Bill Text: IL HB0038 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Includes in the offense of mob action (1) the knowing or reckless steering of a motor vehicle so that it makes a controlled skid sideways through a turn with the front wheels pointed in a direction opposite to that of the turn if the activity results in the use of force or violence disturbing the public peace and (2) the knowing or reckless act of street racing if the activity results in the use of force or violence disturbing the public peace. Defines "street racing". Provides that the penalty for these offenses is a Class 4 felony.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-09 - Referred to Rules Committee [HB0038 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-HB0038-Introduced.html

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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 HB0038 Introduced , by Rep. La Shawn K. Ford SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
625 ILCS 5/4-203.5
720 ILCS 5/25-1 from Ch. 38, par. 25-1
Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Includes in the offense of mob action (1) the knowing or reckless steering of a motor vehicle so that it makes a controlled skid sideways through a turn with the front wheels pointed in a direction opposite to that of the turn if the activity results in the use of force or violence disturbing the public peace and (2) the knowing or reckless act of street racing if the activity results in the use of force or violence disturbing the public peace. Defines "street racing". Provides that the penalty for these offenses is a Class 4 felony.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning criminal law.
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 4-203.5 as follows:
(625 ILCS 5/4-203.5)
Sec. 4-203.5. Tow rotation list.
(a) Each law enforcement agency whose duties include the
patrol of highways in this State shall maintain a tow rotation
list which shall be used by law enforcement officers
authorizing the tow of a vehicle within the jurisdiction of
the law enforcement agency. To ensure adequate response time,
a law enforcement agency may maintain multiple tow rotation
lists, with each tow rotation list covering tows authorized in
different geographic locations within the jurisdiction of the
law enforcement agency. A towing service may be included on
more than one tow rotation list.
(b) Any towing service operating within the jurisdiction
of a law enforcement agency may submit an application in a form
and manner prescribed by the law enforcement agency for
inclusion on the law enforcement agency's tow rotation list.
The towing service does not need to be located within the
jurisdiction of the law enforcement agency. To be included on

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a tow rotation list the towing service must meet the following
requirements:
(1) possess a license permitting the towing service to
operate in every unit of local government in the law
enforcement agency's jurisdiction that requires a license
for the operation of a towing service;
(2) if required by the law enforcement agency for
inclusion on that law enforcement agency's tow rotation
list, each owner of the towing service and each person
operating a vehicle on behalf of the towing service shall
submit his or her fingerprints to the Illinois State
Police in the form and manner prescribed by the Illinois
State Police. These fingerprints should be transmitted
through a live scan fingerprint vendor licensed by the
Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. These
fingerprints shall be checked against the fingerprint
records now and hereafter filed in the Illinois State
Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal
history records databases. The Illinois State Police shall
charge a fee for conducting the criminal history record
check, which shall be deposited in the State Police
Services Fund and shall not exceed the actual cost of the
State and national criminal history record check. The
Illinois State Police shall furnish, pursuant to positive
identification, all Illinois conviction information to the
law enforcement agency maintaining the tow rotation list

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and shall forward the national criminal history record
information to the law enforcement agency maintaining the
tow rotation list. A person may not own a towing service or
operate a vehicle on behalf of a towing service included
on a tow rotation list if that person has been convicted
during the 5 years preceding the application of a criminal
offense involving one or more of the following:
(A) bodily injury or attempt to inflict bodily
injury to another person;
(B) theft of property or attempted theft of
property; or
(C) sexual assault or attempted sexual assault of
any kind;
(3) each person operating a vehicle on behalf of the
towing service must be classified for the type of towing
operation he or she shall be performing and the vehicle he
or she shall be operating;
(4) possess and maintain the following insurance in
addition to any other insurance required by law:
(A) comprehensive automobile liability insurance
with a minimum combined single limit coverage of
$1,000,000;
(B) commercial general liability insurance with
limits of not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence,
$100,000 minimum garage keepers legal liability
insurance, and $100,000 minimum on-hook coverage or

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cargo insurance; and
(C) a worker's compensation policy covering every
person operating a tow truck on behalf of the towing
service, if required under current law;
(5) possess a secure parking lot used for short-term
vehicle storage after a vehicle is towed that is open
during business hours and is equipped with security
features as required by the law enforcement agency;
(6) utilize only vehicles that possess a valid vehicle
registration, display a valid Illinois license plate in
accordance with Section 5-202 of this Code, and comply
with the weight requirements of this Code;
(7) every person operating a towing or recovery
vehicle on behalf of the towing service must have
completed a Traffic Incident Management Training Program
approved by the Department of Transportation;
(8) hold a valid authority issued to it by the
Illinois Commerce Commission;
(9) comply with all other applicable federal, State,
and local laws; and
(10) comply with any additional requirements the
applicable law enforcement agency deems necessary.
The law enforcement agency may select which towing
services meeting the requirements of this subsection (b) shall
be included on a tow rotation list. The law enforcement agency
may choose to have only one towing service on its tow rotation

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list. Complaints regarding the process for inclusion on a tow
rotation list or the use of a tow rotation list may be referred
in writing to the head of the law enforcement agency
administering that tow rotation list. The head of the law
enforcement agency shall make the final determination as to
which qualified towing services shall be included on a tow
rotation list, and shall not be held liable for the exclusion
of any towing service from a tow rotation list.
(c) A law enforcement agency may authorize its law
enforcement officers to tow vehicles for purposes permitted by
this Code. Whenever a law enforcement officer initiates a tow
of a vehicle, the officer shall contact his or her law
enforcement agency and inform the agency that a tow has been
authorized. If the law enforcement agency authorizes its law
enforcement officers to tow vehicles, the law enforcement
officer may tow the vehicle to a location determined by the law
enforcement agency that employs the law enforcement officer
and shall record the license plate number of the vehicle
towed. If the law enforcement agency does not authorize its
officers to tow vehicles or declines towing the vehicle, the
The law enforcement agency shall then select a towing service
from the law enforcement agency's tow rotation list
corresponding to the geographical area where the tow was
authorized, and shall contact that towing service directly by
phone, computer, or similar means. Towing services shall be
contacted in the order listed on the appropriate tow rotation

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list, at which point the towing service shall be placed at the
end of that tow rotation list. In the event a listed towing
service is not available, the next listed towing service on
that tow rotation list shall be contacted.
(d) A law enforcement agency may deviate from the order
listed on a tow rotation list if the towing service next on
that tow rotation list is, in the judgment of the authorizing
officer or the law enforcement agency making the selection,
incapable of or not properly equipped for handling a specific
task related to the tow that requires special skills or
equipment. A deviation from the order listed on the tow
rotation list for this reason shall not cause a loss of
rotation turn by the towing service determined to be incapable
or not properly equipped for handling the request.
(e) In the event of an emergency a law enforcement officer
or agency, taking into account the safety and location of the
situation, may deviate from the order of the tow rotation list
and obtain towing service from any source deemed appropriate.
(f) If the owner or operator of a disabled vehicle is
present at the scene of the disabled vehicle, is not under
arrest, and does not abandon his or her vehicle, and in the law
enforcement officer's opinion the disabled vehicle is not
impeding or obstructing traffic, illegally parked, or posing a
security or safety risk, the law enforcement officer shall
allow the owner of the vehicle to specify a towing service to
relocate the disabled vehicle. If the owner chooses not to

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specify a towing service, the law enforcement agency shall
select a towing service for the vehicle as provided in
subsection (c) of this Section.
(g) If a tow operator is present or arrives where a tow is
needed and it has not been requested by the law enforcement
agency or the owner or operator, the law enforcement officer,
unless acting under Section 11-1431 of this Code, shall advise
the tow operator to leave the scene.
(h) (Blank).
(Source: P.A. 102-538, eff. 8-20-21; 102-759, eff. 1-1-23.)
Section 10. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by
changing Section 25-1 as follows:
(720 ILCS 5/25-1) (from Ch. 38, par. 25-1)
Sec. 25-1. Mob action.
(a) A person commits mob action when he or she engages in
any of the following:
(1) the knowing or reckless use of force or violence
disturbing the public peace by 2 or more persons acting
together and without authority of law;
(2) the knowing assembly of 2 or more persons with the
intent to commit or facilitate the commission of a felony
or misdemeanor; or
(3) the knowing assembly of 2 or more persons, without
authority of law, for the purpose of doing violence to the

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person or property of anyone supposed to have been guilty
of a violation of the law, or for the purpose of exercising
correctional powers or regulative powers over any person
by violence;
(4) the knowing or reckless steering of a motor
vehicle so that it makes a controlled skid sideways
through a turn with the front wheels pointed in a
direction opposite to that of the turn if the activity
results in the use of force or violence disturbing the
public peace; or
(5) the knowing or reckless act of street racing if
the activity results in the use of force or violence
disturbing the public peace. In this paragraph (5),
"street racing" has the meaning ascribed to it in Section
11-506 of the Illinois Vehicle Code.
(b) Sentence.
(1) Mob action in violation of paragraph (1), (4), or
(5) of subsection (a) is a Class 4 felony.
(2) Mob action in violation of paragraphs (2) and (3)
of subsection (a) is a Class C misdemeanor.
(3) A participant in a mob action that by violence
inflicts injury to the person or property of another
commits a Class 4 felony.
(4) A participant in a mob action who does not
withdraw when commanded to do so by a peace officer
commits a Class A misdemeanor.

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