Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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430 ILCS 85/2-20

    (430 ILCS 85/2-20)
    Sec. 2-20. Employment of carnival and amusement enterprise workers.

(a) Beginning on January 1, 2008, no person, firm, corporation, or other entity that owns or operates a carnival, amusement enterprise, or fair shall allow a person to perform work associated with an amusement ride or amusement attraction, including any volunteer work, who (i) has been convicted of any offense set forth in Article 11 of the Criminal Code of  1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, (ii) is a registered sex offender, as defined in the Sex Offender Registration Act, or (iii) has ever been convicted of any offense set forth in Article 9 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012.

(b) A person, firm, corporation, or other entity that owns or operates a carnival, amusement enterprise, or fair must conduct a criminal history records check and perform a check of the National Sex Offender Public Registry for carnival or amusement enterprise workers at the time they are hired, and annually thereafter except if they are in the continued employ of the entity.

The criminal history records check performed under this subsection (b) shall be performed by the Illinois State Police, another State or federal law enforcement agency, or a business belonging to the Professional Background Screeners Association. Any criminal history checks performed by the Illinois State Police shall be performed pursuant to the Illinois Uniform Conviction Information Act.

(c) Any person, firm, corporation, or other entity that owns or operates a carnival, amusement enterprise,  or fair must have a substance abuse policy in place for its workers, which shall include random drug testing of carnival or amusement enterprise workers.

(d) Any person, firm, corporation, or other entity that owns or operates a carnival, amusement enterprise, or fair that violates the provisions of subsection (a) of this Section or fails to conduct a criminal history records check or a sex offender registry check for carnival or amusement enterprise workers in its employ, as required by subsection (b) of this Section, or fails to maintain a substance abuse policy as required by subsection (c) of this Section shall be assessed a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $5,000 for a first offense, shall be assessed a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $10,000 for a second offense, and a subsequent offense shall result in the revocation of a permit to operate in accordance with Section 2-8.1. The collection of these penalties shall be enforced in a civil action brought by the Attorney General on behalf of the Department.

(e) Unless the owner or operator knew or reasonably should have known that the information was falsified, a carnival, amusement enterprise, or fair owner is not responsible for the accuracy of:

(1) any personal information submitted by a carnival

or amusement enterprise worker for criminal history records check purposes; or

(2) any information provided by a third party for a

criminal history records check or a sex offender registry check.

(f) Recordkeeping requirements.  Any person, firm, corporation, or other entity that owns or operates a carnival, amusement enterprise, or fair subject to the provisions of this Act shall make, preserve, and make available to the Department, upon its request, all records that are required by this Act, including but not limited to a written substance abuse policy, evidence of the required criminal history records check and sex offender registry check, and any other information the Director may deem necessary and appropriate for enforcement of this Act.

(g) A carnival, amusement enterprise, or fair owner shall not be liable to any employee in carrying out the requirements of this Section.

(h)   At all times that an amusement ride or amusement attraction is in use, an owner or operator shall ensure that at least one operator working on site has been certified to provide first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

(Source: P.A. 103-177, eff. 1-1-24.)