People v. Kastman

Decision Date22 September 2022
Docket Number127681
PartiesTHE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS v. RICHARD KASTMAN, Appellee (Rob Jeffreys, Director of Corrections, Appellant).
CourtIllinois Supreme Court

2022 IL 127681

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
v.

RICHARD KASTMAN, Appellee

(Rob Jeffreys, Director of Corrections, Appellant).

No. 127681

Supreme Court of Illinois

September 22, 2022


JUSTICE NEVILLE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.Chief Justice Anne M. Burke and Justices Theis, Michael J. Burke, Overstreet, and Carter concurred in the judgment and opinion. Justice Holder White took no part in the decision.

OPINION

NEVILLE, JUSTICE

¶ 1 In 1994, defendant Richard Kastman was found to be a sexually dangerous person and was committed to the guardianship and custody of the director of the Department of Corrections (Department) under the Sexually Dangerous Persons Act (Act) (725 ILCS 205/0.01 et seq. (West 1994)). Kastman was granted

1

conditional release from institutional care and subsequently filed a petition requesting that the director of the Department be compelled to provide financial assistance to cover his treatment costs and living expenses. Rob Jeffreys, the Director of Corrections (Director), intervened and opposed Kastman's petition. The circuit court of Lake County granted the petition and ordered the Director to pay a portion of Kastman's monthly expenses. The Director filed an interlocutory appeal (Ill. S.Ct. R. 307(a)(1) (eff. Nov. 1, 2017)), and the appellate court affirmed. 2021 IL App (2d) 210158. This court allowed the Director's petition for leave to appeal. Ill. S.Ct. R. 315(a) (eff. Oct. 1, 2019). For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment of the appellate court.

¶ 2 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 3 A. Underlying Commitment and Conditional Release Proceedings

¶ 4 In 1993, Kastman was charged with misdemeanor offenses based on acts of public indecency involving children and disorderly conduct. In lieu of pursuing a criminal prosecution, the state's attorney for Lake County initiated a civil commitment proceeding against Kastman under the Act (725 ILCS 205/0.01 et seq. (West 1992)). Evidence presented during that proceeding indicated that Kastman suffered from pedophilia, antisocial personality disorder, exhibitionism, and alcohol dependency. Kastman was found to be a sexually dangerous person, and the circuit court granted the State's petition for civil commitment. As a result, Kastman was committed to the Director's guardianship and placed, by the Director, in the sexually dangerous persons program at Big Muddy River Correctional Center (Big Muddy), an institutional facility operated by the Department.

¶ 5 While he was confined at Big Muddy, Kastman filed several recovery applications seeking his release or for review of his treatment. His most recent application for conditional release was filed in 2013. The application was supported by the evaluation of Dr. Mark Carich, who determined that Kastman appeared to be no longer dangerous within the confines of an institution. In addition, Dr. Kristopher Clounch evaluated Kastman and supported his request for conditional release. Based on the opinions of these two evaluators, the State did not contest

2

Kastman's application, and the parties submitted an agreed order of conditional release, which was approved and entered by the circuit court on January 11, 2016.

¶ 6 The conditional release order permitted Kastman to reside outside of the institutional setting and imposed numerous restrictions on his conduct. Among other restrictions, the order (1) mandated that Kastman comply with all applicable requirements of the Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) (730 ILCS 150/1 et seq. (2016)); (2) placed him under the supervision of a Department parole agent and a county probation officer; (3) directed that, after being released from Big Muddy and transferred to the Lake County Community Based Correctional Center (CBCC), he was to seek a residence with the advice and consent of his parole agent and probation officer; (4) prohibited him from changing his living arrangement or residence without court approval and provided that, if he was evicted, he must be returned to the CBCC; (5) set numerous limits on his freedom of movement, which was monitored by a global positioning system (GPS) device; (6) subjected him, his residence, and his personal property to suspicionless and warrantless search upon request by any law enforcement, probation, or parole officer; (7) directed him to refrain from possession or consumption of drugs or alcohol; (8) mandated that he engage in treatment for substance abuse, sexual offending, and any other treatment directed by his parole agent or probation officer and waive all confidentiality to records of such treatment; (9) limited his ability to form or maintain a variety of social contacts; and (10) prohibited his use of the Internet.

¶ 7 The conditional release order further mandated that Kastman become self-supporting by obtaining employment, at least part-time, at a job and site approved by the parole and probation departments or by performing voluntary public service work at an approved site while receiving Social Security (SSI) disability benefits. The order also required that he pay all monthly living expenses and comply with the parole and probation departments in developing a budget. In addition, the order directed that, during periods of unemployment, Kastman was to actively seek employment or pursue an approved course of study or vocational training.

¶ 8 The conditional release order further provided that the Department's sex offender treatment staff at Big Muddy were to have consultation with the parole and probation departments and the community treatment personnel concerning Kastman's progress, including access to all treatment-related reports and

3

information. The order also stated that all of the conditions set forth therein were subject to periodic review and may be modified by the committing court upon motion of either party. Pursuant to this modification clause, the court subsequently amended the order to require that Kastman be placed on a continuous alcohol monitoring device (SCRAM bracelet) to ensure that he did not consume alcohol.

¶ 9 B. Kastman's Request for Financial Assistance From the Director

¶ 10 In December 2020, approximately five years after he was placed on conditional release, Kastman filed a motion seeking further modification of that order. In particular, he requested that the circuit court order the Director, as his guardian, to provide financial assistance to cover certain of his living expenses and mandated treatment costs. Kastman's motion asserted that he was unemployed, disabled, and could not afford his $300 monthly treatment costs and the $1800 monthly rent for housing that complied with SORA.

¶ 11 The Director was granted leave to intervene and opposed Kastman's motion, asserting that he was not financially responsible for Kastman because the conditional release order provided that Kastman would become self-supporting and would pay for his own monthly expenses. The Director further asserted that he had no continuing duty to provide for Kastman's housing and treatment because Kastman was no longer confined in an institutional setting.

¶ 12 At hearings conducted on February 17 and March 3, 2021, the court was advi sed of information as to Kastman's financial situation, which reflected that he had been paying for all of his essential living and treatment expenses for the previous five years but had depleted much of his accumulated funds. As of March 3, 2021, Kastman had approximately $9000 remaining in his checking account and a monthly disability income of $1130. His monthly expenses, necessitated by the conditional release order, totaled $2912. Kastman argued that, without financial assistance, he would exhaust all of his savings in approximately five months and then could not afford to comply with the terms of the conditional release order.

4

¶ 13 C. Circuit Court Decision

¶ 14 The circuit court granted Kastman's motion and entered a modified order that cited the Director's duty to provide for Kastman's "care and treatment while he's *** outside the institutional setting." The circuit court ordered the Director to contribute $2412 per month toward Kastman's essential expenses, including rent, sex offender treatment, utilities, and medical copayments. The modified order also required Kastman to pay $500 toward his monthly living expenses. In entering that order, the circuit court commented that "[o]ne has to look at the big picture and make a determination as to how anyone can move forward from being actually confined at Big Muddy." The circuit court observed, "I don't think it's incumbent on [Kastman] draining the money he has in the account until it drains completely." The court also stated, "[i]t's the Court's hope that as he goes forward, [Kastman] will be in a better position to take on more of the responsibilities with regard to pulling his weight financially in the outside placement."

¶ 15 D. Appellate Court Decision

¶ 16 The Director filed an interlocutory appeal of the circuit court's order pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 307(a) (eff Nov. 1, 2017). The appellate court affirmed, holding that the statutory duties of the Director obligate him to provide care and treatment of a sexually dangerous person and to keep such a person safe until that person has recovered and is released. 2021 IL App (2d) 210158, ¶¶ 17-22. The appellate court reasoned that a sexually dangerous person who has been conditionally released is not considered to have recovered and has not been discharged. Id. ¶ 17. Based on that circumstance, the appellate court concluded that the Director remains the guardian of a conditionally released sexually dangerous person and is obligated to provide care and treatment that is designed to effect his ward's recovery and to keep his ward safe. Id.

¶ 17 The appellate court observed that its conclusion was consistent with this court's decision in People v. Cooper, ...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT