Bill Text: IL HB1134 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning preservation of evidence for forensic testing.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-04-23 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB1134 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HB1134-Introduced.html

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102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2021 and 2022 HB1134 Introduced , by Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
725 ILCS 5/116-4
Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning preservation of evidence for forensic testing.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning criminal law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 is
amended by changing Section 116-4 as follows:
(725 ILCS 5/116-4)
Sec. 116-4. Preservation of evidence for forensic testing.
(a) Before or after the the trial in a prosecution for a
violation of Section 11-1.20, 11-1.30, 11-1.40, 11-1.50,
11-1.60, 12-13, 12-14, 12-14.1, 12-15, or 12-16 of the
Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012 or in a
prosecution for an offense defined in Article 9 of that Code,
or in a prosecution for an attempt in violation of Section 8-4
of that Code of any of the above-enumerated offenses, unless
otherwise provided herein under subsection (b) or (c), a law
enforcement agency or an agent acting on behalf of the law
enforcement agency shall preserve, subject to a continuous
chain of custody, any physical evidence in their possession or
control that is reasonably likely to contain forensic
evidence, including, but not limited to, fingerprints or
biological material secured in relation to a trial and with
sufficient documentation to locate that evidence.
(b) After a judgment of conviction is entered, the

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evidence shall either be impounded with the Clerk of the
Circuit Court or shall be securely retained by a law
enforcement agency. Retention shall be permanent in cases
where a sentence of death is imposed. Retention shall be until
the completion of the sentence, including the period of
mandatory supervised release for the offense, or January 1,
2006, whichever is later, for any conviction for an offense or
an attempt of an offense defined in Article 9 of the Criminal
Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012 or in Section
11-1.20, 11-1.30, 11-1.40, 11-1.50, 11-1.60, 12-13, 12-14,
12-14.1, 12-15, or 12-16 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the
Criminal Code of 2012 or for 7 years following any conviction
for any other felony for which the defendant's genetic profile
may be taken by a law enforcement agency and submitted for
comparison in a forensic DNA database for unsolved offenses.
(c) After a judgment of conviction is entered, the law
enforcement agency required to retain evidence described in
subsection (a) may petition the court with notice to the
defendant or, in cases where the defendant has died, his
estate, his attorney of record, or an attorney appointed for
that purpose by the court for entry of an order allowing it to
dispose of evidence if, after a hearing, the court determines
by a preponderance of the evidence that:
(1) it has no significant value for forensic science
analysis and should be returned to its rightful owner,
destroyed, used for training purposes, or as otherwise

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provided by law; or
(2) it has no significant value for forensic science
analysis and is of a size, bulk, or physical character not
usually retained by the law enforcement agency and cannot
practicably be retained by the law enforcement agency; or
(3) there no longer exists a reasonable basis to
require the preservation of the evidence because of the
death of the defendant; however, this paragraph (3) does
not apply if a sentence of death was imposed.
(d) The court may order the disposition of the evidence if
the defendant is allowed the opportunity to take reasonable
measures to remove or preserve portions of the evidence in
question for future testing.
(d-5) Any order allowing the disposition of evidence
pursuant to subsection (c) or (d) shall be a final and
appealable order. No evidence shall be disposed of until 30
days after the order is entered, and if a notice of appeal is
filed, no evidence shall be disposed of until the mandate has
been received by the circuit court from the appellate court.
(d-10) All records documenting the possession, control,
storage, and destruction of evidence and all police reports,
evidence control or inventory records, and other reports cited
in this Section, including computer records, must be retained
for as long as the evidence exists and may not be disposed of
without the approval of the Local Records Commission.
(e) In this Section, "law enforcement agency" includes any

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of the following or an agent acting on behalf of any of the
following: a municipal police department, county sheriff's
office, any prosecuting authority, the Department of State
Police, or any other State, university, county, federal, or
municipal police unit or police force.
"Biological material" includes, but is not limited to, any
blood, hair, saliva, or semen from which genetic marker
groupings may be obtained.
(Source: P.A. 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11; 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)