SB0088eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB0088 Engrossed LRB095 04104 RLC 24493 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 Section 16-14 as follows:

(720 ILCS 5/16-14) (from Ch. 38, par. 16-14)

Sec. 16-14. (a) A person commits the offense of unlawful interference with public utility services when he or she knowingly, without the consent of the owner of the services, impairs or interrupts any public water, gas or power supply, telecommunications service, or other public services, or diverts, or causes to be diverted in whole or in part, any public water, gas, or power supply, telecommunications service or other public services, or installs or removes any device for the purpose of such diversion, or knowingly delays restoration of such public services, as a result of the person's theft of wire used for such services.

(b) The terms "public water, gas, or power supply, or other public service" 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; and any service furnished by an electric cooperative as defined in Section 3.4 of the Electric Supplier Act.

(c) Any instrument, apparatus, or device used in obtaining utility services without paying the full charge therefore or any meter that has been altered, tampered with, or bypassed so as to cause a lack of measurement or inaccurate measurement of utility services on premises controlled by the customer or by the person using or receiving the direct benefit of utility service at that location shall raise a rebuttable presumption of the commission of the offense described in subparagraph (a) by such person.

(d) (1) A person convicted of unlawful interference with public utility services is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor unless the offense was committed for remuneration, in which case it is a Class 4 felony.

(2) After a first conviction of unlawful interference with public utility services any subsequent conviction shall be a Class 4 felony.

(3) If the disruption of the public utility services or the delay in the restoration of the public utility services occurs to 10 or more customers or affects an area of more than one square mile, unlawful interference with public utility services is a Class 2 felony.

(Source: P.A. 88-75.)