Section 735 ILCS 5/2-1401 – Discharge of Judgments, 735 ILCS 5/2-1401 (2023)

Section 735 ILCS 5/2-1401 – Exoneration of Judgments

(A)Waivers of final orders and judgments may be requested after 30 days of receipt upon application under this section. Erroneous notes coram nobis and coram vobis, audit invoices and audit invoices are abolished. All remedies heretofore available and grounds for such remedy hitherto available, whether by any of the foregoing remedies or otherwise, shall in any event be available through any proceeding under this Agreement, regardless of the nature of the order or judgment from which or the legal remedy requested is the procedure in which it was included. Except as provided in the Illinois Parentage Act of 2015, there is no distinction between a lawsuit and any other proceeding, statutory or otherwise, as to the availability of relief, the grounds for relief, or the relief obtainable.

(B)The application must be made in the same proceedings in which the order or judgment was made, but is not a continuation of the same. The request must be supported by an affidavit or other appropriate evidence of matters not on file. A motion to reopen foreclosure proceedings must include, as parties to the motion, but is not limited to, all parties in the original action in addition to the current title holders of the property, current occupants, and any person or entity having a prior interest in the property submitted the application. All parties to the petition will be notified as per the regulation.

(b-5)A claimant may make a valid claim under this section if the allegations in the petition support each of the following with compelling evidence:

(1)the movant was convicted of a violent crime;

(2)the mover's involvement in the crime was related to his or her previous victim of domestic violence committed by an intimate partner;

(3)no evidence of domestic violence against the tenant was presented at the tenant's sentencing hearing;

(4)the mover was unaware of the mitigating nature of the evidence of domestic violence at the time of sentencing and through diligence could not have learned of its importance earlier; And

(5)The new evidence of domestic violence against the mover is material and non-cumulative to other evidence presented at the sentencing hearing and of such conclusive character that it would likely overturn the verdict handed down by the original trial court.

Nothing in this subsection (b-5) shall prevent a claimant from seeking any other remedy under this section or any other law otherwise available to him.

As used in this subsection (b-5):

(b-10)A claimant may make a valid claim under this section if the allegations in the petition support each of the following with compelling evidence:

(A)she was convicted of a violent crime;

(B)her involvement in the crime was a direct result of her suffering from postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis;

(C)no evidence of postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis was presented by a qualified medical person at trial or sentencing or both;

(D)She was unaware of the mitigating nature of the evidence or, if she was aware, was unable to present this defense at the time because she was suffering from postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis, or was at the time of the trial or sentencing not a recognized mental illness and as such could not receive adequate treatment; And

(E)Evidence of postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis from which the person is suffering is material and not cumulative with other evidence presented at the time of trial or conviction, and is of sufficient conclusive character as to be likely to be that of the person sentence imposed would change original court.

Nothing in this subsection (b-10) shall prevent a person from seeking any other remedy under this Article or any other law otherwise available to him.

As used in this subsection (b-10):

"Postpartum depression" refers to a mood disorder that affects many women during and after pregnancy, and usually occurs during pregnancy and up to 12 months after delivery. This depression can include anxiety disorders.

"Postpartum psychosis" refers to an extreme form of postpartum depression that can occur during pregnancy and up to 12 months after delivery. These can include loss of reality, distorted thinking, delusions, auditory and visual hallucinations, paranoia, hyperactivity, and fast-talking or mania.

(C)Except as provided in Section 20b of the Adoption Act and Section 2-32 of the Juvenile Courts Act 1987, in an application based on Section 116-3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1963 or subsection (b-10) of that section, or in an application for annulment and Vaccination of convictions under the Cannabis Control Act, as provided for in subsection (i) of Section 5.2 of the Criminal Identification Act, the request must be made no later than 2 years after receipt of the order or judgment. When calculating the period of 2 years, the time in which the person seeking help is legally incapacitated or forced or the reason for exoneration is fraudulently concealed is excluded.

(c-5)Any person may petition and commence proceedings under this Section at any time if their final order or judgment, based on a guilty plea or nolo contendere, has potential consequences under federal immigration law.

(D)Filing a petition under this section will not affect the order or judgment or suspend its operation.

(e)Unless jurisdiction is clearly apparent from the record itself, the vacating or changing of any order or judgment under the provisions of this Section shall not affect the right, title, or interest in or to any real or personal property of any person, not a party to the original ones Any action acquired for consideration after the receipt of the order or judgment but prior to the filing of the application nor affect the rights of any person, who is not a party to the original action arising out of a deed of sale made prior to the filing of the application, pursuant to a sale pursuant to the order or the judgement. If a request to reopen foreclosure proceedings is made under this Section, notwithstanding the provisions of Section 15-1701 of this Code, the purchaser or subsequent purchaser of real estate subject to foreclosure who was not a party to the mortgage foreclosure proceedings is entitled to possession of the real estate to remain until the foreclosure action is dismissed or the previously excluded defendant redeems from the foreclosure if the buyer has owned the property for more than 6 months.

(F)Nothing in this Section shall affect any existing right to remedy any void order or judgment or to use any existing method of obtaining such remedy.

735 ILCS 5/2-1401

Edited by P.A. 102-0813, § 675, eff. 05/13/2022.

Edited by P.A. 102-0639, § 15, eff. 08/27/2021.

Edited by P.A. 102-0558, § 770, eff. 08/20/2021.

Edited by P.A. 101-0411, § 10, eff. 08/16/2019.

Edited by P.A. 101-0027, § 900-42, eff. 06/25/2019.

Edited by P.A. 100-1048, § 5, eff. 08/23/2018.

Edited by P.A. 099-0642, § 565, eff. 28.7.2016.

Edited by P.A. 099-0384, § 10, eff. 1/1/2016.

Edited by P.A. 099-0085, § 964, eff. 1/1/2016.

Edited by P.A. 095-0331, § 1085, eff. 8/21/2007.

PA 90-18, eff. 1.7.97; 90-27, eff. 1-1-98; 90-141, eff. 1-1-98; 90-655, eff. 30.07.98.