Illinois Code § 5-820

§ 5-820.

Violent Juvenile Offender. (a) Definition. A minor having been previously adjudicated a delinquent minor for an offense which, had the minor been prosecuted as an adult, would have been a Class 2 or greater felony involving the use or threat of physical force or violence against an individual or a Class 2 or greater felony for which an element of the offense is possession or use of a firearm, and who is thereafter adjudicated a delinquent minor for a second time for any of those offenses shall be adjudicated a Violent Juvenile Offender if: (1) The second adjudication is for an offense occurring after adjudication on the first; and (2) The second offense occurred on or after January 1, 1995. (b) Notice to minor. The State shall serve upon the minor written notice of intention to prosecute under the provisions of this Section within 5 judicial days of the filing of a delinquency petition, adjudication upon which would mandate the minor's disposition as a Violent Juvenile Offender. (c) Petition; service. A notice to seek adjudication as a Violent Juvenile Offender shall be filed only by the State's Attorney. The petition upon which the Violent Juvenile Offender notice is based shall contain the information and averments required for all other delinquency petitions filed under this Act and its service shall be according to the provisions of this Act. No prior adjudication shall be alleged in the petition. (d) Trial. Trial on the petition shall be by jury unless the minor demands, in open court and with advice of counsel, a trial by the court without a jury. Except as otherwise provided in this Section, the provisions of this Act concerning delinquency proceedings generally shall be applicable to Violent Juvenile Offender proceedings. (e) Proof of prior adjudications. No evidence or other disclosure of prior adjudications shall be presented to the court or jury during an adjudicatory hearing provided for under this Section unless otherwise permitted by the issues properly raised in that hearing. In the event the minor who is the subject of these proceedings elects to testify on the minor's behalf, it shall be competent to introduce evidence, for purposes of impeachment, that the minor has previously been adjudicated a delinquent minor upon facts which, had the minor been tried as an adult, would have resulted in the minor's conviction of a felony or of any offense that involved dishonesty or false statement. Introduction of such evidence shall be according to the rules and procedures applicable to the impeachment of an adult defendant by prior conviction. After an admission of the facts in the petition or adjudication of delinquency, the State's Attorney may file with the court a verified written statement signed by the State's Attorney concerning any prior adjudication of an offense set forth in subsection (a) of this Section that would have been a felony or of any offense that involved dishonesty or false statement had the minor been tried as an adult. The court shall then cause the minor to be brought before it; shall inform the minor of the allegations of the statement so filed, of the minor's right to a hearing before the court on the issue of the prior adjudication and of the minor's right to counsel at the hearing; and unless the minor admits the adjudication, the court shall hear and determine the issue, and shall make a written finding of the issue. A duly authenticated copy of the record of any alleged prior adjudication shall be prima facie evidence of the prior adjudication or of any offense that involved dishonesty or false statement. Any claim that a previous adjudication offered by the State's Attorney is not a former adjudication of an offense which, had the minor been prosecuted as an adult, would have resulted in the minor's conviction of a Class 2 or greater felony involving the use or threat of force or violence, or a firearm, a felony or of any offense that involved dishonesty or false statement is waived unless duly raised at the hearing on the adjudication, or unless the State's Attorney's proof shows that the prior adjudication was not based upon proof of what would have been a felony. (f) Disposition. If the court finds that the prerequisites established in subsection (a) of this Section have been proven, it shall adjudicate the minor a Violent Juvenile Offender and commit the minor to the Department of Juvenile Justice for a period of time as provided in subsection (3) of Section 5-750, subject to the target release date provisions in subsection (c) of Section 3-2.5-85 of the Unified Code of Corrections. (g) Nothing in this Section shall preclude the State's Attorney from seeking to prosecute a minor as a habitual juvenile offender or as an adult as an alternative to prosecution as a Violent Juvenile Offender. (h) A continuance under supervision authorized by Section 5-615 of this Act shall not be permitted under this Section. (Source: P.A. 102-350, eff. 8-13-21; 103-22, eff. 8-8-23.)