102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB2541

 

Introduced 2/26/2021, by Sen. Melinda Bush

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
740 ILCS 21/10
740 ILCS 22/213
815 ILCS 518/5
815 ILCS 615/15  from Ch. 29, par. 1051-15

    Amends the Stalking No Contact Order Act. Includes electronic communication in the definition of "contact". Amends the Civil No Contact Order Act. Provides that the court may provide relief in a civil no contact order by restraining the respondent from having any electronic communication with the petitioner. Amends the Internet Dating, Internet Child Care, Internet Senior Care, and Internet Home Care Safety Act. Changes the definition of "internet dating service" to remove the qualifier that such services be performed for a fee. Makes a corresponding change to the Dating Referral Services Act.


LRB102 16219 LNS 21598 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB2541LRB102 16219 LNS 21598 b

1    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Stalking No Contact Order Act is amended by
5changing Section 10 as follows:
 
6    (740 ILCS 21/10)
7    Sec. 10. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act:
8    "Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts, including but
9not limited to acts in which a respondent directly,
10indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, method,
11device, or means follows, monitors, observes, surveils, or
12threatens a person, workplace, school, or place of worship,
13engages in other contact, or interferes with or damages a
14person's property or pet. A course of conduct may include
15contact via electronic communications. The incarceration of a
16person in a penal institution who commits the course of
17conduct is not a bar to prosecution under this Section.
18    "Emotional distress" means significant mental suffering,
19anxiety or alarm.
20    "Contact" includes any contact with the victim, that is
21initiated or continued without the victim's consent, or that
22is in disregard of the victim's expressed desire that the
23contact be avoided or discontinued, including but not limited

 

 

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1to being in the physical presence of the victim; appearing
2within the sight of the victim; approaching or confronting the
3victim in a public place or on private property; appearing at
4the workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or
5remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the
6victim; placing an object on, or delivering an object to,
7property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim; electronic
8communication as defined in Section 26.5-0.1 of the Criminal
9Code of 2012; and appearing at the prohibited workplace,
10school, or place of worship.
11    "Petitioner" means any named petitioner for the stalking
12no contact order or any named victim of stalking on whose
13behalf the petition is brought. "Petitioner" includes an
14authorized agent of a place of employment, an authorized agent
15of a place of worship, or an authorized agent of a school.
16    "Reasonable person" means a person in the petitioner's
17circumstances with the petitioner's knowledge of the
18respondent and the respondent's prior acts.
19    "Stalking" means engaging in a course of conduct directed
20at a specific person, and he or she knows or should know that
21this course of conduct would cause a reasonable person to fear
22for his or her safety, the safety of a workplace, school, or
23place of worship, or the safety of a third person or suffer
24emotional distress. Stalking does not include an exercise of
25the right to free speech or assembly that is otherwise lawful
26or picketing occurring at the workplace that is otherwise

 

 

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1lawful and arises out of a bona fide labor dispute, including
2any controversy concerning wages, salaries, hours, working
3conditions or benefits, including health and welfare, sick
4leave, insurance, and pension or retirement provisions, the
5making or maintaining of collective bargaining agreements, and
6the terms to be included in those agreements.
7    "Stalking no contact order" means an emergency order or
8plenary order granted under this Act, which includes a remedy
9authorized by Section 80 of this Act.
10(Source: P.A. 100-1000, eff. 1-1-19.)
 
11    Section 10. The Civil No Contact Order Act is amended by
12changing Section 213 as follows:
 
13    (740 ILCS 22/213)
14    Sec. 213. Civil no contact order; remedies.
15    (a) If the court finds that the petitioner has been a
16victim of non-consensual sexual conduct or non-consensual
17sexual penetration, a civil no contact order shall issue;
18provided that the petitioner must also satisfy the
19requirements of Section 214 on emergency orders or Section 215
20on plenary orders. The petitioner shall not be denied a civil
21no contact order because the petitioner or the respondent is a
22minor. The court, when determining whether or not to issue a
23civil no contact order, may not require physical injury on the
24person of the victim. Modification and extension of prior

 

 

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1civil no contact orders shall be in accordance with this Act.
2    (a-5) When a petition for a civil no contact order is
3granted, the order shall not be publicly available until the
4order is served on the respondent.
5    (b) (Blank).
6    (b-5) The court may provide relief as follows:
7        (1) prohibit the respondent from knowingly coming
8    within, or knowingly remaining within, a specified
9    distance from the petitioner;
10        (2) restrain the respondent from having any contact,
11    including nonphysical contact and electronic communication
12    as defined in Section 26.5-0.1 of the Criminal Code of
13    2012, with the petitioner directly, indirectly, or through
14    third parties, regardless of whether those third parties
15    know of the order;
16        (3) prohibit the respondent from knowingly coming
17    within, or knowingly remaining within, a specified
18    distance from the petitioner's residence, school, day care
19    or other specified location;
20        (4) order the respondent to stay away from any
21    property or animal owned, possessed, leased, kept, or held
22    by the petitioner and forbid the respondent from taking,
23    transferring, encumbering, concealing, harming, or
24    otherwise disposing of the property or animal; and
25        (5) order any other injunctive relief as necessary or
26    appropriate for the protection of the petitioner.

 

 

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1    (b-6) When the petitioner and the respondent attend the
2same public or private elementary, middle, or high school, the
3court when issuing a civil no contact order and providing
4relief shall consider the severity of the act, any continuing
5physical danger or emotional distress to the petitioner, the
6educational rights guaranteed to the petitioner and respondent
7under federal and State law, the availability of a transfer of
8the respondent to another school, a change of placement or a
9change of program of the respondent, the expense, difficulty,
10and educational disruption that would be caused by a transfer
11of the respondent to another school, and any other relevant
12facts of the case. The court may order that the respondent not
13attend the public, private, or non-public elementary, middle,
14or high school attended by the petitioner, order that the
15respondent accept a change of placement or program, as
16determined by the school district or private or non-public
17school, or place restrictions on the respondent's movements
18within the school attended by the petitioner. The respondent
19bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence
20that a transfer, change of placement, or change of program of
21the respondent is not available. The respondent also bears the
22burden of production with respect to the expense, difficulty,
23and educational disruption that would be caused by a transfer
24of the respondent to another school. A transfer, change of
25placement, or change of program is not unavailable to the
26respondent solely on the ground that the respondent does not

 

 

SB2541- 6 -LRB102 16219 LNS 21598 b

1agree with the school district's or private or non-public
2school's transfer, change of placement, or change of program
3or solely on the ground that the respondent fails or refuses to
4consent to or otherwise does not take an action required to
5effectuate a transfer, change of placement, or change of
6program. When a court orders a respondent to stay away from the
7public, private, or non-public school attended by the
8petitioner and the respondent requests a transfer to another
9attendance center within the respondent's school district or
10private or non-public school, the school district or private
11or non-public school shall have sole discretion to determine
12the attendance center to which the respondent is transferred.
13In the event the court order results in a transfer of the minor
14respondent to another attendance center, a change in the
15respondent's placement, or a change of the respondent's
16program, the parents, guardian, or legal custodian of the
17respondent is responsible for transportation and other costs
18associated with the transfer or change.
19    (b-7) The court may order the parents, guardian, or legal
20custodian of a minor respondent to take certain actions or to
21refrain from taking certain actions to ensure that the
22respondent complies with the order. In the event the court
23orders a transfer of the respondent to another school, the
24parents or legal guardians of the respondent are responsible
25for transportation and other costs associated with the change
26of school by the respondent.

 

 

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1    (c) Denial of a remedy may not be based, in whole or in
2part, on evidence that:
3        (1) the respondent has cause for any use of force,
4    unless that cause satisfies the standards for justifiable
5    use of force provided by Article 7 of the Criminal Code of
6    2012;
7        (2) the respondent was voluntarily intoxicated;
8        (3) the petitioner acted in self-defense or defense of
9    another, provided that, if the petitioner utilized force,
10    such force was justifiable under Article 7 of the Criminal
11    Code of 2012;
12        (4) the petitioner did not act in self-defense or
13    defense of another;
14        (5) the petitioner left the residence or household to
15    avoid further non-consensual sexual conduct or
16    non-consensual sexual penetration by the respondent; or
17        (6) the petitioner did not leave the residence or
18    household to avoid further non-consensual sexual conduct
19    or non-consensual sexual penetration by the respondent.
20    (d) Monetary damages are not recoverable as a remedy.
21(Source: P.A. 101-255, eff. 1-1-20.)
 
22    Section 15. The Internet Dating, Internet Child Care,
23Internet Senior Care, and Internet Home Care Safety Act is
24amended by changing Section 5 as follows:
 

 

 

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1    (815 ILCS 518/5)
2    Sec. 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
3    "Criminal background screening" means a name search for a
4person's criminal convictions initiated by an Internet dating
5service provider, an Internet child care service provider, an
6Internet senior care service provider, or an Internet home
7care provider and conducted by:
8        (1) searching available and regularly updated
9    government public record databases for criminal
10    convictions so long as such databases, in the aggregate,
11    provide substantial national coverage; or
12        (2) searching a database maintained by a private
13    vendor that is regularly updated and is maintained in the
14    United States with substantial national coverage of
15    criminal history records and sexual offender registries.
16     "Internet dating service" means a person or entity in the
17business, for a fee, of providing dating, romantic
18relationship, or matrimonial services principally on or
19through the Internet.
20    "Internet child care service" means a person or entity, in
21the business, for a fee, of providing access to a database,
22principally on or through the Internet, of seekers and
23providers of child care services.
24    "Internet senior care service" means a person or entity in
25the business, for a fee, of providing access to a database,
26principally on or through the Internet, of seekers and

 

 

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1providers of senior care services.
2    "Internet home care service" means a person or entity in
3the business, for a fee, of providing access to a database,
4principally on or through the Internet, of seekers and
5providers of domestic home care services including, dog
6walkers, pet sitters, housekeepers, house cleaners, house
7sitters, and tutors.
8    "Member" means a customer, client, or participant who
9submits to an Internet dating service, Internet child care
10service, Internet senior care service, or Internet home care
11service information required to access the service for the
12purpose of engaging in dating, relationship, compatibility,
13matrimonial, or social, child care, senior care, or home care
14referral.
15    "Illinois member" means a member who provides an Illinois
16billing address or zip code when registering with the service.
17    "Criminal conviction" means a conviction for any crime
18including but not limited to any sex offense that would
19qualify the offender for registration pursuant to the Sex
20Offender Registration Act or under another jurisdiction's
21equivalent statute.
22(Source: P.A. 97-1056, eff. 8-24-12; 98-458, eff. 8-16-13.)
 
23    Section 20. The Dating Referral Services Act is amended by
24changing Section 15 as follows:
 

 

 

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1    (815 ILCS 615/15)  (from Ch. 29, par. 1051-15)
2    Sec. 15. Written contract required. Every contract for
3dating referral services shall be in writing and shall be
4subject to this Act. All provisions, requirements, and
5prohibitions that are mandated by this Act and the Internet
6Dating, Internet Child Care, Internet Senior Care, and
7Internet Home Care Safety Act shall be contained in the
8written contract before it is signed by the customer. A copy of
9the written contract shall be given to the customer at the time
10the customer signs the contract. Dating referral enterprises
11shall maintain original copies of all contracts for services
12for as long as the contracts are in effect and for a period of
133 years thereafter.
14(Source: P.A. 87-450.)