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91st General Assembly
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Public Act 91-0532

SB741 Enrolled                                 LRB9105607LDmb

    AN ACT to amend the Illinois  Vehicle  Code  by  changing
Sections 11-1425, 18c-7502, and 18c-7503.

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

    Section 5.  The  Illinois  Vehicle  Code  is  amended  by
changing Sections 11-1425, 18c-7502, and 18c-7503 as follows:

    (625 ILCS 5/11-1425) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 11-1425)
    Sec. 11-1425.  Stop when traffic obstructed.
    (a)  No  driver  shall  enter an intersection or a marked
crosswalk or drive onto any railroad  grade  crossing  unless
there   is   sufficient  space  on  the  other  side  of  the
intersection,  crosswalk  or  railroad  grade   crossing   to
accommodate  the  vehicle he is operating without obstructing
the passage of other vehicles, pedestrians or railroad trains
notwithstanding  any  traffic-control  signal  indication  to
proceed.
    (b)  No driver shall enter a highway rail grade  crossing
unless  there  is  sufficient  space on the other side of the
highway rail grade crossing to accommodate the vehicle  being
operated  without obstructing the passage of a train or other
railroad  equipment  using  the  rails,  notwithstanding  any
traffic-control signal indication  to  proceed.   Any  person
found  in  violation  of subsection (b) shall be subject to a
mandatory fine of $500 or 50 hours of community service.
    (c)  Local authorities shall impose fines as  established
in  subsection  (b)  for  persons  found in violation of this
Section or any similar local ordinance.
(Source: P.A. 79-798; 79-1068; 79-1454.)

    (625 ILCS 5/18c-7502) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 18c-7502)
    Sec.  18c-7502.   Malicious  removal  of  or  damage   to
railroad property or freight Rail Property.
    (a)  Malicious  removal of or damage to railroad property
or freight.
    A Any person is guilty of an offense  if  he  or  she  is
found to have:
         (i)  removed,  taken,  stolen,  changed,  added  to,
    taken  from,  or  in  any  manner  changed,  defaced,  or
    interfered  with  any  of the parts or attachments of any
    locomotive or car, or any plant or property used in or in
    connection with the operation of  any  railroad  carrier,
    locomotive, or car, or train, or shoots, throws, or drops
    any object onto or at any train, locomotive, or car;
         (ii)  willfully   and  with  intent  to  permanently
    deprive  the owner thereof,  taken  or  removed  railroad
    freight   from  any  freight  car,  including  a  boxcar,
    container, or flatbed; or
         (iii)  bought  or  received  any  of  the   railroad
    freight  described  in  item  (ii), having reason to know
    that such freight was stolen.
    (b)  Penalties.
              (1)  If the railroad property damage  does  not
         exceed  $500  and no bodily injury occurs to another
         as a result of a  violation  of  this  Section,  the
         person  shall  be  guilty  of a Class A misdemeanor.
         Upon  being  found  in  violation  of  item  (i)  of
         subsection (a), the person  shall,  in  addition  to
         such other sanctions as may be deemed appropriate by
         the  court,  be  subject to pay the railroad carrier
         involved the cost to repair  any  railroad  property
         damaged,  and  to  perform community service for not
         less than 30 hours  or  more  than  120  hours.   If
         community   service   is   not   available   in  the
         jurisdiction where the offense was  committed,  that
         person  shall  be  subject to pay a fine of not less
         than $150 or more than $1,000, or  imprisonment  for
         not  less  than 5 days or more than 1 year, or both.
         If railroad property damage exceeds $500  or  bodily
         injury  occurs to another as a result of a violation
         of this Section, the person shall  be  guilty  of  a
         Class  4  felony.   Upon being found in violation of
         item (i) of subsection (a),  the  person  shall,  in
         addition  to  such  other sanctions as may be deemed
         appropriate by the court,  be  subject  to  pay  the
         railroad carrier involved for the cost to repair any
         railroad  property  damaged,  and shall be fined not
         less  than  $1,000,  nor  more  than   $25,000,   or
         imprisonment  for not less than 1 year, or more than
         3 years, or both. If serious bodily injury or  death
         occurs to another as a result of a violation of item
         (i) of subsection (a), the person shall be guilty of
         a  Class  2  felony  and  shall, in addition to such
         sanctions as may be deemed appropriate by the court,
         be subject to pay the railroad carrier involved  the
         cost  to  repair  any railroad property damaged, and
         shall be fined not less than $5,000  nor  more  than
         $25,000,  or  imprisonment for not less than 3 years
         nor more than 7 years, or both. in  this  State,  or
         any  person  who  causes  or  attempts  to cause the
         derailment of an engine, cars, or  a  track  vehicle
         used  on railroad tracks, shall be guilty of a Class
         4 felony.  If any such action is  malicious  and  is
         the  cause of wrecking any train, locomotive, or car
         in this State whereby the  life  of  any  person  is
         lost,  the  person  found  guilty  thereof  shall be
         liable for first degree murder and the person  shall
         be  subject to pay the railroad carrier involved the
         cost to repair any railroad property damaged  as  in
         other cases.
              (2)  Upon being found in violation of item (ii)
         or  (iii),  the  person shall be guilty of a Class 4
         felony.  In addition to such other sanctions as  may
         be deemed appropriate by the court, the person shall
         be  subject to pay the railroad carrier involved for
         the cost to repair any  railroad  property  damaged,
         and  shall  be  fined not less than $1,000, nor more
         than $25,000, or imprisoned for not less than 1 year
         nor more than 3 years.
              (3)  Local authorities shall  impose  fines  as
         established in this subsection (b) for persons found
         in  violation  of  this Section or any similar local
         ordinance.
    (c)  Definitions.  As used in this Section:
    "Bodily injury" means:
         (i)  a   cut,    abrasion,    bruise,    bump,    or
    disfigurement;
         (ii)  physical pain;
         (iii)  illness;
         (iv)  impairment of the function of a bodily member,
    organ, or mental faculty; or
         (v)  any  other  injury  to  the body, no matter how
    temporary.
    "Railroad"  means   any   form   of   nonhighway   ground
transportation   that   runs   on  rails  or  electromagnetic
guideways, including:
         (i)  commuter or other short-haul railroad passenger
    service in a metropolitan or urban area; and
         (ii)  high-speed ground transportation systems  that
    connect  metropolitan  areas,  but does not include rapid
    transit  operations  in  an  urban  area  that  are   not
    connected    to    the   general   railroad   system   of
    transportation.
    "Railroad carrier"  means  a  person  providing  railroad
transportation.
    "Railroad  property"  means  all tangible property owned,
leased, or operated by a railroad carrier including  a  right
of  way, track, bridge, yard, shop, station, tunnel, viaduct,
trestle, depot, warehouse, terminal, or any other  structure,
appurtenance,  or  equipment  owned,  leased,  or used in the
operation  of  any   railroad   carrier   including   trains,
locomotives,  engines, railroad cars, work equipment, rolling
stock,  or  safety  devices.  "Railroad  property"  does  not
include a  railroad  carrier's  administrative  buildings  or
offices,  office  equipment,  or  intangible property such as
software or other information.
    "Right of way" means the track or roadbed owned,  leased,
or  operated by a rail carrier that is located on either side
of  its  tracks  and  that  is  readily  recognizable  to   a
reasonable person as being railroad property or is reasonably
identified as such by fencing or appropriate signs.
    "Yard" means a system of parallel tracks, crossovers, and
switches  where  railroad  cars are switched and made up into
trains, and  where  railroad  cars,  locomotives,  and  other
rolling  stock  is  kept  when  not  in  use or when awaiting
repair.
    "Serious  bodily  injury"  means   bodily   injury   that
involves:
         (i)  a substantial risk of death;
         (ii)  extreme physical pain;
         (iii)  protracted and obvious disfigurement; or
         (iv)  protracted  loss or impairment of the function
    of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty.
(Source: P.A. 90-691, eff. 1-1-99.)

    (625 ILCS 5/18c-7503) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 18c-7503)
    Sec.  18c-7503.   Trespassing   on   railroad   property.
Trespass on Railroad Rights of Way and Yards.
    (1)  Trespassing   on   railroad   property   prohibited.
Trespass on Rights of Way and Yards Prohibited.
         (a)  General   prohibition.    Except  as  otherwise
    provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection,  no  person
    may:
              (i)  walk,  ride, drive or be upon or along the
         right of way or rail yard of a rail  carrier  within
         the State, at a place other than a public crossing;.
              (ii)  enter or be upon any railroad property;
              (iii)  without lawful authority or the railroad
         carrier's consent, ride on the outside of a train or
         inside  a passenger car, locomotive, or freight car,
         including a box car, flatbed, or container;
              (iv)  willfully lead or contrive any animal  to
         go  upon the railroad's rights of way for any reason
         other than to pass over such  rights  of  way  at  a
         marked public crossing; or
              (v)  throw  or  cause  to  be  thrown on to the
         railroad's rights of way  any  waste  paper,  ashes,
         household  waste,  glass,  metal,  tires, refuse, or
         rubbish.
         (b)  Exceptions.  This subsection  shall  not  apply
    to:
              (i)  fare   paying   passengers  on  trains  or
         employees of a rail carrier;
              (ii)  railroad  employees  and  an   authorized
         representative  of  rail  carrier  employees,  while
         performing   required   duties  in  accordance  with
         reasonable rail carrier company guidelines;
              (iii)  a person going upon the right of way  or
         into  the  rail yard to save human life or to remove
         an object that a  reasonable  person  would  believe
         poses  an  imminent  threat  to  human  life or limb
         protect property;
              (iv)  a person being on the station grounds  or
         in  the depot of the rail carrier for the purpose of
         transacting business;
              (v)  a person, his family, or his employees  or
         agents  going  across a farm crossing, as defined in
         this Chapter, for the purpose of crossing  from  one
         part  to  another  part of a farm he owns or leases,
         where the farm lies on both sides of  the  right  of
         way;
              (vi)  a  person  having written permission from
         the rail carrier to go upon the right of way or into
         the rail yard; and
              (vii)  representatives  of  local,  State,  and
         federal  governmental  agencies  in  performance  of
         their official duties; and.
              (viii)  a person having written permission from
         the rail carrier  to  go  in  or  be  upon  railroad
         property.
    (2)  Penalties.
         (a)  Any  person  found  in  violation  of item (i),
    (ii), (iii) or (iv) of paragraph (a)  of  subsection  (1)
    shall  be  guilty  of  a  Class C misdemeanor for a first
    offense.  In addition to such other sanctions as  may  be
    deemed  appropriate  by  the  court,  the person shall be
    subject to a mandatory fine of not less than $150 or more
    than $500, or to imprisonment for not less  than  5  days
    nor  more  than  30  days,  or both.  For each subsequent
    offense,  the  person  shall  be  guilty  of  a  Class  A
    misdemeanor.  In addition to such  sanctions  as  may  be
    deemed  appropriate  by  the  court,  the person shall be
    subject to a mandatory fine of not  less  than  $500  nor
    more than $1,000, or to imprisonment for not less than 10
    days or more than one year, or both.
         (b)  Any  person  found  in violation of item (v) of
    paragraph (a) of subsection (1) shall  be  guilty  of  an
    offense  and  in  addition  to  such  sanctions as may be
    deemed appropriate by the court shall  be  subject  to  a
    fine  of  not  less  than  $100  nor  more  than $500, or
    community service of not less than 8 hours nor more  than
    50  hours, or both. If damage to any railroad property or
    bodily  injury  occurs  to  another  as  a  result  of  a
    violation of item (v) of paragraph (a) of subsection (1),
    that  person  shall  be  charged  with  the  offense   of
    Malicious  Removal  of  or Damage to Railroad Property or
    Freight pursuant to Section 18c-7502.
         (c)  Local  authorities  shall   impose   fines   as
    established  in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection
    (2) for persons found in violation of this Section or any
    similar local ordinance. Violation of this Section  shall
    subject the violator to a fine of not more than $500.
    (3)  Definitions.   Definition.   For  purposes  of  this
Section:, a
    "Passenger" means a person who is traveling by train with
lawful authority and who does not participate in the  train's
operation. The term "passenger" does not include stowaways.
    "Railroad"   means   any   form   of   nonhighway  ground
transportation  that  runs  on   rails   or   electromagnetic
guideways, including:
              (i)  commuter   or  other  short-haul  railroad
         passenger service in a metropolitan or  urban  area;
         and
              (ii)  high-speed  ground transportation systems
         that  connect  metropolitan  areas;  but  does   not
         include  rapid  transit  operations in an urban area
         that are  not  connected  to  the  general  railroad
         system of transportation.
    "Railroad  carrier"  means  a  person  providing railroad
transportation.
    "Railroad property" means all  tangible  property  owned,
leased,  or  operated by a railroad carrier including a right
of way, track, bridge, yard, shop, station, tunnel,  viaduct,
trestle,  depot, warehouse, terminal, or any other structure,
appurtenance, or equipment owned,  leased,  or  used  in  the
operation   of   any   railroad   carrier  including  trains,
locomotives, engines, railroad cars, work equipment,  rolling
stock,  or  safety  devices.  "Railroad  property"  does  not
include  a  railroad  carrier's  administrative  buildings or
offices, office equipment, or  intangible  property  such  as
software or other information.
    "Right  of  way"  means  the  track  or roadbed owned, or
leased, or operated by a rail carrier  which  is  located  on
either  side  of its tracks and which is readily recognizable
to  a  reasonable  person  as  being  railroad  rail  carrier
property or is reasonably identified as such  by  fencing  or
appropriate signs.
    "Yard" means a system of parallel tracks, crossovers, and
switches  where  railroad  cars are switched and made up into
trains, and  where  railroad  cars,  locomotives,  and  other
rolling  stock  is  kept  when  not  in  use or when awaiting
repair.
(Source: P.A. 90-655, eff. 7-30-98; 90-691, eff. 1-1-98.)

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