Public Act 098-1125
 
SB3538 EnrolledLRB098 19359 RLC 55393 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
Section 17-2 as follows:
 
    (720 ILCS 5/17-2)  (from Ch. 38, par. 17-2)
    Sec. 17-2. False personation; solicitation.
    (a) False personation; solicitation.
        (1) A person commits a false personation when he or she
    knowingly and falsely represents himself or herself to be a
    member or representative of any veterans' or public safety
    personnel organization or a representative of any
    charitable organization, or when he or she knowingly
    exhibits or uses in any manner any decal, badge or insignia
    of any charitable, public safety personnel, or veterans'
    organization when not authorized to do so by the
    charitable, public safety personnel, or veterans'
    organization. "Public safety personnel organization" has
    the meaning ascribed to that term in Section 1 of the
    Solicitation for Charity Act.
        (2) A person commits a false personation when he or she
    knowingly and falsely represents himself or herself to be a
    veteran in seeking employment or public office. In this
    paragraph, "veteran" means a person who has served in the
    Armed Services or Reserve Forces of the United States.
        (2.5) A person commits a false personation when he or
    she knowingly and falsely represents himself or herself to
    be:
            (A) another actual person and does an act in such
        assumed character with intent to intimidate, threaten,
        injure, defraud, or to obtain a benefit from another;
        or
            (B) a representative of an actual person or
        organization and does an act in such false capacity
        with intent to obtain a benefit or to injure or defraud
        another.
        (3) No person shall knowingly use the words "Police",
    "Police Department", "Patrolman", "Sergeant",
    "Lieutenant", "Peace Officer", "Sheriff's Police",
    "Sheriff", "Officer", "Law Enforcement", "Trooper",
    "Deputy", "Deputy Sheriff", "State Police", or any other
    words to the same effect (i) in the title of any
    organization, magazine, or other publication without the
    express approval of the named public safety personnel
    organization's governing board or (ii) in combination with
    the name of any state, state agency, public university, or
    unit of local government without the express written
    authorization of that state, state agency, public
    university, or unit of local government.
        (4) No person may knowingly claim or represent that he
    or she is acting on behalf of any public safety personnel
    organization when soliciting financial contributions or
    selling or delivering or offering to sell or deliver any
    merchandise, goods, services, memberships, or
    advertisements unless the chief of the police department,
    fire department, and the corporate or municipal authority
    thereof, or the sheriff has first entered into a written
    agreement with the person or with an organization with
    which the person is affiliated and the agreement permits
    the activity and specifies and states clearly and fully the
    purpose for which the proceeds of the solicitation,
    contribution, or sale will be used.
        (5) No person, when soliciting financial contributions
    or selling or delivering or offering to sell or deliver any
    merchandise, goods, services, memberships, or
    advertisements may claim or represent that he or she is
    representing or acting on behalf of any nongovernmental
    organization by any name which includes "officer", "peace
    officer", "police", "law enforcement", "trooper",
    "sheriff", "deputy", "deputy sheriff", "State police", or
    any other word or words which would reasonably be
    understood to imply that the organization is composed of
    law enforcement personnel unless:
            (A) the person is actually representing or acting
        on behalf of the nongovernmental organization;
            (B) the nongovernmental organization is controlled
        by and governed by a membership of and represents a
        group or association of active duty peace officers,
        retired peace officers, or injured peace officers; and
            (C) before commencing the solicitation or the sale
        or the offers to sell any merchandise, goods, services,
        memberships, or advertisements, a written contract
        between the soliciting or selling person and the
        nongovernmental organization, which specifies and
        states clearly and fully the purposes for which the
        proceeds of the solicitation, contribution, or sale
        will be used, has been entered into.
        (6) No person, when soliciting financial contributions
    or selling or delivering or offering to sell or deliver any
    merchandise, goods, services, memberships, or
    advertisements, may knowingly claim or represent that he or
    she is representing or acting on behalf of any
    nongovernmental organization by any name which includes
    the term "fireman", "fire fighter", "paramedic", or any
    other word or words which would reasonably be understood to
    imply that the organization is composed of fire fighter or
    paramedic personnel unless:
            (A) the person is actually representing or acting
        on behalf of the nongovernmental organization;
            (B) the nongovernmental organization is controlled
        by and governed by a membership of and represents a
        group or association of active duty, retired, or
        injured fire fighters (for the purposes of this
        Section, "fire fighter" has the meaning ascribed to
        that term in Section 2 of the Illinois Fire Protection
        Training Act) or active duty, retired, or injured
        emergency medical technicians - ambulance, emergency
        medical technicians - intermediate, emergency medical
        technicians - paramedic, ambulance drivers, or other
        medical assistance or first aid personnel; and
            (C) before commencing the solicitation or the sale
        or delivery or the offers to sell or deliver any
        merchandise, goods, services, memberships, or
        advertisements, the soliciting or selling person and
        the nongovernmental organization have entered into a
        written contract that specifies and states clearly and
        fully the purposes for which the proceeds of the
        solicitation, contribution, or sale will be used.
        (7) No person may knowingly claim or represent that he
    or she is an airman, airline employee, airport employee, or
    contractor at an airport in order to obtain the uniform,
    identification card, license, or other identification
    paraphernalia of an airman, airline employee, airport
    employee, or contractor at an airport.
        (8) No person, firm, copartnership, or corporation
    (except corporations organized and doing business under
    the Pawners Societies Act) shall knowingly use a name that
    contains in it the words "Pawners' Society".
    (b) False personation; public officials and employees. A
person commits a false personation if he or she knowingly and
falsely represents himself or herself to be any of the
following:
        (1) An attorney authorized to practice law for purposes
    of compensation or consideration. This paragraph (b)(1)
    does not apply to a person who unintentionally fails to pay
    attorney registration fees established by Supreme Court
    Rule.
        (2) A public officer or a public employee or an
    official or employee of the federal government.
        (2.3) A public officer, a public employee, or an
    official or employee of the federal government, and the
    false representation is made in furtherance of the
    commission of felony.
        (2.7) A public officer or a public employee, and the
    false representation is for the purpose of effectuating
    identity theft as defined in Section 16-30 of this Code.
        (3) A peace officer.
        (4) A peace officer while carrying a deadly weapon.
        (5) A peace officer in attempting or committing a
    felony.
        (6) A peace officer in attempting or committing a
    forcible felony.
        (7) The parent, legal guardian, or other relation of a
    minor child to any public official, public employee, or
    elementary or secondary school employee or administrator.
        (7.5) The legal guardian, including any representative
    of a State or public guardian, of a disabled person
    appointed under Article XIa of the Probate Act of 1975.
        (8) A fire fighter.
        (9) A fire fighter while carrying a deadly weapon.
        (10) A fire fighter in attempting or committing a
    felony.
        (11) An emergency management worker of any
    jurisdiction in this State.
        (12) An emergency management worker of any
    jurisdiction in this State in attempting or committing a
    felony. For the purposes of this subsection (b), "emergency
    management worker" has the meaning provided under Section
    2-6.6 of this Code.
    (b-5) The trier of fact may infer that a person falsely
represents himself or herself to be a public officer or a
public employee or an official or employee of the federal
government if the person:
        (1) wears or displays without authority any uniform,
    badge, insignia, or facsimile thereof by which a public
    officer or public employee or official or employee of the
    federal government is lawfully distinguished; or
        (2) falsely expresses by word or action that he or she
    is a public officer or public employee or official or
    employee of the federal government and is acting with
    approval or authority of a public agency or department.
    (c) Fraudulent advertisement of a corporate name.
        (1) A company, association, or individual commits
    fraudulent advertisement of a corporate name if he, she, or
    it, not being incorporated, puts forth a sign or
    advertisement and assumes, for the purpose of soliciting
    business, a corporate name.
        (2) Nothing contained in this subsection (c) prohibits
    a corporation, company, association, or person from using a
    divisional designation or trade name in conjunction with
    its corporate name or assumed name under Section 4.05 of
    the Business Corporation Act of 1983 or, if it is a member
    of a partnership or joint venture, from doing partnership
    or joint venture business under the partnership or joint
    venture name. The name under which the joint venture or
    partnership does business may differ from the names of the
    members. Business may not be conducted or transacted under
    that joint venture or partnership name, however, unless all
    provisions of the Assumed Business Name Act have been
    complied with. Nothing in this subsection (c) permits a
    foreign corporation to do business in this State without
    complying with all Illinois laws regulating the doing of
    business by foreign corporations. No foreign corporation
    may conduct or transact business in this State as a member
    of a partnership or joint venture that violates any
    Illinois law regulating or pertaining to the doing of
    business by foreign corporations in Illinois.
        (3) The provisions of this subsection (c) do not apply
    to limited partnerships formed under the Revised Uniform
    Limited Partnership Act or under the Uniform Limited
    Partnership Act (2001).
    (d) False law enforcement badges.
        (1) A person commits false law enforcement badges if he
    or she knowingly produces, sells, or distributes a law
    enforcement badge without the express written consent of
    the law enforcement agency represented on the badge or, in
    case of a reorganized or defunct law enforcement agency,
    its successor law enforcement agency.
        (2) It is a defense to false law enforcement badges
    that the law enforcement badge is used or is intended to be
    used exclusively: (i) as a memento or in a collection or
    exhibit; (ii) for decorative purposes; or (iii) for a
    dramatic presentation, such as a theatrical, film, or
    television production.
    (e) False medals.
        (1) A person commits a false personation if he or she
    knowingly and falsely represents himself or herself to be a
    recipient of, or wears on his or her person, any of the
    following medals if that medal was not awarded to that
    person by the United States Government, irrespective of
    branch of service: The Congressional Medal of Honor, The
    Distinguished Service Cross, The Navy Cross, The Air Force
    Cross, The Silver Star, The Bronze Star, or the Purple
    Heart.
        (2) It is a defense to a prosecution under paragraph
    (e)(1) that the medal is used, or is intended to be used,
    exclusively:
            (A) for a dramatic presentation, such as a
        theatrical, film, or television production, or a
        historical re-enactment; or
            (B) for a costume worn, or intended to be worn, by
        a person under 18 years of age.
    (f) Sentence.
        (1) A violation of paragraph (a)(8) is a petty offense
    subject to a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $100,
    and the person, firm, copartnership, or corporation
    commits an additional petty offense for each day he, she,
    or it continues to commit the violation. A violation of
    paragraph (c)(1) is a petty offense, and the company,
    association, or person commits an additional petty offense
    for each day he, she, or it continues to commit the
    violation. A violation of subsection (e) is a petty offense
    for which the offender shall be fined at least $100 and not
    more than $200.
        (2) A violation of paragraph (a)(1), or (a)(3), or
    (b)(7.5) is a Class C misdemeanor.
        (3) A violation of paragraph (a)(2), (a)(2.5), (a)(7),
    (b)(2), or (b)(7) or subsection (d) is a Class A
    misdemeanor. A second or subsequent violation of
    subsection (d) is a Class 3 felony.
        (4) A violation of paragraph (a)(4), (a)(5), (a)(6),
    (b)(1), (b)(2.3), (b)(2.7), (b)(3), (b)(8), or (b)(11) is a
    Class 4 felony.
        (5) A violation of paragraph (b)(4), (b)(9), or (b)(12)
    is a Class 3 felony.
        (6) A violation of paragraph (b)(5) or (b)(10) is a
    Class 2 felony.
        (7) A violation of paragraph (b)(6) is a Class 1
    felony.
    (g) A violation of subsection (a)(1) through (a)(7) or
subsection (e) of this Section may be accomplished in person or
by any means of communication, including but not limited to the
use of an Internet website or any form of electronic
communication.
(Source: P.A. 96-328, eff. 8-11-09; 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11;
97-219, eff. 1-1-12; 97-597, eff. 1-1-12; incorporates change
to Sec. 32-5 from 97-219; 97-1109, eff. 1-1-13.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2015