Court: Appellate Court of Illinois; March 19, 1987; Illinois; State Appellate Court
Petitioner Wilma Simpson Driskell, Jr. appeals the Sangamon County circuit court's denial of her motion to expunge prior guardianship orders for her husband, Simpson Driskell, Jr., who was adjudicated as mentally ill. The court affirms the denial. Driskell was declared feebleminded in 1930 and subsequently found incompetent in 1939, leading to the appointment of conservators (now guardians) for his person and estate. The current guardians are the First National Bank of Springfield and John Ray. Although Driskell was discharged from the Illinois Department of Mental Health in 1974, he remains under guardianship. The petitioner argues that under section 3.907 of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code, Driskell should be deemed free from legal disability 180 days after January 1, 1979, due to a lack of a competency review following his 1930 adjudication. She contends that the original feeblemindedness ruling constituted a finding of mental illness that required such a review, which did not occur. The 1930 ruling stemmed from legislation defining "feeble-minded persons" as those incapable of managing their affairs due to mental defectiveness, differentiating them from individuals classified as "insane" under separate laws governing mental health commitments and conservatorship.
Section 2 of the relevant act established procedures for appointing conservators, allowing such appointments without a jury trial if a respondent had been deemed insane or feebleminded in county court. This provision was applicable when Driskell was conservatively appointed in December 1939, presumably based on a certified copy of the adjudication declaring him feebleminded. However, this legislation was repealed in January 1940 and replaced by the Probate Act of 1939, which limited summary proceedings to cases where the respondent was adjudicated insane. The definition of "mentally ill" was later formalized, and subsequent amendments included feeblemindedness as a basis for summary conservatorship appointments, but the procedure for such appointments was eventually abolished in 1965.
Section 3.907 of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code refers to individuals under disability due to a court order, particularly those declared mentally ill, thus excluding Driskell, who was found feebleminded. The trial court highlighted the legislative distinction between feeblemindedness and mental illness, evident in the separate treatment procedures established in the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code. The court concluded that Section 3.907 does not apply to Driskell for two reasons: he was not adjudicated mentally ill, and the section implies a restoration of legal competency for those previously declared mentally ill without a guardian. Driskell's conservatorship, governed by the Probate Act of 1975, allows for the modification or termination of guardianship based on his capacity to manage personal or estate affairs. The court affirmed the decision, with justices GREEN and LUND concurring.
