HB3375 Summary

• Allows petitioners to file post-conviction petitions challenging actual innocence claims based on newly discovered evidence in death penalty cases without standard time limitations.

• Permits courts to dismiss frivolous or patently meritless actual innocence petitions with written findings of fact and conclusions of law, with orders served on petitioner by certified mail within 10 days.

• Exempts actual innocence claims from the general 6-month filing deadline after Supreme Court proceedings conclude or 3-year deadline from conviction date for defendants who did not file direct appeals.

• Allows defendants convicted of felony offenses committed before age 21 to file successive post-conviction petitions claiming sentences violate Illinois Constitution Article I, Section 11 without demonstrating cause.

• Requires petitioners to specify in petition heading that it is filed under this Section, allowing trial courts to dismiss petitions that fail to include this designation without evaluating the merits.