Public Act 096-1132
 
HB4987 EnrolledLRB096 17720 AJT 33085 b



    AN ACT concerning transportation.

 
    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 
Section 18c-7502 as follows:
 
    (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.
    (a) Malicious removal of or damage to railroad property or 
freight.
    A 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,
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; or .
        (iv) willfully placed upon an active railroad track or 
    railroad right of way any object or objects that would 
    adversely affect safe railroad operations. 
    (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.  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.
            (2) Upon being found in violation of item (ii), or 
        (iii), or (iv) 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; 91-532, eff. 1-1-00.)