093_HB1448ham001
LRB093 06893 NHT 12595 a
1 AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1448
2 AMENDMENT NO. . Amend House Bill 1448 as follows:
3 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
4 following:
5 "Section 5. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by
6 adding Section 17-2.5 as follows:
7 (720 ILCS 5/17-2.5 new)
8 Sec. 17-2.5. False academic degrees.
9 (a) It is unlawful for a person to knowingly manufacture
10 or produce for profit or for sale a false academic degree,
11 unless the degree explicitly states "for novelty purposes
12 only".
13 (b) It is unlawful for a person to knowingly use a false
14 academic degree for the purpose of obtaining employment or
15 admission to an institution of higher learning or admission
16 to an advanced degree program at an institution of higher
17 learning or for the purpose of obtaining a promotion or
18 higher compensation in employment.
19 (c) Sentence. A person who violates this Section is
20 guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
21 (d) In this Section:
-2- LRB093 06893 NHT 12595 a
1 "False academic degree" means a certificate, diploma,
2 transcript, or other document purporting to be issued by an
3 institution of higher learning or purporting to indicate that
4 a person has completed an organized academic program of study
5 at an institution of higher learning when the person has not
6 completed the organized academic program of study indicated
7 on the certificate, diploma, transcript, or other document.
8 "Institution of higher learning" means a public or
9 private college, university, or community college located in
10 the State of Illinois that is authorized by the Board of
11 Higher Education or the Illinois Community College Board to
12 issue post-secondary degrees, or a public or private college,
13 university, or community college located anywhere in the
14 United States that is or has been legally constituted to
15 offer degrees and instruction in its state of origin or
16 incorporation.
17 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
18 becoming law.".