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| Public Act 102-0547 | ||||
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AN ACT concerning criminal law.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by | ||||
changing Section 12-7.3 as follows:
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(720 ILCS 5/12-7.3) (from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.3)
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Sec. 12-7.3. Stalking.
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(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:
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(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
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(2) places that person in reasonable apprehension of | ||||
immediate or future
bodily harm, sexual assault, | ||
confinement or restraint to or of that person or a family | ||
member of that person.
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(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:
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(1) follows that same person or places that same | ||
person under
surveillance; and
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(2) transmits a threat of immediate or future bodily | ||
harm, sexual
assault, confinement or restraint to that | ||
person or a family member of that person.
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(a-7) A person commits stalking when he or she knowingly | ||
makes threats that are a part of a course of conduct and is | ||
aware of the threatening nature of his or her speech. | ||
(b) Sentence.
Stalking is a Class 4 felony; a second or | ||
subsequent
conviction is a Class 3 felony.
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(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
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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) 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.
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(d-10) A defendant who directed the actions of a third | ||
party to violate this Section, under the principles of | ||
accountability set forth in Article 5 of this Code, is guilty | ||
of violating this Section as if the same had been personally | ||
done by the defendant, without regard to the mental state of | ||
the third party acting at the direction of the defendant. | ||
(Source: P.A. 96-686, eff. 1-1-10; 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11; | ||
97-311, eff. 8-11-11; 97-1109, eff. 1-1-13.)
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