ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. This week he covers Domestic violence form, Cell phones and driving, Personal property exemptions and the Open Meetings Act. More information on each bill is available below the video.

Domestic violence form. House Bill 5922 (Cunningham, D-Chicago; Kotowski, D-Park Ridge) allows a statutory short-form notification to be used to serve on respondents in the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986, the Stalking No Contact Order Act, and the Civil No Contact Order Act.

Passed both chambers; effective January 1, 2013.

Cell phones and driving. Senate Bill 2488 (Garrett, D-Lake Forest; May, D-Highland Park) allows a driver in a construction or school zone to use a cell phone in voice-operated (instead of “voice-activated”) mode or by pressing a single button to initiate or terminate a voice communication. This also includes using a headset in this manner.

Drop date August 5, 2012; effective January 1, 2013.

House Bill 5099 (Costello, D-Sparta; Haine, D-Alton) prohibits a driver from using a cell phone or video within 500 feet of an emergency scene. Exempts using a cell phone in the voice-operated mode.

Passed both chambers; effective immediately.

House Bill 5101 (D’Amico, D-Chicago; Sandoval, D-Cicero) prohibits a driver from using a hand-held cell phone or texting while driving a commercial motor vehicle. It does make some exceptions such as using voice-operated mode.

Passed both chambers; effective January 1, 2012.

Personal property exemptions. Senate Bill 3552 (Sandack, R-Lombard; Mathias, R-Buffalo Grove) exempts from judgment a revocable or irrevocable trust that names the wife or husband of the insured or which names child, parent, or other person dependent upon the insured as the primary beneficiary of the trust.

Passed both chambers; effective July 1, 2012.

Open Meetings Act. House Bill 4687 (Pihos, R-Glen Ellyn; Dillard, R-Westmont) makes two changes to the Open Meetings Act. (1) An agenda must set forth the general subject matter of any resolution or ordinance that will be the subject of final action at a meeting. (2) The public body must ensure that at least one copy of any notice and agenda for the meeting is continuously available for public review during the entire 48-hour period before the meeting. Posting on its website satisfies this requirement, but if a notice or agenda is not continuously available for the full 48-hour period because of events outside of the control of the public body, then that lack of availability does not invalidate any meeting or action taken at a meeting.

Drop date August 18, 2012; effective January 1, 2013.

Supervision and speeding. Senate Bill 2888 (Crotty, D-Oak Forest; Mathias, R-Buffalo Grove) prohibits a court from ordering supervision if a defendant was speeding 31 miles per hour or more (instead of 40 mph) on a highway or 25 miles per hour or more in an urban district.

Drop date August 12, 2012; effective July 1, 2013.