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Capitol Chronicle By Jim Covington Director of Legislative Affairs These three bills may be of interest during the veto session this October. Juvenile sex offenders. Senate Bill 121 (Raoul, D-Chicago; Brosnahan, D-Oak Lawn) creates a new registration procedure for juveniles who are adjudicated as sex offenders. The net effect of Senate Bill 121 is that juveniles who are found delinquent because of a sex crime will have a separate registry that is available primarily to law enforcement agencies and schools minors attend. It is considered a compromise that fairly balances protecting the safety of the public and the privacy of minors who are in juvenile court. Governor Blagojevich considers Senate Bill 121 lenient treatment of sex offenders and vetoed it accordingly. The Senate has overridden this veto, 40-8.Senate Bill 121 removes the recent requirement that juveniles must register publicly as sex offenders when they turn 17. Rather, Senate Bill 121 requires that all juvenile sex offenders must be registered upon adjudication of delinquency. It then creates a two-track procedure for removing themselves from the list. If it is for a felony offense, it allows them to petition to terminate the registration five years after registration. If it is for an adjudication of a misdemeanor offense, it allows them to petition to terminate the registration two years after registration. Senate Bill 121 does not apply to juveniles prosecuted under the adult transfer provisions of the Juvenile Court Act. The court may terminate registration if it finds that the registrant poses no risk to the community by a preponderance of the evidence. The right to petition applies retroactively. Juvenile placement. House Bill 291 (Myers, R-Colchester; Sullivan, D-Rushville) allows a juvenile court judge to place a delinquent minor in the guardianship of DCFS if (1) the minor is under the age of 15 (instead of 13); or (2) an “independent basis” of abuse, neglect, or dependency exists for the minor. An independent basis exists if the allegations or adjudication of abuse, neglect, or dependency do not arise from the same facts, incident, or circumstances that caused a charge or adjudication of delinquency. This “independent basis” language is taken from DCFS rules. The Governor's amendatory veto does two things: (1) Returns the age to 13 instead of 15. (2) Creates a Task Force to study the best methods to assist local governments in providing services to delinquent juveniles between the ages of 13 and 15. The House has overridden this veto, 104-7.Post-judgment procedures. Senate Bill 229 (Silverstein, D-Chicago; Mathias, R-Buffalo Grove) makes more than a dozen changes to post-judgment enforcement procedures. Governor Blagojevich's amendatory veto deleted one of them. A motion to accept the amendatory veto has been filed, which means that these changes will probably become law: (1) Makes a new category of court costs to include those expenses required by law or a law enforcement or court officer to enforce a judgment. (2) Allows the sheriff to use reasonable force to enter property to recover property under a court order for replevin. (3) Allows an Illinois federal court judgment to be filed like a judgment of a circuit court instead of registering it like a foreign judgment. (4) Allows a court in a citation to discover asset proceeding to order the sale of a membership in a club or stock exchange. (5) Order the sale of property by a person or entity other than a county sheriff if it will maximize a recovery for the benefit of the parties. (6) Requires a financial institution to disclose financial information if served with a citation to discover assets. |