Public Act 096-0686
 		





HB2542 Enrolled
LRB096 10797 RLC 21009 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 1961 is amended  by changing 
Sections 12-7.3, 12-7.4, and 12-7.5 as follows:
 



    (720 ILCS 5/12-7.3)  (from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.3)



    Sec. 12-7.3. Stalking. 

    (a) A person commits stalking when he or she, knowingly 
engages in a course of conduct directed at a specific person, 
and he or she knows or should know that this course of conduct 
would cause a reasonable person to:
        (1) fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third 
    person; or
        (2) suffer other emotional distress. 
    (a-3) A person commits stalking when he or she, knowingly 
and without
lawful justification, on at least 2 separate 
occasions follows
another person
or places the person under 
surveillance or any combination thereof and:


        (1) at any time transmits a threat of immediate or 
    future bodily harm, sexual
assault, confinement or 
    restraint and the threat is directed towards that
person or 
    a family member of that
person; or


        (2) places that person in reasonable apprehension of 
    immediate or future
bodily harm, sexual assault, 
    confinement or restraint; or


        (3) places that person in reasonable apprehension that 
    a family member
will receive immediate or future bodily 
    harm, sexual assault, confinement, or
restraint.

    (a-5) A person commits stalking when he or she has 
previously been
convicted of stalking another person and 
knowingly and without lawful
justification on one occasion:


        (1) follows that same person or places that same person 
    under
surveillance; and


        (2) transmits a threat of immediate or future bodily 
    harm, sexual
assault, confinement or restraint; and


        (3) the threat is directed towards that person or a 
    family member of
that person.

    (b) Sentence.
Stalking is a Class 4 felony. A second or 
subsequent
conviction for stalking is a Class 3 felony.

    (c) Definitions.  For purposes of this Section:
        (1) "Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts, including 
    but not limited to acts in which a defendant directly, 
    indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, 
    method, device, or means follows, monitors, observes, 
    surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about, a person, 
    engages in other non-consensual contact, or interferes 
    with or damages a person's property or pet.  A course of 
    conduct may include contact via electronic communications.
        (2) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of 
    signs, signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of 
    any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, 
    radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical 
    system.  "Electronic communication" includes transmissions 
    by a computer through the Internet to another computer.
        (3) "Emotional distress" means significant mental 
    suffering, anxiety or alarm.
        (4) "Family member" means a parent,
grandparent, 
    brother, sister, or child, whether by whole blood, 
    half-blood, or
adoption and includes a step-grandparent, 
    step-parent, step-brother,
step-sister or step-child.  
    "Family member" also means any other person who
regularly 
    resides in the household, or who, within the prior 6 
    months,
regularly resided in the household. 
        (5) "Follows another person" means (i) to
move in 
    relative proximity to a person as that person moves from 
    place to place
or (ii) to remain in relative proximity to a 
    person who is stationary or whose
movements are confined to 
    a small area.
"Follows another person" does not
include a 
    following within the residence of the defendant. 
        (6) "Non-consensual contact" means any contact with 
    the victim that is initiated or continued without the 
    victim's consent, including but not limited to being in the 
    physical presence of the victim; appearing within the sight 
    of the victim; approaching or confronting the victim in a 
    public place or on private property; appearing at the 
    workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or 
    remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the 
    victim; or  placing an object on, or delivering an object 
    to, property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim.
        (7) "Places a person under
surveillance" means: (1) 
    remaining present outside the person's school, place of

    employment, vehicle, other place occupied by the person, or 
    residence other
than the residence of the defendant; or (2) 
    placing an electronic tracking device on the person or the 
    person's property. 
        (8) "Reasonable person" means a person in the victim's 
    situation.
        (9) "Transmits a threat" means a verbal
or
written 
    threat or a threat implied by a pattern of conduct or a 
    combination of
verbal or written statements or conduct. 
    (d) Exemptions.
        (1) This Section does not apply to any individual or 
    organization (i)  monitoring or attentive to compliance 
    with public or worker safety laws, wage and hour 
    requirements, or other statutory requirements, or (ii) 
    picketing occurring at the workplace that is otherwise 
    lawful and arises out of a bona fide labor dispute, 
    including any controversy concerning wages, salaries, 
    hours, working conditions or benefits, including health 
    and welfare, sick leave, insurance, and pension or 
    retirement provisions, the making or maintaining of 
    collective bargaining agreements, and the terms to be 
    included in those agreements.
        (2) This Section does not apply to an exercise of the 
    right to free speech or assembly that is otherwise lawful.
        (3)  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. 
    (d-5) (b-5) The incarceration of a person in a penal 
institution who commits the course of conduct or transmits a

threat is not a bar to prosecution under this Section.

    (c) Exemption.  This Section does not apply to picketing 
occurring at
the workplace that is otherwise lawful and arises 
out of a bona fide labor
dispute, or any exercise of the right 
of free speech or assembly that is
otherwise lawful.

    (d) For the purpose of this Section, a defendant "places a 
person under
surveillance" by: (1) remaining present outside 
the person's school, place of
employment, vehicle, other place 
occupied by the person, or residence other
than the residence 
of the defendant; or (2) placing an electronic tracking device 
on the person or the person's property.

    (e) For the purpose of this Section,
"follows another 
person" means (i) to
move in relative proximity to a person as 
that person moves from place to place
or (ii) to remain in 
relative proximity to a person who is stationary or whose

movements are confined to a small area.
"Follows another 
person" does not
include a following within the residence of 
the defendant.

    (f) For the purposes of this Section and Section 12-7.4, 
"bona fide labor
dispute" means any controversy concerning 
wages, salaries, hours, working
conditions, or benefits, 
including health and welfare, sick leave, insurance,
and

pension or retirement provisions, the making or maintaining of 
collective
bargaining agreements, and the terms to be included 
in those agreements.

    (g) For the purposes of this Section, "transmits a threat" 
means a verbal
or
written threat or a threat implied by a 
pattern of conduct or a combination of
verbal or written 
statements or conduct.

    (h) For the purposes of this Section, "family member" means 
a parent,
grandparent, brother, sister, or child, whether by 
whole blood, half-blood, or
adoption and includes a 
step-grandparent, step-parent, step-brother,
step-sister or 
step-child.  "Family member" also means any other person who

regularly resides in the household, or who, within the prior 6 
months,
regularly resided in the household.

(Source: P.A. 95-33, eff. 1-1-08.)

 



    (720 ILCS 5/12-7.4)  (from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.4)



    Sec. 12-7.4. Aggravated stalking. 

    (a) A person commits
aggravated stalking when he or she, in 
conjunction with committing the
offense of stalking,
also does 
any of the following:


        (1) causes bodily harm to the victim;


        (2) confines or restrains the victim; or


        (3) violates a temporary
restraining order, an order of 
    protection, a stalking no contact order, a civil no contact 
    order, or an injunction
prohibiting the behavior described 
    in
subsection (b)(1) of Section 214 of the Illinois 
    Domestic Violence Act of 1986.

    (b) Sentence.  Aggravated stalking is a Class 3 felony.  A 
second or
subsequent conviction for aggravated stalking is a 
Class 2
felony.

    (c) Exemptions Exemption.  
        (1) This Section does not apply to any individual or 
    organization (i) monitoring or attentive to compliance 
    with public or worker safety laws, wage and hour 
    requirements, or other statutory requirements, or (ii) 
    picketing occurring at the
workplace that is otherwise 
    lawful and arises out of a bona fide labor
dispute 
    including any controversy concerning wages, salaries, 
    hours, working conditions or benefits, including health 
    and welfare, sick leave, insurance, and pension or 
    retirement provisions, the managing or maintenance of 
    collective bargaining agreements, and the terms to be 
    included in those agreements. , or any 
        (2) This Section does not apply to an exercise of the 
    right of free speech or assembly that is
otherwise lawful.

        (3)  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. 
    (d) For purposes of this Section, "bona fide labor dispute" 
has the
meaning ascribed to it in Section 12-7.3.

(Source: P.A. 88-402; 88-677, eff. 12-15-94; 89-377, eff. 
8-18-95.)

 



    (720 ILCS 5/12-7.5)



    Sec. 12-7.5. Cyberstalking. 

    (a) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she engages 
in a course of conduct using electronic communication directed 
at a specific person, and he or she knows or should know that 
would cause a reasonable person to:
        (1) fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third 
    person; or
        (2) suffer other emotional distress.
    (a-3) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she, 
knowingly and without
lawful justification, on at least 2 
separate occasions, harasses another person
through the use of 
electronic communication and:


        (1) at any time transmits a threat of immediate or 
    future bodily harm,
sexual assault, confinement, or 
    restraint and the threat is directed towards
that person or 
    a family member of that person, or


        (2) places that person or a family member of that 
    person in reasonable
apprehension of immediate or future 
    bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement,
or restraint; or

        (3) at any time knowingly solicits the commission of an 
    act by any person which would be a violation of this Code 
    directed towards that person or a family member of that 
    person.
    (a-5) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she, 
knowingly and without lawful justification, creates and 
maintains an Internet website or webpage which is accessible to 
one or more third parties for a period of at least 24 hours, 
and which contains statements harassing another person and:
        (1) which communicates a threat of immediate or future 
    bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint, 
    where the threat is directed towards that person or a 
    family member of that person, or
        (2) which places that person or a family member of that 
    person in reasonable apprehension of immediate or future 
    bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint, or
        (3) which knowingly solicits the commission of an act 
    by any person which would be a violation of this Code 
    directed towards that person or a family member of that 
    person. 
    (b) As used in this Section:

    "Harass"
means to engage in a knowing and willful course of 
conduct directed at a
specific person
that alarms, torments, or 
terrorizes that person.

    "Third party" means any person other than the person 
violating these provisions and the person or persons towards 
whom the violator's actions are directed. 
    "Electronic communication" means any
transfer of signs, 
signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of any
nature 
transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, 
electronmagnetic,
photoelectric, or photo-optical system.  
"Electronic communication" includes
transmissions by a

computer through the Internet to another computer.

    (b) (c) Sentence.  Cyberstalking is a Class 4 felony.  A 
second or subsequent
conviction for cyberstalking is a Class 3 
felony.

    (c) For purposes of this Section:
        (1) "Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts, including 
    but not limited to acts in which a defendant directly, 
    indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, 
    method, device, or means follows, monitors, observes, 
    surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about, a person, 
    engages in other non-consensual contact, or interferes 
    with or damages a person's property or pet.  The 
    incarceration in a penal institution of a person who 
    commits the course of conduct is not a bar to prosecution 
    under this Section.
        (2) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of 
    signs, signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of 
    any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, 
    radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical 
    system.  "Electronic communication" includes transmissions 
    by a computer through the Internet to another computer. 
        (3) "Emotional distress" means significant mental 
    suffering, anxiety or alarm.
        (4) "Harass"
means to engage in a knowing and willful 
    course of conduct directed at a
specific person
that 
    alarms, torments, or terrorizes that person. 
        (5) "Non-consensual contact" means any contact with 
    the victim that is initiated or continued without the 
    victim's consent, including but not limited to being in the 
    physical presence of the victim; appearing within the sight 
    of the victim; approaching or confronting the victim in a 
    public place or on private property; appearing at the 
    workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or 
    remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the 
    victim; or  placing an object on, or delivering an object 
    to, property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim.
        (6) "Reasonable person" means a person in the victim's 
    circumstances, with the victim's knowledge of the 
    defendant and the defendant's prior acts.
        (7) "Third party" means any person other than the 
    person violating these provisions and the person or persons 
    towards whom the violator's actions are directed. 
    (d) 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. 95-849, eff. 1-1-09; revised 9-10-08.)

 
    Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are 
severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.