Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SB2741

SB2741 Engrossed LRB104 16302 RLC 29688 b

AN ACT concerning criminal law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by changing Sections 26.5-2 and 26.5-3 as follows:

(720 ILCS 5/26.5-2)

Sec. 26.5-2. Harassment by telephone.

(a) A person commits harassment by telephone when he or she uses telephone communication for any of the following purposes:

(1) Making any comment, request, suggestion or proposal which is obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy or indecent with an intent to offend;

(1.1) Making any comment, request, suggestion, or proposal which is known or intended to cause another person significant emotional distress and would cause a reasonable person to experience significant emotional distress;

(2) Making a telephone call, whether or not conversation ensues, with intent to abuse, threaten injury to, or the property of, any person at the called number or to any of his or her family or household members or harass any person at the called number;

(3) Making or causing the telephone of another repeatedly to ring, with intent to harass any person at the called number;

(4) Making repeated telephone calls, during which conversation ensues, solely to harass any person at the called number;

(5) Making a telephone call or knowingly inducing a person to make a telephone call for the purpose of harassing another person who is under 13 years of age, regardless of whether the person under 13 years of age consents to the harassment, if the defendant is at least 16 years of age at the time of the commission of the offense; or

(6) Knowingly permitting any telephone under one's control to be used for any of the purposes mentioned herein.

(b) Every telephone directory published for distribution to members of the general public shall contain a notice setting forth a summary of the provisions of this Section. The notice shall be printed in type which is no smaller than any other type on the same page and shall be preceded by the word "WARNING". All telephone companies in this State shall cooperate with law enforcement agencies in using their facilities and personnel to detect and prevent violations of this Article.

(Source: P.A. 97-1108, eff. 1-1-13.)

(720 ILCS 5/26.5-3)

Sec. 26.5-3. Harassment through electronic communications.

(a) A person commits harassment through electronic communications when he or she uses electronic communication for any of the following purposes:

(1) Making any comment, request, suggestion or proposal which is obscene with an intent to offend;

(1.1) Making any comment, request, suggestion, or proposal which is known or intended to cause another person significant emotional distress and would cause a reasonable person to experience significant emotional distress;

(2) Interrupting, with the intent to harass, the telephone service or the electronic communication service of any person, including transmitting any file, document, or other communication which prevents that person from using his or her telephone service or electronic communications device;

(3) Transmitting to any person, with the intent to harass, abuse, or threaten injury to, or the property of, the person to whom an electronic communication is directed, or to any of his or her family or household members, and regardless of whether the communication is read in its entirety or at all, any file, document, or other communication which prevents that person from using his or her telephone service or electronic communications device;

(4) Transmitting an electronic communication or knowingly inducing a person to transmit an electronic communication for the purpose of harassing another person who is under 13 years of age, regardless of whether the person under 13 years of age consents to the harassment, if the defendant is at least 16 years of age at the time of the commission of the offense;

(5) Making repeated electronic communications, during which conversation or text or email messages ensue, solely to harass the person to whom the electronic communication is directed Threatening injury to the person or to the property of the person to whom an electronic communication is directed or to any of his or her family or household members; or

(6) Knowingly permitting any electronic communications device to be used for any of the purposes mentioned in this subsection (a).

(b) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile service providers, and providers of information services, including, but not limited to, Internet service providers and hosting service providers, are not liable under this Section, except for willful and wanton misconduct, by virtue of the transmission, storage, or caching of electronic communications or messages of others or by virtue of the provision of other related telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or information services used by others in violation of this Section.

(Source: P.A. 97-1108, eff. 1-1-13.)