98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB0136

 

Introduced 1/14/2013, by Rep. Jil Tracy

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
720 ILCS 5/12-7.3  from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.3
720 ILCS 5/12-7.4  from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.4

    Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that the stalking and aggravated stalking statutes do not apply to an individual, organization, or employee of a governmental entity monitoring or attentive to compliance with public or worker safety laws, wage and hour requirements, or other statutory requirements when the monitoring or attentiveness occurs at the workplace or worksite.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning criminal law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by changing
5Sections 12-7.3 and 12-7.4 as follows:
 
6    (720 ILCS 5/12-7.3)  (from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.3)
7    Sec. 12-7.3. Stalking.
8    (a) A person commits stalking when he or she knowingly
9engages in a course of conduct directed at a specific person,
10and he or she knows or should know that this course of conduct
11would cause a reasonable person to:
12        (1) fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third
13    person; or
14        (2) suffer other emotional distress.
15    (a-3) A person commits stalking when he or she, knowingly
16and without lawful justification, on at least 2 separate
17occasions follows another person or places the person under
18surveillance or any combination thereof and:
19        (1) at any time transmits a threat of immediate or
20    future bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement or
21    restraint and the threat is directed towards that person or
22    a family member of that person; or
23        (2) places that person in reasonable apprehension of

 

 

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1    immediate or future bodily harm, sexual assault,
2    confinement or restraint to or of that person or a family
3    member of that person.
4    (a-5) A person commits stalking when he or she has
5previously been convicted of stalking another person and
6knowingly and without lawful justification on one occasion:
7        (1) follows that same person or places that same person
8    under surveillance; and
9        (2) transmits a threat of immediate or future bodily
10    harm, sexual assault, confinement or restraint to that
11    person or a family member of that person.
12    (b) Sentence. Stalking is a Class 4 felony; a second or
13subsequent conviction is a Class 3 felony.
14    (c) Definitions. For purposes of this Section:
15        (1) "Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts, including
16    but not limited to acts in which a defendant directly,
17    indirectly, or through third parties, by any action,
18    method, device, or means follows, monitors, observes,
19    surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about, a person,
20    engages in other non-consensual contact, or interferes
21    with or damages a person's property or pet. A course of
22    conduct may include contact via electronic communications.
23        (2) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of
24    signs, signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of
25    any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire,
26    radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical

 

 

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1    system. "Electronic communication" includes transmissions
2    by a computer through the Internet to another computer.
3        (3) "Emotional distress" means significant mental
4    suffering, anxiety or alarm.
5        (4) "Family member" means a parent, grandparent,
6    brother, sister, or child, whether by whole blood,
7    half-blood, or adoption and includes a step-grandparent,
8    step-parent, step-brother, step-sister or step-child.
9    "Family member" also means any other person who regularly
10    resides in the household, or who, within the prior 6
11    months, regularly resided in the household.
12        (5) "Follows another person" means (i) to move in
13    relative proximity to a person as that person moves from
14    place to place or (ii) to remain in relative proximity to a
15    person who is stationary or whose movements are confined to
16    a small area. "Follows another person" does not include a
17    following within the residence of the defendant.
18        (6) "Non-consensual contact" means any contact with
19    the victim that is initiated or continued without the
20    victim's consent, including but not limited to being in the
21    physical presence of the victim; appearing within the sight
22    of the victim; approaching or confronting the victim in a
23    public place or on private property; appearing at the
24    workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or
25    remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the
26    victim; or placing an object on, or delivering an object

 

 

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1    to, property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim.
2        (7) "Places a person under surveillance" means: (1)
3    remaining present outside the person's school, place of
4    employment, vehicle, other place occupied by the person, or
5    residence other than the residence of the defendant; or (2)
6    placing an electronic tracking device on the person or the
7    person's property.
8        (8) "Reasonable person" means a person in the victim's
9    situation.
10        (9) "Transmits a threat" means a verbal or written
11    threat or a threat implied by a pattern of conduct or a
12    combination of verbal or written statements or conduct.
13    (d) Exemptions.
14        (1) This Section does not apply to any individual, or
15    organization, or employee of a governmental entity (i)
16    monitoring or attentive to compliance with public or worker
17    safety laws, wage and hour requirements, or other statutory
18    requirements when the monitoring or attentiveness occurs
19    at the workplace or worksite, or (ii) picketing occurring
20    at the workplace or worksite that is otherwise lawful and
21    arises out of a bona fide labor dispute, including any
22    controversy concerning wages, salaries, hours, working
23    conditions or benefits, including health and welfare, sick
24    leave, insurance, and pension or retirement provisions,
25    the making or maintaining of collective bargaining
26    agreements, and the terms to be included in those

 

 

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1    agreements.
2        (2) This Section does not apply to an exercise of the
3    right to free speech or assembly that is otherwise lawful.
4        (3) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile
5    service providers, and providers of information services,
6    including, but not limited to, Internet service providers
7    and hosting service providers, are not liable under this
8    Section, except for willful and wanton misconduct, by
9    virtue of the transmission, storage, or caching of
10    electronic communications or messages of others or by
11    virtue of the provision of other related
12    telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or
13    information services used by others in violation of this
14    Section.
15    (d-5) The incarceration of a person in a penal institution
16who commits the course of conduct or transmits a threat is not
17a bar to prosecution under this Section.
18    (d-10) A defendant who directed the actions of a third
19party to violate this Section, under the principles of
20accountability set forth in Article 5 of this Code, is guilty
21of violating this Section as if the same had been personally
22done by the defendant, without regard to the mental state of
23the third party acting at the direction of the defendant.
24(Source: P.A. 96-686, eff. 1-1-10; 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11;
2597-311, eff. 8-11-11; 97-1109, eff. 1-1-13.)
 

 

 

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1    (720 ILCS 5/12-7.4)  (from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.4)
2    Sec. 12-7.4. Aggravated stalking.
3    (a) A person commits aggravated stalking when he or she
4commits stalking and:
5        (1) causes bodily harm to the victim;
6        (2) confines or restrains the victim; or
7        (3) violates a temporary restraining order, an order of
8    protection, a stalking no contact order, a civil no contact
9    order, or an injunction prohibiting the behavior described
10    in subsection (b)(1) of Section 214 of the Illinois
11    Domestic Violence Act of 1986.
12    (a-1) A person commits aggravated stalking when he or she
13is required to register under the Sex Offender Registration Act
14or has been previously required to register under that Act and
15commits the offense of stalking when the victim of the stalking
16is also the victim of the offense for which the sex offender is
17required to register under the Sex Offender Registration Act or
18a family member of the victim.
19    (b) Sentence. Aggravated stalking is a Class 3 felony; a
20second or subsequent conviction is a Class 2 felony.
21    (c) Exemptions.
22        (1) This Section does not apply to any individual, or
23    organization, or employee of a governmental entity (i)
24    monitoring or attentive to compliance with public or worker
25    safety laws, wage and hour requirements, or other statutory
26    requirements when the monitoring or attentiveness occurs

 

 

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1    at the workplace or worksite, or (ii) picketing occurring
2    at the workplace or worksite that is otherwise lawful and
3    arises out of a bona fide labor dispute including any
4    controversy concerning wages, salaries, hours, working
5    conditions or benefits, including health and welfare, sick
6    leave, insurance, and pension or retirement provisions,
7    the managing or maintenance of collective bargaining
8    agreements, and the terms to be included in those
9    agreements.
10        (2) This Section does not apply to an exercise of the
11    right of free speech or assembly that is otherwise lawful.
12        (3) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile
13    service providers, and providers of information services,
14    including, but not limited to, Internet service providers
15    and hosting service providers, are not liable under this
16    Section, except for willful and wanton misconduct, by
17    virtue of the transmission, storage, or caching of
18    electronic communications or messages of others or by
19    virtue of the provision of other related
20    telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or
21    information services used by others in violation of this
22    Section.
23    (d) A defendant who directed the actions of a third party
24to violate this Section, under the principles of accountability
25set forth in Article 5 of this Code, is guilty of violating
26this Section as if the same had been personally done by the

 

 

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1defendant, without regard to the mental state of the third
2party acting at the direction of the defendant.
3(Source: P.A. 96-686, eff. 1-1-10; 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11;
497-311, eff. 8-11-11; 97-468, eff. 1-1-12; 97-1109, eff.
51-1-13.)