103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB2683

 

Introduced 1/10/2024, by Sen. Steve Stadelman

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
740 ILCS 21/10
740 ILCS 21/80

    Amends the Stalking No Contact Order Act. Defines a course of conduct to include using any electronic tracking system or acquiring tracking information to determine a targeted person's location, moment, or travel patterns. Requires an order under this Act to prohibit this course of conduct.


LRB103 36494 LNS 66600 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB2683LRB103 36494 LNS 66600 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 Sections 10 and 80 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
15using any electronic tracking system or acquiring tracking
16information to determine the targeted person's location,
17movement, or travel patterns. A course of conduct may also
18include contact via electronic communications. The
19incarceration of a person in a penal institution who commits
20the course of conduct is not a bar to prosecution under this
21Section.
22    "Emotional distress" means significant mental suffering,
23anxiety or alarm.

 

 

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1    "Contact" includes any contact with the victim, that is
2initiated or continued without the victim's consent, or that
3is in disregard of the victim's expressed desire that the
4contact be avoided or discontinued, including but not limited
5to being in the physical presence of the victim; appearing
6within the sight of the victim; approaching or confronting the
7victim in a public place or on private property; appearing at
8the workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or
9remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the
10victim; placing an object on, or delivering an object to,
11property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim; electronic
12communication as defined in Section 26.5-0.1 of the Criminal
13Code of 2012; and appearing at the prohibited workplace,
14school, or place of worship.
15    "Petitioner" means any named petitioner for the stalking
16no contact order or any named victim of stalking on whose
17behalf the petition is brought. "Petitioner" includes an
18authorized agent of a place of employment, an authorized agent
19of a place of worship, or an authorized agent of a school.
20    "Reasonable person" means a person in the petitioner's
21circumstances with the petitioner's knowledge of the
22respondent and the respondent's prior acts.
23    "Stalking" means engaging in a course of conduct directed
24at a specific person, and he or she knows or should know that
25this course of conduct would cause a reasonable person to fear
26for his or her safety, the safety of a workplace, school, or

 

 

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1place of worship, or the safety of a third person or suffer
2emotional distress. Stalking does not include an exercise of
3the right to free speech or assembly that is otherwise lawful
4or picketing occurring at the workplace that is otherwise
5lawful and arises out of a bona fide labor dispute, including
6any controversy concerning wages, salaries, hours, working
7conditions or benefits, including health and welfare, sick
8leave, insurance, and pension or retirement provisions, the
9making or maintaining of collective bargaining agreements, and
10the terms to be included in those agreements.
11    "Stalking no contact order" means an emergency order or
12plenary order granted under this Act, which includes a remedy
13authorized by Section 80 of this Act.
14(Source: P.A. 102-220, eff. 1-1-22.)
 
15    (740 ILCS 21/80)
16    Sec. 80. Stalking no contact orders; remedies.
17    (a) If the court finds that the petitioner has been a
18victim of stalking, a stalking no contact order shall issue;
19provided that the petitioner must also satisfy the
20requirements of Section 95 on emergency orders or Section 100
21on plenary orders. The petitioner shall not be denied a
22stalking no contact order because the petitioner or the
23respondent is a minor. The court, when determining whether or
24not to issue a stalking no contact order, may not require
25physical injury on the person of the petitioner. Modification

 

 

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1and extension of prior stalking no contact orders shall be in
2accordance with this Act.
3    (b) A stalking no contact order shall order one or more of
4the following:
5        (1) prohibit the respondent from threatening to commit
6    or committing stalking;
7        (2) order the respondent not to have any contact with
8    the petitioner or a third person specifically named by the
9    court;
10        (3) prohibit the respondent from knowingly coming
11    within, or knowingly remaining within a specified distance
12    of the petitioner or the petitioner's residence, school,
13    daycare, or place of employment, or any specified place
14    frequented by the petitioner; however, the court may order
15    the respondent to stay away from the respondent's own
16    residence, school, or place of employment only if the
17    respondent has been provided actual notice of the
18    opportunity to appear and be heard on the petition;
19        (4) prohibit the respondent from possessing a Firearm
20    Owners Identification Card, or possessing or buying
21    firearms; and
22        (5) prohibit the respondent from using any electronic
23    tracking system or acquiring tracking information to
24    determine the petitioner's location, movement, or travel
25    pattern; and
26        (6) (5) order other injunctive relief the court

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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1parents, guardian, or legal custodian of the respondent are
2responsible for transportation and other costs associated with
3the change of school by the respondent.
4    (b-7) The court shall not hold a school district or
5private or non-public school or any of its employees in civil
6or criminal contempt unless the school district or private or
7non-public school has been allowed to intervene.
8    (b-8) The court may hold the parents, guardian, or legal
9custodian of a minor respondent in civil or criminal contempt
10for a violation of any provision of any order entered under
11this Act for conduct of the minor respondent in violation of
12this Act if the parents, guardian, or legal custodian
13directed, encouraged, or assisted the respondent minor in such
14conduct.
15    (c) The court may award the petitioner costs and attorneys
16fees if a stalking no contact order is granted.
17    (d) Monetary damages are not recoverable as a remedy.
18    (e) If the stalking no contact order prohibits the
19respondent from possessing a Firearm Owner's Identification
20Card, or possessing or buying firearms; the court shall
21confiscate the respondent's Firearm Owner's Identification
22Card and immediately return the card to the Illinois State
23Police Firearm Owner's Identification Card Office.
24(Source: P.A. 102-538, eff. 8-20-21.)