Child Law

(Nekritz, D-Buffalo Grove; Raoul, D-Chicago) prohibits a minor from being incarcerated for a Class 3 or 4 felony violation of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act. It makes an exception for a third or subsequent judicial finding of a violation of probation for substantial noncompliance with court-ordered treatment or programming. Limits the current five-year mandatory probation to minors found guilty of first-degree murder, and probation terms for Class X and forcible felonies are reduced to a minimum of three years, two years, or 18 months depending on the offense. Requires the court to schedule probation hearings for various offenses to determine whether it is in the best interest of the minor and public safety to terminate probation after the minimum period of probation has been served. Creates a rebuttable presumption that it is in the best interest of the minor and public safety to terminate probation.

Effective January 1, 2017.

(Barbara Wheeler, R-Crystal Lake; Raoul, D-Chicago) allows a person to petition for expungement at any time for an offense occurring before their 18th birthday if no petition for delinquency was filed, the minor was charged with an offense but the petition was dismissed without a finding of delinquency, the minor was found not delinquent, the minor was placed on juvenile court supervision, or the minor was adjudicated for an offense that if committed by an adult would be a Class B or C misdemeanor or petty offense.

Effective January 1, 2017. 

(Van Pelt, D-Chicago; Currie, D-Chicago) does three things. (1) Raises the age from 13 to 15 in which a lawyer is required to represent a minor during custodial interrogation in a homicide or sex-offense case; (2) expands current custodial interrogation videotape requirements to apply to all felonies and misdemeanor sex-offense cases for minors under the age of 18; and (3) sets out the specific wording for Miranda warnings for all minors under the age of 18.

Effective January 1, 2017. 

(Fine, D-Glenview; Silverstein, D-Chicago) amends the personal guardian statute in the Probate Code. If there is no court order to the contrary, requires the guardian to use reasonable efforts to notify the ward’s known adult children, who have requested notification and provided contact information, of the ward’s admission to a hospital or hospice program, the arrangements for the disposition of the ward’s remains, or the ward’s death.

If a guardian unreasonably prevents an adult child of the ward from visiting the ward, the court, upon a verified petition by an adult child, may order the guardian to permit visitation between the ward and the adult child if the court finds that the visitation is in the ward’s best interests. In making its determination, the court shall consider the standards set forth in current law. subsection (e) of this Section. This new subsection (g) does not apply to duly appointed Public Guardians and the Office of State Guardian. 

Effective January 1, 2017.

(Kelly Burke, D-Oak Lawn; Mulroe, D-Chicago) is a cleanup of last year’s rewrite of the IMDMA for such things as referring to a section that no longer exists and correcting cross-references. It does contain some clarifying changes that may be considered as substantive, such as the following. (1) Clarifies for post-educational expenses that the guide is “in-state” tuition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (2) Clarifies that the 25-mile standard on relocation is based on an “internet mapping service.” (3) Clarifies the two-year ban from amending a judgment applies only to “parental decision-making responsibilities” and doesn’t apply to “parenting-time” provisions. (4) Clarifies that a respondent who doesn’t file an appearance is not required to file a parenting plan unless specifically ordered to do so by the court. (5) It also includes a new Article 7 of the Parentage Act of 2015 affecting artificial reproduction that replaces the current Article that is considered to be outdated.

Effective January 1, 2017. 

(Burke; Oak Lawn; Mulroe, D-Chicago) makes a number of technical corrections to the recent Parentage Act. For example, it requires personal information of children and parents to comply with federal law but requires that this information be non-public.

Effective January 1, 2017. 

(Kelly Burke, D-Oak Lawn; Hastings, D-Matteson) moves Illinois into the majority of other states that have an “income shares” model for adjudicating child support.

Effective July 1, 2017.  

(McAuliffe, R-Chicago; Morrison, D-Deerfield) authorizes the Illinois Supreme Court to adopt rules to establish a pilot program for the electronic filing of petitions for temporary orders of protection and the issuance of those orders by audio-visual means. Its intent is to accommodate litigants for whom attendance in court would be an undue hardship or risk harm to them.

Effective January 1, 2017.  

(Steans, D-Chicago; Cassidy, D-Chicago) makes several changes to the Code of Criminal Procedure. It replaces criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of cannabis (less than 10 grams) with a civil fine of $100-$200. It also replaces the current "zero-tolerance" prohibition of driving with any trace of cannabis in the driver's bodily fluids with a per se standard of five nanograms/milliliter of whole blood or 10 nanograms/milliliter in any other bodily substance. (For more, see the LawPulse item "Another try for pot decriminalization" in the May 2016 Bar Journal.) Effective July 29, 2016.