Bill Text: IL SB3771 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Enrolled

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Amends the Higher Education Student Assistance Act with respect to grants for exonerated persons. Provides that a grant applicant need not be a resident of this State at the time of enrollment. Provides that, beginning no later than the 2025-2026 academic year, if an exonerated person has been found by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to qualify for a grant and the exonerated person has not yet exhausted the benefits for which the exonerated person is eligible, the exonerated person may designate one or more dependents to use any unexpended portion of the benefits for which the exonerated person is eligible, up to the total benefit for which the exonerated person is eligible. Provides that the combined benefit used by the exonerated person and any designated dependents may not exceed the total benefit for which the exonerated person is eligible. Provides that if funding is insufficient to serve all applicants, the Commission may prioritize applicants who have been exonerated over applicants who are dependents of exonerated individuals. Amends the Code of Civil Procedure. In provisions concerning a petition for a certificate of innocence, provides that the clerk of the circuit court shall provide to a person whose records were expunged and sealed information about grants for exonerated persons and their dependents under the Higher Education Student Assistance Act and the address of the Internet website of the Commission, where additional information about the grants may be obtained.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-08-09 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 103-1046 [SB3771 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB3771-Enrolled.html

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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Higher Education Student Assistance Act is
amended by changing Section 62 as follows:
(110 ILCS 947/62)
Sec. 62. Grants for exonerated persons and their
dependents.
(a) In this Section:
"Dependent" means any spouse, natural child, legally
adopted child, or child in the legal custody of an individual.
"Exonerated person" means an individual who has received a
pardon from the Governor of the State of Illinois stating that
such a pardon is issued on the grounds of innocence of the
crime for which he or she was imprisoned or an individual who
has received a certificate of innocence from a circuit court
pursuant to Section 2-702 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
"Satisfactory academic progress" means the qualified
applicant's maintenance of minimum standards of academic
performance, consistent with requirements for maintaining
federal financial aid eligibility, as determined by the
institution of higher learning.
(b) Subject to a separate appropriation for this purpose,

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the Commission shall, each year, receive and consider
applications for grant assistance under this Section.
Recipients of grants issued by the Commission in accordance
with this Section must be exonerated persons or, as provided
in subsection (c-5) of this Section, their dependents.
Provided that the recipient is maintaining satisfactory
academic progress and subject to subsection (c-5) of this
Section, the funds from the grant may be used to pay up to 8
semesters or 12 quarters of full payment of tuition and
mandatory fees at any public university or public community
college located in this State for either full or part-time
study. This benefit may be used for undergraduate or graduate
study. Beginning with grants awarded for the 2025-2026
academic year, a grant under this Section may also be used at
any private, not-for-profit college or university in this
State that is approved to participate in the Monetary Award
Program under Section 35 of this Act. A recipient attending
such a private, not-for-profit college or university shall
receive payment of tuition and mandatory fees in an amount not
to exceed the maximum grant payable to a student enrolled in
the most expensive comparable program of study at a public
college or university in this State.
In addition, an exonerated person or, as provided in
subsection (c-5) of this Section, a dependent who has not yet
received a high school diploma or a State of Illinois High
School Diploma and completes a high school equivalency

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preparation course through an Illinois Community College
Board-approved provider may use grant funds to pay costs
associated with obtaining a State of Illinois High School
Diploma, including payment of the cost of the high school
equivalency test and up to one retest on each test module, and
any additional fees that may be required in order to obtain a
State of Illinois High School Diploma or an official
transcript of test scores after successful completion of the
high school equivalency test.
(c) An applicant for a grant under this Section need not
demonstrate financial need to qualify for the benefits and
need not be a resident of this State at the time of enrollment.
(c-5) Beginning no later than the 2025-2026 academic year,
if an exonerated person has been found by the Commission to
qualify for a grant under this Section and the exonerated
person has not yet exhausted the benefit for which the
exonerated person is eligible under subsection (b), the
exonerated person may designate one or more dependents to use
any unexpended portion of the benefit for which the exonerated
person is eligible, up to the total benefit for which the
exonerated person is eligible under subsection (b). The
combined benefit used by the exonerated person and any
designated dependents may not exceed the total benefit for
which the exonerated person is eligible under subsection (b).
If funding is insufficient to serve all applicants, the
Commission may prioritize applicants who have been exonerated

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over applicants who are dependents of exonerated persons.
(d) The Commission may adopt any rules necessary to
implement and administer this Section.
(Source: P.A. 102-1100, eff. 1-1-23.)
Section 10. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by
changing Section 2-702 as follows:
(735 ILCS 5/2-702)
Sec. 2-702. Petition for a certificate of innocence that
the petitioner was innocent of all offenses for which he or she
was incarcerated.
(a) The General Assembly finds and declares that innocent
persons who have been wrongly convicted of crimes in Illinois
and subsequently imprisoned have been frustrated in seeking
legal redress due to a variety of substantive and technical
obstacles in the law and that such persons should have an
available avenue to obtain a finding of innocence so that they
may obtain relief through a petition in the Court of Claims.
The General Assembly further finds misleading the current
legal nomenclature which compels an innocent person to seek a
pardon for being wrongfully incarcerated. It is the intent of
the General Assembly that the court, in exercising its
discretion as permitted by law regarding the weight and
admissibility of evidence submitted pursuant to this Section,
shall, in the interest of justice, give due consideration to

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difficulties of proof caused by the passage of time, the death
or unavailability of witnesses, the destruction of evidence or
other factors not caused by such persons or those acting on
their behalf.
(b) Any person convicted and subsequently imprisoned for
one or more felonies by the State of Illinois which he or she
did not commit may, under the conditions hereinafter provided,
file a petition for certificate of innocence in the circuit
court of the county in which the person was convicted. The
petition shall request a certificate of innocence finding that
the petitioner was innocent of all offenses for which he or she
was incarcerated.
(c) In order to present the claim for certificate of
innocence of an unjust conviction and imprisonment, the
petitioner must attach to his or her petition documentation
demonstrating that:
(1) he or she has been convicted of one or more
felonies by the State of Illinois and subsequently
sentenced to a term of imprisonment, and has served all or
any part of the sentence; and
(2) his or her judgment of conviction was reversed or
vacated, and the indictment or information dismissed or,
if a new trial was ordered, either he or she was found not
guilty at the new trial or he or she was not retried and
the indictment or information dismissed; or the statute,
or application thereof, on which the indictment or

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information was based violated the Constitution of the
United States or the State of Illinois; and
(3) his or her claim is not time barred by the
provisions of subsection (i) of this Section.
(d) The petition shall state facts in sufficient detail to
permit the court to find that the petitioner is likely to
succeed at trial in proving that the petitioner is innocent of
the offenses charged in the indictment or information or his
or her acts or omissions charged in the indictment or
information did not constitute a felony or misdemeanor against
the State of Illinois, and the petitioner did not by his or her
own conduct voluntarily cause or bring about his or her
conviction. The petition shall be verified by the petitioner.
(e) A copy of the petition shall be served on the Attorney
General and the State's Attorney of the county where the
conviction was had. The Attorney General and the State's
Attorney of the county where the conviction was had shall have
the right to intervene as parties.
(f) In any hearing seeking a certificate of innocence, the
court may take judicial notice of prior sworn testimony or
evidence admitted in the criminal proceedings related to the
convictions which resulted in the alleged wrongful
incarceration, if the petitioner was either represented by
counsel at such prior proceedings or the right to counsel was
knowingly waived.
(g) In order to obtain a certificate of innocence the

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petitioner must prove by a preponderance of evidence that:
(1) the petitioner was convicted of one or more
felonies by the State of Illinois and subsequently
sentenced to a term of imprisonment, and has served all or
any part of the sentence;
(2)(A) the judgment of conviction was reversed or
vacated, and the indictment or information dismissed or,
if a new trial was ordered, either the petitioner was
found not guilty at the new trial or the petitioner was not
retried and the indictment or information dismissed; or
(B) the statute, or application thereof, on which the
indictment or information was based violated the
Constitution of the United States or the State of
Illinois;
(3) the petitioner is innocent of the offenses charged
in the indictment or information or his or her acts or
omissions charged in the indictment or information did not
constitute a felony or misdemeanor against the State; and
(4) the petitioner did not by his or her own conduct
voluntarily cause or bring about his or her conviction.
(h) If the court finds that the petitioner is entitled to a
judgment, it shall enter a certificate of innocence finding
that the petitioner was innocent of all offenses for which he
or she was incarcerated. Upon entry of the certificate of
innocence or pardon from the Governor stating that such pardon
was issued on the ground of innocence of the crime for which he

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or she was imprisoned, (1) the clerk of the court shall
transmit a copy of the certificate of innocence to the clerk of
the Court of Claims, together with the claimant's current
address; and (2) the court shall enter an order expunging the
record of arrest from the official records of the arresting
authority and order that the records of the clerk of the
circuit court and the Illinois State Police be sealed until
further order of the court upon good cause shown or as
otherwise provided herein, and the name of the defendant
obliterated from the official index requested to be kept by
the circuit court clerk under Section 16 of the Clerks of
Courts Act in connection with the arrest and conviction for
the offense but the order shall not affect any index issued by
the circuit court clerk before the entry of the order. The
court shall enter the expungement order regardless of whether
the petitioner has prior criminal convictions.
All records sealed by the Illinois State Police may be
disseminated by the Department only as required by law or to
the arresting authority, the State's Attorney, the court upon
a later arrest for the same or similar offense, or for the
purpose of sentencing for any subsequent felony. Upon
conviction for any subsequent offense, the Department of
Corrections shall have access to all sealed records of the
Department pertaining to that individual.
Upon entry of the order of expungement, the clerk of the
circuit court shall promptly mail a copy of the order to the

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