Bill Text: IL HB0086 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Amends the Court of Claims Act. Deletes language regarding the amount a court shall award to a person for time unjustly served in prison when the person imprisoned received a pardon on the ground of innocence of the crime for which he or she was imprisoned or he or she received a certificate of innocence. Provides instead that the court shall award $50,000 per year during which the person was wrongfully imprisoned and shall prorate that amount for a fraction of a year that the person was wrongfully imprisoned, including the number of years the person was awaiting trial. Provides that the court shall award attorney's fees in an amount not to exceed 25% of the award granted. Provides that the changes made by the amendatory Act apply to all claims pending or filed on or after the effective date.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-05-21 - Rule 3-9(a) / Re-referred to Assignments [HB0086 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HB0086-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning civil law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Court of Claims Act is amended by changing
Section 8 as follows:
(705 ILCS 505/8) (from Ch. 37, par. 439.8)
Sec. 8. Court of Claims jurisdiction; deliberation
periods. The court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear
and determine the following matters:
(a) All claims against the State founded upon any law
of the State of Illinois or upon any regulation adopted
thereunder by an executive or administrative officer or
agency; provided, however, the court shall not have
jurisdiction (i) to hear or determine claims arising under
the Workers' Compensation Act or the Workers' Occupational
Diseases Act, or claims for expenses in civil litigation,
or (ii) to review administrative decisions for which a
statute provides that review shall be in the circuit or
appellate court.
(b) All claims against the State founded upon any
contract entered into with the State of Illinois.
(c) All claims against the State for time unjustly
served in prisons of this State when the person imprisoned

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received a pardon from the Governor stating that such
pardon is issued on the ground of innocence of the crime
for which he or she was imprisoned or he or she received a
certificate of innocence from the Circuit Court as
provided in Section 2-702 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
The court shall award $50,000 per year during which the
person was wrongfully imprisoned and shall prorate that
amount for a fraction of a year that the person was
wrongfully imprisoned. The court shall award attorney's
fees in an amount not to exceed 25% of the award granted.
In its determination of the award, the court shall include
the number of years the person was imprisoned while
awaiting trial. The ; provided, the amount of the award is
at the discretion of the court; and provided, the court
shall make no award in excess of the following amounts:
for imprisonment of 5 years or less, not more than
$85,350; for imprisonment of 14 years or less but over 5
years, not more than $170,000; for imprisonment of over 14
years, not more than $199,150; and provided further, the
court shall fix attorney's fees not to exceed 25% of the
award granted. On or after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, the court
shall annually adjust the maximum awards authorized by
this subsection (c) to reflect the increase, if any, in
the Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers for the
previous calendar year, as determined by the United States

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Department of Labor, except that no annual increment may
exceed 5%. For the annual adjustments, if the Consumer
Price Index decreases during a calendar year, there shall
be no adjustment for that calendar year. The transmission
by the Prisoner Review Board or the clerk of the circuit
court of the information described in Section 11(b) to the
clerk of the Court of Claims is conclusive evidence of the
validity of the claim. The changes made by Public Act
95-970 this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly
apply to all claims pending on or filed on or after
September 22, 2008 (the effective date of Public Act
95-970). The changes made by this amendatory Act of the
102nd General Assembly apply to all claims pending on or
filed on or after the effective date.
(d) All claims against the State for damages in cases
sounding in tort, if a like cause of action would lie
against a private person or corporation in a civil suit,
and all like claims sounding in tort against the Medical
Center Commission, the Board of Trustees of the University
of Illinois, the Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois
University, the Board of Trustees of Chicago State
University, the Board of Trustees of Eastern Illinois
University, the Board of Trustees of Governors State
University, the Board of Trustees of Illinois State
University, the Board of Trustees of Northeastern Illinois
University, the Board of Trustees of Northern Illinois

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University, the Board of Trustees of Western Illinois
University, or the Board of Trustees of the Illinois
Mathematics and Science Academy; provided, that an award
for damages in a case sounding in tort, other than certain
cases involving the operation of a State vehicle described
in this paragraph, shall not exceed the sum of $2,000,000
to or for the benefit of any claimant. The $2,000,000
limit prescribed by this Section does not apply to an
award of damages in any case sounding in tort arising out
of the operation by a State employee of a vehicle owned,
leased or controlled by the State. The defense that the
State or the Medical Center Commission or the Board of
Trustees of the University of Illinois, the Board of
Trustees of Southern Illinois University, the Board of
Trustees of Chicago State University, the Board of
Trustees of Eastern Illinois University, the Board of
Trustees of Governors State University, the Board of
Trustees of Illinois State University, the Board of
Trustees of Northeastern Illinois University, the Board of
Trustees of Northern Illinois University, the Board of
Trustees of Western Illinois University, or the Board of
Trustees of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
is not liable for the negligence of its officers, agents,
and employees in the course of their employment is not
applicable to the hearing and determination of such
claims. The changes to this Section made by this

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amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly apply only to
claims filed on or after July 1, 2015.
The court shall annually adjust the maximum awards
authorized by this subsection to reflect the increase, if
any, in the Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers
for the previous calendar year, as determined by the
United States Department of Labor. The Comptroller shall
make the new amount resulting from each annual adjustment
available to the public via the Comptroller's official
website by January 31 of every year.
(e) All claims for recoupment made by the State of
Illinois against any claimant.
(f) All claims pursuant to the Line of Duty
Compensation Act. A claim under that Act must be heard and
determined within one year after the application for that
claim is filed with the Court as provided in that Act.
(g) All claims filed pursuant to the Crime Victims
Compensation Act.
(h) All claims pursuant to the Illinois National
Guardsman's Compensation Act. A claim under that Act must
be heard and determined within one year after the
application for that claim is filed with the Court as
provided in that Act.
(i) All claims authorized by subsection (a) of Section
10-55 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act for the
expenses incurred by a party in a contested case on the

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administrative level.
(Source: P.A. 100-1124, eff. 11-27-18.)