The State draws our attention to the following cases that granted a credit: In re E.C., 297 Ill. App. 3d 177, 696 N.E.2d 846 (4th Dist. 1998); In re Jesus R., 326 Ill. App. 3d 1070, 762 N.E.2d 717 (4th Dist. 2002); and In re Jermaine J., 336 Ill. App. 3d 900, 784 N.E.2d 428 (3d Dist. 2003). The State also draws our attention to In re C.L.P., 332 Ill. App. 3d 640, 773 N.E.2d 188 (2d Dist. 2002), and In re J.J.M., 299 Ill. App. 3d 327, 701 N.E.2d 1170 (2d Dist. 1998), in which the respondents were not granted a credit. The State contends that section 5-710(1)(a)(v) of the Act ( 705 ILCS 405/5-710(1)(a)(v) (West 2002)) is supportive of its position.
In re E.C., 297 Ill. App.3d 177, 696 N.E.2d 846 (1998). The Appellate Court, Second District, reached the opposite conclusion in In re J.J.M., 299 Ill. App.3d 327, 701 N.E.2d 1170 (1998). The holding in J.J.M. was based on the differences between juvenile proceedings for minors and criminal proceedings for adults.
In In re E.C., 297 Ill. App. 3d 177, 180 (1998), the Fourth District held that a juvenile who is sentenced to an indeterminate term is entitled to predisposition credit. In In re J.J.M., 299 Ill. App. 3d 327 (1998), however, the Second District declined to follow E.C., holding that proceedings under the Act were not criminal and that juvenile offenders were not given "sentences" as in criminal proceedings. In re J.J.M., 299 Ill. App. 3d at 330-32.
However, the State invites us to apply the reasoning of a Second District case which held that section 5-8-7(b) of the Unified Code of Corrections (Unified Code) does not allow a juvenile delinquent who has been committed for an indeterminate term in DOC to receive credit for time served prior to his commitment. In re J.J.M., 299 Ill. App.3d 327, 332, 701 N.E.2d 1170, 1173-74 (1998); 730 ILCS 5/5-8-7(b) (West 1996) (offender entitled to credit for time served spent in custody as a result of the offense for which the sentence was imposed). The gist of the court's reasoning in J.M.M. for not extending credit for time served was juveniles are not "similarly situated" to the adult criminal defendant, and it is not the purpose of the Unified Code and the Act to treat them similarly.
Our appellate court districts are divided on the issue of whether a delinquent minor should receive sentence credit for time spent in predisposition detention. Compare In re E.C., 297 Ill. App. 3d 177 (4th Dist. 1998), and In re Jesus R., 326 Ill. App. 3d 1070 (4th Dist. 2002) (holding that juveniles sentenced to indeterminate terms are entitled to predisposition credit), with In re J.J.M., 299 Ill. App. 3d 327 (2d Dist. 1998), and In re C.L.P., 332 Ill. App. 3d 640 (2d Dist. 2002) (holding that juveniles sentenced to indeterminate terms are not entitled to predisposition credit). The appellate court in this case relied on E.C. to reach its conclusion that habitual juvenile offenders are entitled to predisposition credit.
The State argues that B.L.S. is distinguishable from the instant case because it concerned a determinate rather than an indeterminate term of commitment. The State urges us to follow the Second District's holding in In re J.J.M., 299 Ill. App. 3d 327, 701 N.E.2d 1170 (1998). The J.J.M. court ruled that a minor is not entitled to credit for time in predisposition custody against an indeterminate term of commitment.
The minor also requests that the maximum period that he may be committed to the DOC be reduced to reflect credit for the time he served in custody prior to the entry of the dispositional order that committed him to the DOC. This court has held that a juvenile delinquent who has been committed to the DOC for an indeterminate period is not entitled to credit for time served. In re J.J.M., 299 Ill. App. 3d 327, 332 (1998). We are aware that the legislature has significantly amended the Act ( 705 ILCS 405/1-1 et seq. (West 2000)) since this court's opinion in J.J.M. However, after reviewing the amended Act, we believe that J.J.M. remains sound.