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92_HB0041eng
HB0041 Engrossed LRB9200854RCcdB
1 AN ACT in relation to criminal law.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Unified Code of Corrections is amended by
5 adding Section 3-12-16 as follows:
6 (730 ILCS 5/3-12-16 new)
7 Sec. 3-12-16. Helping Paws Service Dog Program.
8 (a) In this Section:
9 "Disabled person" means a person who suffers from a
10 physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one
11 or more major life activities.
12 "Program" means the Helping Paws Service Dog Program
13 created by this Section.
14 "Service dog" means a dog trained in obedience and task
15 skills to meet the needs of a disabled person.
16 "Animal care professional" means a person certified to
17 work in animal care related services, such as grooming,
18 kenneling, and any other related fields.
19 "Service dog professional" means a person certified to
20 train service dogs by an agency, organization, or school
21 approved by the Department.
22 (b) The Department may establish the Helping Paws
23 Service Dog Program to train committed persons to be service
24 dog trainers and animal care professionals. The Department
25 shall select committed persons in various correctional
26 institutions and facilities to participate in the Program.
27 (c) Priority for participation in the Program must be
28 given to committed persons who either have a high school
29 diploma or have passed the high school level Test of General
30 Educational Development (GED).
31 (d) The Department may contract with service dog
HB0041 Engrossed -2- LRB9200854RCcdB
1 professionals to train committed persons to be certified
2 service dog trainers. Service dog professionals shall train
3 committed persons in dog obedience training, service dog
4 training, and animal health care. Upon successful completion
5 of the training, a committed person shall receive
6 certification by an agency, organization, or school approved
7 by the Department.
8 (e) The Department may designate a non-profit
9 organization to select animals from humane societies and
10 shelters for the purpose of being trained as service dogs and
11 for participation in any program designed to train animal
12 care professionals.
13 (f) After a dog is trained by the committed person as a
14 service dog, a review committee consisting of an equal number
15 of persons from the Department and the non-profit
16 organization shall select a disabled person to receive the
17 service dog free of charge.
18 (g) Employees of the Department shall periodically visit
19 disabled persons who have received service dogs from the
20 Department under this Section to determine whether the needs
21 of the disabled persons have been met by the service dogs
22 trained by committed persons.
23 (h) Employees of the Department shall periodically visit
24 committed persons who have been certified as service dog
25 trainers or animal care professionals and who have been
26 paroled or placed on mandatory supervised release to
27 determine whether the committed persons are using their
28 skills as certified service dog trainers or animal care
29 professionals.
30 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
31 becoming law.
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