Bill Text: IL HB4524 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. In the Interference with Penal Institution Article of the Code, exempts from the definition of "electronic contraband" electronic, video recording devices, computers, and computer peripheral equipment used in online educational courses approved by the Director of Corrections or the chief administrative officer of the penal institution. Defines "Internet" and "online". Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that the educational programs for all committed persons provided by the Department of Corrections include educational courses taught or provided online.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-05 - Referred to Rules Committee [HB4524 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-HB4524-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 HB4524 Introduced , by Rep. Mary E. Flowers SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
720 ILCS 5/31A-0.1
730 ILCS 5/3-6-2 from Ch. 38, par. 1003-6-2
Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. In the Interference with Penal Institution Article of the Code, exempts from the definition of "electronic contraband" electronic, video recording devices, computers, and computer peripheral equipment used in online educational courses approved by the Director of Corrections or the chief administrative officer of the penal institution. Defines "Internet" and "online". Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that the educational programs for all committed persons provided by the Department of Corrections include educational courses taught or provided online.
LRB101 16558 RLC 65942 b
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 Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by changing
Section 31A-0.1 as follows:
(720 ILCS 5/31A-0.1)
Sec. 31A-0.1. Definitions. For the purposes of this
Article:
"Deliver" or "delivery" means the actual, constructive or
attempted transfer of possession of an item of contraband, with
or without consideration, whether or not there is an agency
relationship.
"Employee" means any elected or appointed officer, trustee
or employee of a penal institution or of the governing
authority of the penal institution, or any person who performs
services for the penal institution pursuant to contract with
the penal institution or its governing authority.
"Item of contraband" means any of the following:
(i) "Alcoholic liquor" as that term is defined in
Section 1-3.05 of the Liquor Control Act of 1934.
(ii) "Cannabis" as that term is defined in subsection
(a) of Section 3 of the Cannabis Control Act.
(iii) "Controlled substance" as that term is defined in

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the Illinois Controlled Substances Act.
(iii-a) "Methamphetamine" as that term is defined in
the Illinois Controlled Substances Act or the
Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act.
(iv) "Hypodermic syringe" or hypodermic needle, or any
instrument adapted for use of controlled substances or
cannabis by subcutaneous injection.
(v) "Weapon" means any knife, dagger, dirk, billy,
razor, stiletto, broken bottle, or other piece of glass
which could be used as a dangerous weapon. This term
includes any of the devices or implements designated in
subsections (a)(1), (a)(3) and (a)(6) of Section 24-1 of
this Code, or any other dangerous weapon or instrument of
like character.
(vi) "Firearm" means any device, by whatever name
known, which is designed to expel a projectile or
projectiles by the action of an explosion, expansion of gas
or escape of gas, including but not limited to:
(A) any pneumatic gun, spring gun, or B-B gun which
expels a single globular projectile not exceeding .18
inch in diameter; or
(B) any device used exclusively for signaling or
safety and required as recommended by the United States
Coast Guard or the Interstate Commerce Commission; or
(C) any device used exclusively for the firing of
stud cartridges, explosive rivets or industrial

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ammunition; or
(D) any device which is powered by electrical
charging units, such as batteries, and which fires one
or several barbs attached to a length of wire and
which, upon hitting a human, can send out current
capable of disrupting the person's nervous system in
such a manner as to render him or her incapable of
normal functioning, commonly referred to as a stun gun
or taser.
(vii) "Firearm ammunition" means any self-contained
cartridge or shotgun shell, by whatever name known, which
is designed to be used or adaptable to use in a firearm,
including but not limited to:
(A) any ammunition exclusively designed for use
with a device used exclusively for signaling or safety
and required or recommended by the United States Coast
Guard or the Interstate Commerce Commission; or
(B) any ammunition designed exclusively for use
with a stud or rivet driver or other similar industrial
ammunition.
(viii) "Explosive" means, but is not limited to, bomb,
bombshell, grenade, bottle or other container containing
an explosive substance of over one-quarter ounce for like
purposes such as black powder bombs and Molotov cocktails
or artillery projectiles.
(ix) "Tool to defeat security mechanisms" means, but is

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not limited to, handcuff or security restraint key, tool
designed to pick locks, popper, or any device or instrument
used to or capable of unlocking or preventing from locking
any handcuff or security restraints, doors to cells, rooms,
gates or other areas of the penal institution.
(x) "Cutting tool" means, but is not limited to,
hacksaw blade, wirecutter, or device, instrument or file
capable of cutting through metal.
(xi) "Electronic contraband" for the purposes of
Section 31A-1.1 of this Article means, but is not limited
to, any electronic, video recording device, computer, or
cellular communications equipment, including, but not
limited to, cellular telephones, cellular telephone
batteries, videotape recorders, pagers, computers, and
computer peripheral equipment brought into or possessed in
a penal institution without the written authorization of
the Chief Administrative Officer. "Electronic contraband"
for the purposes of Section 31A-1.2 of this Article, means,
but is not limited to, any electronic, video recording
device, computer, or cellular communications equipment,
including, but not limited to, cellular telephones,
cellular telephone batteries, videotape recorders, pagers,
computers, and computer peripheral equipment. "Electronic
contraband" does not include electronic, video recording
devices, computers, and computer peripheral equipment used
in online educational courses approved by the Director of

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Corrections or the chief administrative officer of the
penal institution. In this definition, "Internet" means an
interactive computer service or system or an information
service, system, or access software provider that provides
or enables computer access by multiple users to a computer
server; and "online" means the use of any electronic device
to access the Internet.
"Penal institution" means any penitentiary, State farm,
reformatory, prison, jail, house of correction, police
detention area, half-way house or other institution or place
for the incarceration or custody of persons under sentence for
offenses awaiting trial or sentence for offenses, under arrest
for an offense, a violation of probation, a violation of
parole, a violation of aftercare release, or a violation of
mandatory supervised release, or awaiting a bail setting
hearing or preliminary hearing; provided that where the place
for incarceration or custody is housed within another public
building this Article shall not apply to that part of the
building unrelated to the incarceration or custody of persons.
(Source: P.A. 97-1108, eff. 1-1-13; 98-558, eff. 1-1-14.)
Section 10. The Unified Code of Corrections is amended by
changing Section 3-6-2 as follows:
(730 ILCS 5/3-6-2) (from Ch. 38, par. 1003-6-2)
Sec. 3-6-2. Institutions and facility administration.

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(a) Each institution and facility of the Department shall
be administered by a chief administrative officer appointed by
the Director. A chief administrative officer shall be
responsible for all persons assigned to the institution or
facility. The chief administrative officer shall administer
the programs of the Department for the custody and treatment of
such persons.
(b) The chief administrative officer shall have such
assistants as the Department may assign.
(c) The Director or Assistant Director shall have the
emergency powers to temporarily transfer individuals without
formal procedures to any State, county, municipal or regional
correctional or detention institution or facility in the State,
subject to the acceptance of such receiving institution or
facility, or to designate any reasonably secure place in the
State as such an institution or facility and to make transfers
thereto. However, transfers made under emergency powers shall
be reviewed as soon as practicable under Article 8, and shall
be subject to Section 5-905 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987.
This Section shall not apply to transfers to the Department of
Human Services which are provided for under Section 3-8-5 or
Section 3-10-5.
(d) The Department shall provide educational programs for
all committed persons, including educational courses taught or
provided online as defined in Section 31A-0.1 of the Criminal
Code of 2012, so that all persons have an opportunity to attain

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the achievement level equivalent to the completion of the
twelfth grade in the public school system in this State. Other
higher levels of attainment shall be encouraged and
professional instruction shall be maintained wherever
possible. The Department may establish programs of mandatory
education and may establish rules and regulations for the
administration of such programs. A person committed to the
Department who, during the period of his or her incarceration,
participates in an educational program provided by or through
the Department and through that program is awarded or earns the
number of hours of credit required for the award of an
associate, baccalaureate, or higher degree from a community
college, college, or university located in Illinois shall
reimburse the State, through the Department, for the costs
incurred by the State in providing that person during his or
her incarceration with the education that qualifies him or her
for the award of that degree. The costs for which reimbursement
is required under this subsection shall be determined and
computed by the Department under rules and regulations that it
shall establish for that purpose. However, interest at the rate
of 6% per annum shall be charged on the balance of those costs
from time to time remaining unpaid, from the date of the
person's parole, mandatory supervised release, or release
constituting a final termination of his or her commitment to
the Department until paid.
(d-5) A person committed to the Department is entitled to

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confidential testing for infection with human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV) and to counseling in connection with such testing,
with no copay to the committed person. A person committed to
the Department who has tested positive for infection with HIV
is entitled to medical care while incarcerated, counseling, and
referrals to support services, in connection with that positive
test result. Implementation of this subsection (d-5) is subject
to appropriation.
(e) A person committed to the Department who becomes in
need of medical or surgical treatment but is incapable of
giving consent thereto shall receive such medical or surgical
treatment by the chief administrative officer consenting on the
person's behalf. Before the chief administrative officer
consents, he or she shall obtain the advice of one or more
physicians licensed to practice medicine in all its branches in
this State. If such physician or physicians advise:
(1) that immediate medical or surgical treatment is
required relative to a condition threatening to cause
death, damage or impairment to bodily functions, or
disfigurement; and
(2) that the person is not capable of giving consent to
such treatment; the chief administrative officer may give
consent for such medical or surgical treatment, and such
consent shall be deemed to be the consent of the person for
all purposes, including, but not limited to, the authority
of a physician to give such treatment.

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(e-5) If a physician providing medical care to a committed
person on behalf of the Department advises the chief
administrative officer that the committed person's mental or
physical health has deteriorated as a result of the cessation
of ingestion of food or liquid to the point where medical or
surgical treatment is required to prevent death, damage, or
impairment to bodily functions, the chief administrative
officer may authorize such medical or surgical treatment.
(f) In the event that the person requires medical care and
treatment at a place other than the institution or facility,
the person may be removed therefrom under conditions prescribed
by the Department. Neither the Department of Corrections nor
the Department of Juvenile Justice may require a committed
person or person committed to any facility operated by the
Department of Juvenile Justice, as set forth in Section
3-2.5-15 of this Code, to pay any co-payment for receiving
medical or dental services.
(f-5) The Department shall comply with the Health Care
Violence Prevention Act.
(g) Any person having sole custody of a child at the time
of commitment or any woman giving birth to a child after her
commitment, may arrange through the Department of Children and
Family Services for suitable placement of the child outside of
the Department of Corrections. The Director of the Department
of Corrections may determine that there are special reasons why
the child should continue in the custody of the mother until

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the child is 6 years old.
(h) The Department may provide Family Responsibility
Services which may consist of, but not be limited to the
following:
(1) family advocacy counseling;
(2) parent self-help group;
(3) parenting skills training;
(4) parent and child overnight program;
(5) parent and child reunification counseling, either
separately or together, preceding the inmate's release;
and
(6) a prerelease reunification staffing involving the
family advocate, the inmate and the child's counselor, or
both and the inmate.
(i) (Blank).
(j) Any person convicted of a sex offense as defined in the
Sex Offender Management Board Act shall be required to receive
a sex offender evaluation prior to release into the community
from the Department of Corrections. The sex offender evaluation
shall be conducted in conformance with the standards and
guidelines developed under the Sex Offender Management Board
Act and by an evaluator approved by the Board.
(k) Any minor committed to the Department of Juvenile
Justice for a sex offense as defined by the Sex Offender
Management Board Act shall be required to undergo sex offender
treatment by a treatment provider approved by the Board and

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conducted in conformance with the Sex Offender Management Board
Act.
(l) Prior to the release of any inmate committed to a
facility of the Department or the Department of Juvenile
Justice, the Department must provide the inmate with
appropriate information verbally, in writing, by video, or
other electronic means, concerning HIV and AIDS. The Department
shall develop the informational materials in consultation with
the Department of Public Health. At the same time, the
Department must also offer the committed person the option of
testing for infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV),
with no copayment for the test. Pre-test information shall be
provided to the committed person and informed consent obtained
as required in subsection (d) of Section 3 and Section 5 of the
AIDS Confidentiality Act. The Department may conduct opt-out
HIV testing as defined in Section 4 of the AIDS Confidentiality
Act. If the Department conducts opt-out HIV testing, the
Department shall place signs in English, Spanish and other
languages as needed in multiple, highly visible locations in
the area where HIV testing is conducted informing inmates that
they will be tested for HIV unless they refuse, and refusal or
acceptance of testing shall be documented in the inmate's
medical record. The Department shall follow procedures
established by the Department of Public Health to conduct HIV
testing and testing to confirm positive HIV test results. All
testing must be conducted by medical personnel, but pre-test

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and other information may be provided by committed persons who
have received appropriate training. The Department, in
conjunction with the Department of Public Health, shall develop
a plan that complies with the AIDS Confidentiality Act to
deliver confidentially all positive or negative HIV test
results to inmates or former inmates. Nothing in this Section
shall require the Department to offer HIV testing to an inmate
who is known to be infected with HIV, or who has been tested
for HIV within the previous 180 days and whose documented HIV
test result is available to the Department electronically. The
testing provided under this subsection (l) shall consist of a
test approved by the Illinois Department of Public Health to
determine the presence of HIV infection, based upon
recommendations of the United States Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. If the test result is positive, a
reliable supplemental test based upon recommendations of the
United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shall
be administered.
Prior to the release of an inmate who the Department knows
has tested positive for infection with HIV, the Department in a
timely manner shall offer the inmate transitional case
management, including referrals to other support services.
(m) The chief administrative officer of each institution or
facility of the Department shall make a room in the institution
or facility available for substance use disorder services to be
provided to committed persons on a voluntary basis. The

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services shall be provided for one hour once a week at a time
specified by the chief administrative officer of the
institution or facility if the following conditions are met:
(1) the substance use disorder service contacts the
chief administrative officer to arrange the meeting;
(2) the committed person may attend the meeting for
substance use disorder services only if the committed
person uses pre-existing free time already available to the
committed person;
(3) all disciplinary and other rules of the institution
or facility remain in effect;
(4) the committed person is not given any additional
privileges to attend substance use disorder services;
(5) if the substance use disorder service does not
arrange for scheduling a meeting for that week, no
substance use disorder services shall be provided to the
committed person in the institution or facility for that
week;
(6) the number of committed persons who may attend a
substance use disorder meeting shall not exceed 40 during
any session held at the correctional institution or
facility;
(7) a volunteer seeking to provide substance use
disorder services under this subsection (m) must submit an
application to the Department of Corrections under
existing Department rules and the Department must review

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the application within 60 days after submission of the
application to the Department; and
(8) each institution and facility of the Department
shall manage the substance use disorder services program
according to its own processes and procedures.
For the purposes of this subsection (m), "substance use
disorder services" means recovery services for persons with
substance use disorders provided by volunteers of recovery
support services recognized by the Department of Human
Services.
(Source: P.A. 100-759, eff. 1-1-19; 100-1051, eff. 1-1-19;
101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-86, eff. 1-1-20.)