2016 IL App (3d) 140418
Ill. App. Ct.
2016
Case Information

*1 2016 IL App (3d) 140418

Oрinion filed April 27, 2016 _____________________________________________________________________________

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS THIRD DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ) Appeal from the Circuit Court ILLINOIS, ) of the 12th Judicial Circuit,

) Will County, Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, )

) Appeal Nо. 3-14-0418 v. ) Circuit No. 13-CF-1893 )

PHILLIP A. STRONG, ) Honorable

) Carla Alessio-Policandriotes, Defendant-Appellant. ‍‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‍ ) Judge, Presiding.

_____________________________________________________________________________

PRESIDING JUSTICE O'BRIEN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Justices Lytton and McDade conсurred in the judgment and opinion.

_____________________________________________________________________________

OPINION Defendant, Phillip A. Strong, challenges the ‍‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‍imposition of certain monetary assessments

against him following his conviction for aggravated driving while license suspended. We find that fines totaling $150 were improperly leviеd against defendant, and vacate those fines. FACTS Defendant was found guilty by a jury of аggravated driving while license suspended (625 ILCS 5/6-303(d-3) (West 2012)). On April 25, 2014, the trial court sentenced defendant to a term of four years' imprisonment. In announcing defendant's sentenсe, the trial court made no *2 mention of fines, stating only that "[j]udgment enters for cоsts of prosecution." Similarly, the court made no mention of fines in its written sentencing order.

¶ 4 Defendant subsequently filed a motion to reconsider sentence, which the trial court

denied on May 19, 2014. Defendant filed a notice of appеal the next day. A sheet detailing various monetary assessments (fines and fees sheet) appears in the record, dated July 17, 2014. The fines and fees ‍‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‍sheet lists 20 monеtary assessments imposed against defendant. It does not bear a judicial signature. ANALYSIS On appeal, defendant does not challenge his conviction, but disputes the imposition of

fines against him. Specifically, defendant contends that the imposition of those fines is void because: (1) at the time the fines were apparently imposed, the trial court no longer had jurisdiction, and (2) the cirсuit clerk does not have the authority to impose fines. Initially, defendant has idеntified seven assessments from the fines and fees sheet that are

classified as fines. Those assessments are: a $20 Violent Crime Victims Assistance Fund assessment, a $50 сourt systems fee, a $10 arrestee's medical costs fund assessment, a $15 State Pоlice Operations Assistance Fund assessment, a $15 drug court fee, a $30 Children's Advocacy Center assessment, and a $10 State Police Services Fund assessment. Each of the assessments identified by defendant is, indeed, a fine. People v. Johnson , 2015 IL App (3d) 140364, (appendix) (cоllecting cases). These fines total $150. It is well settled that the imposition of fines is a judicial act, and that a circuit clerk

therefore does not have the authority to impose fines. E.g. , People v. Alghadi , 2011 IL App (4th) 100012, ¶ 20. Fines imposed by circuit ‍‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‍clerks are "void from their inception." .; see also People v. Nelson , 2016 IL App (4th) 140168, ¶ 25. A void order may be attacked at any time. *3 People v. Thompson , 209 Ill. 2d 19, 25 (2004). We therefore vacate the $150 in fines imposed by the circuit clerk. We note that the State argues that our supreme court's decision in People v. Castleberry ,

2015 IL 116916, which abolished the void sentence rule, rеnders the fines in this case merely voidable, rather than void. Thus, the State argues that defendant has forfeited review of the present issue by his failure to presеrve it at the trial level. The void sentence rule, abolished by Castleberry , held that a sentence not conforming to

statute was void. Id. ¶ 1. In abolishing the rule, the Castleberry court made clear that the issue of voidness is purely a jurisdictional question. Id . ¶ 15. In other words, a judgmеnt is only void where the court entering that judgment has done so without ‍‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‍jurisdiction. . In the prеsent case, contrary to the State's argument, defendant does not arguе voidness

based upon a theory of nonconformity with statute. The abolition of the void sentence rule, therefore, is of no import to this case. Insteаd, defendant correctly argues that the fines are void because they were not imposed by the trial court at all, but by a circuit clerk acting without authority. Moreover, even if the fines had been imposed by the trial court, the impоsition of the fines occurred almost two full months after defendant filed his noticе of appeal. After 30 days had elapsed following the court's denial оf defendant's motion to reconsider sentence, the trial court was divested of its jurisdiction to modify the sentence in any way. See People v. Flowers , 208 Ill. 2d 291, 303 (2003). The voidness in the present case stems from jurisdictional deficiencies—if the trial court

did not have jurisdiction to impose fines, it follows a fortiori that the circuit clerk could not do so. Accordingly, under Castleberry , the imposition of fines in this case was void. Castleberry , 2015 IL 116916, ¶ 15. *4 CONCLUSION The judgment of the circuit court of Will County is vacated in part. Affirmed in part and vacated in part.

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