UST Periods of Treatment

This section explains the statute in plain language, presented in four periods corresponding to the structure of the proceedings outlined in the statute: 

• Fitness Issues Raised: 725 ILCS 5/104-11
• Examination Ordered: 725 ILCS 5/104-13
• Examination & Report: 725 ILCS 5/104-15
• Fitness Hearing: 725 ILCS 5/104-16
• Treatment Ordered: 725 ILCS 5/104-17
• IDHS Pre-Placement Evaluation: 725 ILCS 5/104-17(b)

• Admission Report and Treatment Plan: 725 ILCS 5/104-17 (b)(e)
• Treatment and Progress Report: 725 ILCS 5/104-18
• Fitness Review Hearings: 725 ILCS 5/104-20(a)
• Fit or Fit with Special Provisions: 725 ILCS 5/104-20 (e), 104-22
• State’s Attorneys Options: 725 ILCS 5/104-23

• Extended Treatment Ordered, “Not Not Guilty:” 725 ILCS 5/104-25(d)
• Treatment and Progress Reports (Extended): 725 ILCS 5/104-18
• Fitness Review Hearings (Extended): 725 ILCS 5/104-20(a)
• End-of-Extended Treatment Period Hearing: 725 ILCS 5/104-25(g)

• Civil Commitment (g)(2): 725 ILCS 5/104-25(g)
• Treatment and Progress Reports (Post-Extended): 725 ILCS 5/104-25(g)
• Fitness Review Hearing (Post-Extended): 725 ILCS 5/104-25(g)(2)(i)

Throughout this process, it is important to remember the underlying purpose of fitness restoration. The goal of UST treatment is to restore a person’s ability to participate meaningfully in their own defense, not as punishment or long-term care.

Two factors drive how an individual UST case unfolds: 

1. The index offense sets the clock. The severity of the charge determines the maximum length of treatment. 
2. Outpatient is the statutory default. The court must select the least restrictive treatment therapeutically appropriate. 

From there, statute 725 ILCS 5/104 lays out the sequence: where treatment happens, how long it can last, when hearings are scheduled, and what reports are due.