republic-os/legislation/us/states/il/97th/hb-5441.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "CRIM PRO - STATE APP. DEFENDER"
description: "Amends State Appellate Defender Act. Deletes the discretionary duty of the State Appellate Defender to provide assistance to trial counsel in capital cases. Adds the discretionary duty to provide training, assistance of expert witnesses, and investigators to public defenders from funds appropriated for those purposes. Prohibits the State Appellate Defender from being appointed as trial counsel. Deletes authority of investigators for the Capital Trial Assistance Unit and Capital Post Conviction Unit to access the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS) for witness background checks. Deletes the authority for the State Appellate Defender to request appropriations from the Capital Litigation Trust Fund for capital case expenses in assisting trial counsel, representing petitioners in post-conviction proceedings, and in defending cases in counties other than Cook County. Effective immediately."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "97th"
identifier: "HB 5441"
citation: "Illinois HB 5441 (97th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 27
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2012-02-09"
last_action: "2012-08-17"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b32492dd-109f-4c8d-bf98-e42bc95a5c06"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=5441&GAID=11&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=65710&SessionID=84&GA=97"
source_hash: "e88e37f860e953f274ad6b26d6090e82458189ae5a1011ecbfc495789b050a7b"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-il"]
---

# Illinois HB 5441 (97th) — CRIM PRO - STATE APP. DEFENDER

Amends State Appellate Defender Act. Deletes the discretionary duty of the State Appellate Defender to provide assistance to trial counsel in capital cases. Adds the discretionary duty to provide training, assistance of expert witnesses, and investigators to public defenders from funds appropriated for those purposes. Prohibits the State Appellate Defender from being appointed as trial counsel. Deletes authority of investigators for the Capital Trial Assistance Unit and Capital Post Conviction Unit to access the Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS) for witness background checks. Deletes the authority for the State Appellate Defender to request appropriations from the Capital Litigation Trust Fund for capital case expenses in assisting trial counsel, representing petitioners in post-conviction proceedings, and in defending cases in counties other than Cook County. Effective immediately.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09700HB5441&GA=97&SessionId=84&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=65710&DocNum=5441&GAID=11&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09700HB5441eng&GA=97&SessionId=84&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=65710&DocNum=5441&GAID=11&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09700HB5441enr&GA=97&SessionId=84&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=65710&DocNum=5441&GAID=11&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **49–6** (pass) · upper
- Third Reading — **77–32** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Emil Jones, III — cosponsor (person)
- Karen A. Yarbrough — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2012-02-09** Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Karen A. Yarbrough `filing`
- **2012-02-15** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2012-02-15** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2012-02-27** Assigned to State Government Administration Committee `referral-committee`
- **2012-03-07** Do Pass / Standard Debate State Government Administration Committee; 010-007-000 `committee-passage`
- **2012-03-09** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Standard Debate
- **2012-03-27** Second Reading - Standard Debate `reading-2`
- **2012-03-27** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Standard Debate
- **2012-03-29** Third Reading - Standard Debate - Passed 077-032-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2012-03-30** Arrive in Senate `introduction`
- **2012-03-30** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading `reading-1`
- **2012-03-30** Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Kwame Raoul
- **2012-03-30** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2012-03-30** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2012-04-11** Assigned to Criminal Law `referral-committee`
- **2012-04-18** Do Pass Criminal Law; 006-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2012-04-18** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading April 19, 2012
- **2012-05-10** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2012-05-10** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 15, 2012
- **2012-05-22** Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Emil Jones, III
- **2012-05-22** Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford
- **2012-05-22** Third Reading - Passed; 049-006-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2012-05-22** Passed Both Houses
- **2012-06-20** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2012-08-17** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2012-08-17** Effective Date August 17, 2012
- **2012-08-17** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 97-1003 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b32492dd-109f-4c8d-bf98-e42bc95a5c06`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).