a petition for temporary relief filed under Section 501 or a 23 petition for temporary custody filed under this Section. An 24 order regarding temporary visitation under this subsection 25 (d) shall expire when a subsequent visitation order is 26 entered in the proceeding, when a final judgment is entered 27 in the proceeding, or when the proceeding is dismissed. 28 (Source: P.A. 86-530; 87-1255.) 29 (750 ILCS 5/607) (from Ch. 40, par. 607) 30 Sec. 607. Visitation. 31 (a) The General Assembly finds that a consent decree was 32 entered in Bates v. Johnson, case no. 85-C-10054 in the U.S. 33 District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern -3- LRB9000872WHdvA 1 Division in which the Illinois Department of Children and 2 Family Services agreed that "reasonable visitation" for 3 parents whose children are in the temporary custody of or 4 under the guardianship of the Department means at least one 5 visit per week, absent documented harm caused to a child by 6 the visits. The General Assembly also finds that reasonable 7 visitation for parents of children who are not in the 8 temporary custody of or under the guardianship of the 9 Illinois Department of Children and Family Services should 10 occur at least as often as for those parents whose children 11 are in the temporary custody of or under the guardianship of 12 the Department. 13 A parent not granted custody of the child is entitled to 14 reasonable visitation rights unless the court finds, after a 15 hearing, that visitation would endanger seriously the child's 16 physical, mental, moral or emotional health. As used in this 17 Section, "reasonable visitation" means at least one visit per 18 week. If the custodian's street address is not identified, 19 pursuant to Section 708, the court shall require the parties 20 to identify reasonable alternative arrangements for 21 visitation by a non-custodial parent, including but not 22 limited to visitation of the minor child at the residence of 23 another person or at a local public or private facility. 24 (b) (1) The court may grant reasonable visitation 25 privileges to a grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling of 26 any minor child upon petition to the court by the 27 grandparents or great-grandparents or on behalf of the 28 sibling, with notice to the parties required to be notified 29 under Section 601 of this Act, if the court determines that 30 it is in the best interests and welfare of the child, and may 31 issue any necessary orders to enforce such visitation 32 privileges. Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this 33 subsection (b), a petition for visitation privileges may be 34 filed under this subsection (b) whether or not a petition -4- LRB9000872WHdvA 1 pursuant to this Act has been previously filed or is 2 currently pending if one or more of the following 3 circumstances exist: 4 (A) the parents are not currently cohabiting on a 5 permanent or an indefinite basis; 6 (B) one of the parents has been absent from the 7 marital abode for more than one month without the spouse 8 knowing his or her whereabouts; 9 (C) one of the parents is deceased; 10 (D) one of the parents joins in the petition with 11 the grandparents, great-grandparents, or sibling; or 12 (E) a sibling is in State custody. 13 (2)(A) A petition for visitation privileges shall not be 14 filed pursuant to this subsection (b) by the parents or 15 grandparents of a putative father if the paternity of the 16 putative father has not been legally established. 17 (B) A petition for visitation privileges may not be 18 filed under this subsection (b) if the child who is the 19 subject of the grandparents' or great-grandparents' petition 20 has been voluntarily surrendered by the parent or parents, 21 except for a surrender to the Illinois Department of Children 22 and Family Services or a foster care facility, or has been 23 previously adopted by an individual or individuals who are 24 not related to the biological parents of the child or is the 25 subject of a pending adoption petition by an individual or 26 individuals who are not related to the biological parents of 27 the child. 28 (3) When one parent is deceased, the surviving parent 29 shall not interfere with the visitation rights of the 30 grandparents. 31 (c) The court may modify an order granting or denying 32 visitation rights whenever modification would serve the best 33 interest of the child; but the court shall not restrict a 34 parent's visitation rights unless it finds that the -5- LRB9000872WHdvA 1 visitation would endanger seriously the child's physical, 2 mental, moral or emotional health. 3 (d) If any court has entered an order prohibiting a 4 non-custodial parent of a child from any contact with a child 5 or restricting the non-custodial parent's contact with the 6 child, the following provisions shall apply: 7 (1) If an order has been entered granting 8 visitation privileges with the child to a grandparent or 9 great-grandparent who is related to the child through the 10 non-custodial parent, the visitation privileges of the 11 grandparent or great-grandparent may be revoked if: 12 (i) a court has entered an order prohibiting 13 the non-custodial parent from any contact with the 14 child, and the grandparent or great-grandparent is 15 found to have used his or her visitation privileges 16 to facilitate contact between the child and the 17 non-custodial parent; or 18 (ii) a court has entered an order restricting 19 the non-custodial parent's contact with the child, 20 and the grandparent or great-grandparent is found to 21 have used his or her visitation privileges to 22 facilitate contact between the child and the 23 non-custodial parent in a manner that violates the 24 terms of the order restricting the non-custodial 25 parent's contact with the child. 26 Nothing in this subdivision (1) limits the authority 27 of the court to enforce its orders in any manner 28 permitted by law. 29 (2) Any order granting visitation privileges with 30 the child to a grandparent or great-grandparent who is 31 related to the child through the non-custodial parent 32 shall contain the following provision: 33 "If the (grandparent or great-grandparent, whichever 34 is applicable) who has been granted visitation privileges -6- LRB9000872WHdvA 1 under this order uses the visitation privileges to 2 facilitate contact between the child and the child's 3 non-custodial parent, the visitation privileges granted 4 under this order shall be permanently revoked." 5 (e) No parent, not granted custody of the child, or 6 grandparent, or great-grandparent, or sibling of any minor 7 child, convicted of any offense involving an illegal sex act 8 perpetrated upon a victim less than 18 years of age including 9 but not limited to offenses for violations of Article 12 of 10 the Criminal Code of 1961, is entitled to visitation rights 11 while incarcerated or while on parole or mandatory supervised 12 release for that offense, and upon discharge from 13 incarceration for a misdemeanor offense or upon discharge 14 from parole or mandatory supervised release for a felony 15 offense, visitation shall be denied until said person 16 successfully completes a treatment program approved by the 17 court. 18 (Source: P.A. 88-23; 88-267; 88-670, eff. 12-2-94; 89-488, 19 eff. 6-21-96.)