HB1773 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 07794 RLC 17839 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB1773

Introduced 1/28/2025, by Rep. Gregg Johnson

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

720 ILCS 5/16-0.1
720 ILCS 5/16-19.1 new

Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that a person shall not take, hold, conceal, or destroy mail addressed to another person with the intent to defraud any person or deprive the person to whom the mail was addressed of the mail. Provides that a person who violates this provision is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a Class 3 felony for a second or subsequent offense. Provides that the provision applies if the victim of the offense is an individual whether the individual whose mail is obtained, or attempted to be obtained, is alive or deceased at the time of the violation. Provides that the provision does not prohibit a person from being charged with, convicted of, or sentenced for any other violation of law committed by that person using mail obtained in violation of the provision or any other violation of law committed by that person while violating or attempting to violate the provision. Defines "mail" and "person". Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

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 16-0.1 and by adding Section 16-19.1 as follows:

(720 ILCS 5/16-0.1)

Sec. 16-0.1. Definitions. In this Article, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the following terms are defined as indicated:

"Access" means to use, instruct, communicate with, store data in, retrieve or intercept data from, or otherwise utilize any services of a computer.

"Coin-operated machine" includes any automatic vending machine or any part thereof, parking meter, coin telephone, coin-operated transit turnstile, transit fare box, coin laundry machine, coin dry cleaning machine, amusement machine, music machine, vending machine dispensing goods or services, or money changer.

"Communication device" means any type of instrument, device, machine, or equipment which is capable of transmitting, acquiring, decrypting, or receiving any telephonic, electronic, data, Internet access, audio, video, microwave, or radio transmissions, signals, communications, or services, including the receipt, acquisition, transmission, or decryption of all such communications, transmissions, signals, or services provided by or through any cable television, fiber optic, telephone, satellite, microwave, radio, Internet-based, data transmission, or wireless distribution network, system or facility; or any part, accessory, or component thereof, including any computer circuit, security module, smart card, software, computer chip, electronic mechanism or other component, accessory or part of any communication device which is capable of facilitating the transmission, decryption, acquisition or reception of all such communications, transmissions, signals, or services.

"Communication service" means any service lawfully provided for a charge or compensation to facilitate the lawful origination, transmission, emission, or reception of signs, signals, data, writings, images, and sounds or intelligence of any nature by telephone, including cellular telephones or a wire, wireless, radio, electromagnetic, photo-electronic or photo-optical system; and also any service lawfully provided by any radio, telephone, cable television, fiber optic, satellite, microwave, Internet-based or wireless distribution network, system, facility or technology, including, but not limited to, any and all electronic, data, video, audio, Internet access, telephonic, microwave and radio communications, transmissions, signals and services, and any such communications, transmissions, signals and services lawfully provided directly or indirectly by or through any of those networks, systems, facilities or technologies.

"Communication service provider" means: (1) any person or entity providing any communication service, whether directly or indirectly, as a reseller, including, but not limited to, a cellular, paging or other wireless communications company or other person or entity which, for a fee, supplies the facility, cell site, mobile telephone switching office or other equipment or communication service; (2) any person or entity owning or operating any cable television, fiber optic, satellite, telephone, wireless, microwave, radio, data transmission or Internet-based distribution network, system or facility; and (3) any person or entity providing any communication service directly or indirectly by or through any such distribution system, network or facility.

"Computer" means a device that accepts, processes, stores, retrieves or outputs data, and includes but is not limited to auxiliary storage and telecommunications devices connected to computers.

"Continuing course of conduct" means a series of acts, and the accompanying mental state necessary for the crime in question, irrespective of whether the series of acts are continuous or intermittent.

"Delivery container" means any bakery basket of wire or plastic used to transport or store bread or bakery products, any dairy case of wire or plastic used to transport or store dairy products, and any dolly or cart of 2 or 4 wheels used to transport or store any bakery or dairy product.

"Document-making implement" means any implement, impression, template, computer file, computer disc, electronic device, computer hardware, computer software, instrument, or device that is used to make a real or fictitious or fraudulent personal identification document.

"Financial transaction device" means any of the following:

(1) An electronic funds transfer card.

(2) A credit card.

(3) A debit card.

(4) A point-of-sale card.

(5) Any instrument, device, card, plate, code, account number, personal identification number, or a record or copy of a code, account number, or personal identification number or other means of access to a credit account or deposit account, or a driver's license or State identification card used to access a proprietary account, other than access originated solely by a paper instrument, that can be used alone or in conjunction with another access device, for any of the following purposes:

(A) Obtaining money, cash refund or credit account, credit, goods, services, or any other thing of value.

(B) Certifying or guaranteeing to a person or business the availability to the device holder of funds on deposit to honor a draft or check payable to the order of that person or business.

(C) Providing the device holder access to a deposit account for the purpose of making deposits, withdrawing funds, transferring funds between deposit accounts, obtaining information pertaining to a deposit account, or making an electronic funds transfer.

"Full retail value" means the merchant's stated or advertised price of the merchandise. "Full retail value" includes the aggregate value of property obtained from retail thefts committed by the same person as part of a continuing course of conduct from one or more mercantile establishments in a single transaction or in separate transactions over a period of one year.

"Internet" means an interactive computer service or system or an information service, system, or access software provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server, and includes, but is not limited to, an information service, system, or access software provider that provides access to a network system commonly known as the Internet, or any comparable system or service and also includes, but is not limited to, a World Wide Web page, newsgroup, message board, mailing list, or chat area on any interactive computer service or system or other online service.

"Library card" means a card or plate issued by a library facility for purposes of identifying the person to whom the library card was issued as authorized to borrow library material, subject to all limitations and conditions imposed on the borrowing by the library facility issuing such card.

"Library facility" includes any public library or museum, or any library or museum of an educational, historical or eleemosynary institution, organization or society.

"Library material" includes any book, plate, picture, photograph, engraving, painting, sculpture, statue, artifact, drawing, map, newspaper, pamphlet, broadside, magazine, manuscript, document, letter, microfilm, sound recording, audiovisual material, magnetic or other tape, electronic data processing record or other documentary, written or printed material regardless of physical form or characteristics, or any part thereof, belonging to, or on loan to or otherwise in the custody of a library facility.

"Mail" means a letter, postal card, package, bag, or any other article or thing contained therein, or other sealed article addressed to a person.

"Manufacture or assembly of an unlawful access device" means to make, produce or assemble an unlawful access device or to modify, alter, program or re-program any instrument, device, machine, equipment or software so that it is capable of defeating or circumventing any technology, device or software used by the provider, owner or licensee of a communication service or of any data, audio or video programs or transmissions to protect any such communication, data, audio or video services, programs or transmissions from unauthorized access, acquisition, disclosure, receipt, decryption, communication, transmission or re-transmission.

"Manufacture or assembly of an unlawful communication device" means to make, produce or assemble an unlawful communication or wireless device or to modify, alter, program or reprogram a communication or wireless device to be capable of acquiring, disrupting, receiving, transmitting, decrypting, or facilitating the acquisition, disruption, receipt, transmission or decryption of, a communication service without the express consent or express authorization of the communication service provider, or to knowingly assist others in those activities.

"Master sound recording" means the original physical object on which a given set of sounds were first recorded and which the original object from which all subsequent sound recordings embodying the same set of sounds are directly or indirectly derived.

"Merchandise" means any item of tangible personal property, including motor fuel.

"Merchant" means an owner or operator of any retail mercantile establishment or any agent, employee, lessee, consignee, officer, director, franchisee, or independent contractor of the owner or operator. "Merchant" also means a person who receives from an authorized user of a payment card, or someone the person believes to be an authorized user, a payment card or information from a payment card, or what the person believes to be a payment card or information from a payment card, as the instrument for obtaining, purchasing or receiving goods, services, money, or anything else of value from the person.

"Motor fuel" means a liquid, regardless of its properties, used to propel a vehicle, including gasoline and diesel.

"Online" means the use of any electronic or wireless device to access the Internet.

"Payment card" means a credit card, charge card, debit card, or any other card that is issued to an authorized card user and that allows the user to obtain, purchase, or receive goods, services, money, or anything else of value from a merchant.

"Person with a disability" means a person who suffers from a physical or mental impairment resulting from disease, injury, functional disorder or congenital condition that impairs the individual's mental or physical ability to independently manage his or her property or financial resources, or both.

"Personal identification document" means a birth certificate, a driver's license, a State identification card, a public, government, or private employment identification card, a social security card, a firearm owner's identification card, a credit card, a debit card, or a passport issued to or on behalf of a person other than the offender, or any document made or issued, or falsely purported to have been made or issued, by or under the authority of the United States Government, the State of Illinois, or any other state political subdivision of any state, or any other governmental or quasi-governmental organization that is of a type intended for the purpose of identification of an individual, or any such document made or altered in a manner that it falsely purports to have been made on behalf of or issued to another person or by the authority of one who did not give that authority.

"Personal identifying information" means any of the following information:

(1) A person's name.

(2) A person's address.

(3) A person's date of birth.

(4) A person's telephone number.

(5) A person's driver's license number or State of Illinois identification card as assigned by the Secretary of State of the State of Illinois or a similar agency of another state.

(6) A person's social security number.

(7) A person's public, private, or government employer, place of employment, or employment identification number.

(8) The maiden name of a person's mother.

(9) The number assigned to a person's depository account, savings account, or brokerage account.

(10) The number assigned to a person's credit or debit card, commonly known as a "Visa Card", "MasterCard", "American Express Card", "Discover Card", or other similar cards whether issued by a financial institution, corporation, or business entity.

(11) Personal identification numbers.

(12) Electronic identification numbers.

(13) Digital signals.

(14) User names, passwords, and any other word, number, character or combination of the same usable in whole or part to access information relating to a specific individual, or to the actions taken, communications made or received, or other activities or transactions of a specific individual.

(15) Any other numbers or information which can be used to access a person's financial resources, or to identify a specific individual, or the actions taken, communications made or received, or other activities or transactions of a specific individual.

"Premises of a retail mercantile establishment" includes, but is not limited to, the retail mercantile establishment; any common use areas in shopping centers; and all parking areas set aside by a merchant or on behalf of a merchant for the parking of vehicles for the convenience of the patrons of such retail mercantile establishment.

"Public water, gas, or power supply, or other public services" mean any service subject to regulation by the Illinois Commerce Commission; any service furnished by a public utility that is owned and operated by any political subdivision, public institution of higher education or municipal corporation of this State; any service furnished by any public utility that is owned by such political subdivision, public institution of higher education, or municipal corporation and operated by any of its lessees or operating agents; any service furnished by an electric cooperative as defined in Section 3.4 of the Electric Supplier Act; or wireless service or other service regulated by the Federal Communications Commission.

"Publish" means to communicate or disseminate information to any one or more persons, either orally, in person, or by telephone, radio or television or in writing of any kind, including, without limitation, a letter or memorandum, circular or handbill, newspaper or magazine article or book.

"Radio frequency identification device" means any implement, computer file, computer disc, electronic device, computer hardware, computer software, or instrument that is used to activate, read, receive, or decode information stored on a RFID tag or transponder attached to a personal identification document.

"RFID tag or transponder" means a chip or device that contains personal identifying information from which the personal identifying information can be read or decoded by another device emitting a radio frequency that activates or powers a radio frequency emission response from the chip or transponder.

"Reencoder" means an electronic device that places encoded information from the magnetic strip or stripe of a payment card onto the magnetic strip or stripe of a different payment card.

"Retail mercantile establishment" means any place where merchandise is displayed, held, stored or offered for sale to the public.

"Scanning device" means a scanner, reader, or any other electronic device that is used to access, read, scan, obtain, memorize, or store, temporarily or permanently, information encoded on the magnetic strip or stripe of a payment card.

"Shopping cart" means those push carts of the type or types which are commonly provided by grocery stores, drug stores or other retail mercantile establishments for the use of the public in transporting commodities in stores and markets and, incidentally, from the stores to a place outside the store.

"Sound or audio visual recording" means any sound or audio visual phonograph record, disc, pre-recorded tape, film, wire, magnetic tape or other object, device or medium, now known or hereafter invented, by which sounds or images may be reproduced with or without the use of any additional machine, equipment or device.

"Stored value card" means any card, gift card, instrument, or device issued with or without fee for the use of the cardholder to obtain money, goods, services, or anything else of value. Stored value cards include, but are not limited to, cards issued for use as a stored value card or gift card, and an account identification number or symbol used to identify a stored value card. "Stored value card" does not include a prepaid card usable at multiple, unaffiliated merchants or at automated teller machines, or both. "Stored value card" shall only apply to Section 16-25.1 of this Act.

"Theft detection device remover" means any tool or device specifically designed and intended to be used to remove any theft detection device from any merchandise.

"Under-ring" means to cause the cash register or other sales recording device to reflect less than the full retail value of the merchandise.

"Unidentified sound or audio visual recording" means a sound or audio visual recording without the actual name and full and correct street address of the manufacturer, and the name of the actual performers or groups prominently and legibly printed on the outside cover or jacket and on the label of such sound or audio visual recording.

"Unlawful access device" means any type of instrument, device, machine, equipment, technology, or software which is primarily possessed, used, designed, assembled, manufactured, sold, distributed or offered, promoted or advertised for the purpose of defeating or circumventing any technology, device or software, or any component or part thereof, used by the provider, owner or licensee of any communication service or of any data, audio or video programs or transmissions to protect any such communication, audio or video services, programs or transmissions from unauthorized access, acquisition, receipt, decryption, disclosure, communication, transmission or re-transmission.

"Unlawful communication device" means any electronic serial number, mobile identification number, personal identification number or any communication or wireless device that is capable of acquiring or facilitating the acquisition of a communication service without the express consent or express authorization of the communication service provider, or that has been altered, modified, programmed or reprogrammed, alone or in conjunction with another communication or wireless device or other equipment, to so acquire or facilitate the unauthorized acquisition of a communication service. "Unlawful communication device" also means:

(1) any phone altered to obtain service without the express consent or express authorization of the communication service provider, tumbler phone, counterfeit or clone phone, tumbler microchip, counterfeit or clone microchip, scanning receiver of wireless communication service or other instrument capable of disguising its identity or location or of gaining unauthorized access to a communications or wireless system operated by a communication service provider; and

(2) any communication or wireless device which is capable of, or has been altered, designed, modified, programmed or reprogrammed, alone or in conjunction with another communication or wireless device or devices, so as to be capable of, facilitating the disruption, acquisition, receipt, transmission or decryption of a communication service without the express consent or express authorization of the communication service provider, including, but not limited to, any device, technology, product, service, equipment, computer software or component or part thereof, primarily distributed, sold, designed, assembled, manufactured, modified, programmed, reprogrammed or used for the purpose of providing the unauthorized receipt of, transmission of, disruption of, decryption of, access to or acquisition of any communication service provided by any communication service provider.

"Vehicle" means a motor vehicle, motorcycle, or farm implement that is self-propelled and that uses motor fuel for propulsion.

"Wireless device" includes any type of instrument, device, machine, or equipment that is capable of transmitting or receiving telephonic, electronic or radio communications, or any part of such instrument, device, machine, or equipment, or any computer circuit, computer chip, electronic mechanism, or other component that is capable of facilitating the transmission or reception of telephonic, electronic, or radio communications.

(Source: P.A. 102-757, eff. 5-13-22.)

(720 ILCS 5/16-19.1 new)

Sec. 16-19.1. Mail and mail depository theft.

(a) In this Section, "person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, or other legal entity.

(b) A person shall not take, hold, conceal, or destroy mail addressed to another person with the intent to defraud any person or deprive the person to whom the mail was addressed of the mail.

(c) Sentence. A person who violates this Section is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a Class 3 felony for a second or subsequent offense.

(d) This Section applies if the victim of the offense is an individual whether the individual whose mail is obtained, or attempted to be obtained, is alive or deceased at the time of the violation.

(e) This Section does not prohibit a person from being charged with, convicted of, or sentenced for any other violation of law committed by that person using mail obtained in violation of this Section or any other violation of law committed by that person while violating or attempting to violate this Section.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.