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Public Act 100-0384
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| HB2897 Enrolled | LRB100 08902 RLC 19045 b |
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AN ACT concerning criminal law.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Unified Code of Corrections is amended by |
changing Section 3-12-16 as follows:
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(730 ILCS 5/3-12-16)
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Sec. 3-12-16. Helping Paws Service Dog Program.
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(a) In this Section:
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"Person with a disability" means a person who suffers from |
a physical or mental
impairment that substantially
limits one |
or more major life activities.
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"Program" means the Helping Paws Service Dog Program |
created by this
Section.
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"Service dog" means a dog trained in obedience and task |
skills to meet
the
needs of a person with a disability.
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"Animal care professional" means a person certified to work |
in animal
care
related services, such as
grooming, kenneling, |
and any other related fields.
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"Service dog professional" means a person certified to |
train service
dogs
by an agency, organization, or
school |
approved by the Department.
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"Veteran" means an Illinois
resident who is a veteran as |
defined in subsection (h) of
Section 1491 of Title 10 of the |
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United States Code. |
(b) The Department may establish the Helping Paws Service |
Dog Program to
train
committed persons to be
service dog |
trainers and animal care professionals. The Department shall |
select
committed persons in
various correctional institutions |
and facilities to participate in the Program.
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(c) Priority for participation in the Program must be given |
to committed
persons who either have a high school
diploma or |
have passed high school equivalency testing.
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(d) The Department may contract with service dog |
professionals to train
committed persons to be certified
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service dog trainers. Service dog professionals shall train |
committed persons
in
dog obedience training,
service dog |
training, and animal health care. Upon successful completion of |
the
training, a committed
person shall receive certification by |
an agency, organization, or school
approved by the Department.
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(e) The Department may designate a non-profit organization |
to select
animals
from humane societies and
shelters for the |
purpose of being trained as service dogs and for participation
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in any program designed to
train animal care professionals.
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(f) After a dog is trained by the committed person as a |
service dog, a
review
committee consisting of an equal
number |
of persons from the Department and the non-profit organization |
shall
select a person with a disability or a veteran with |
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression to
receive |
the service dog free of charge.
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(g) Employees of the Department shall periodically visit |
persons with disabilities
who
have received service dogs from
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the Department under this Section to determine whether the |
needs of the
persons with disabilities or veterans with |
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression have been |
met
by the service dogs trained by committed persons.
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(h) Employees of the Department shall periodically visit |
committed persons
who
have been certified as service
dog |
trainers or animal care professionals and who have been paroled |
or placed
on mandatory supervised
release to determine whether |
the committed persons are using their skills as
certified |
service dog trainers or
animal care professionals.
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(Source: P.A. 98-718, eff. 1-1-15; 99-143, eff. 7-27-15.)
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