Bill Text: IL HB0257 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Harassing and Obscene Communications Act. Provides that a person who commits a violation of the Act is guilty of a Class 4 felony if, at the time of the offense, the offender was an inmate of a penal institution and the victim of the offense was known by the offender to be an employee of that penal institution.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB0257 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HB0257-Introduced.html

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97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2011 and 2012 HB0257 Introduced , by Rep. Ron Stephens SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
720 ILCS 135/2 from Ch. 134, par. 16.5
Amends the Harassing and Obscene Communications Act. Provides that a person who commits a violation of the Act is guilty of a Class 4 felony if, at the time of the offense, the offender was an inmate of a penal institution and the victim of the offense was known by the offender to be an employee of that penal institution.
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CORRECTIONAL BUDGET AND IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
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 Harassing and Obscene Communications Act is
amended by changing Section 2 as follows:
(720 ILCS 135/2) (from Ch. 134, par. 16.5)
Sec. 2. Sentence.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a person who
violates any of the provisions of Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of
this Act is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. Except as provided
in subsection (b), a second or subsequent violation of Section
1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this Act is a Class A misdemeanor, for which
the court shall impose a minimum of 14 days in jail or, if
public or community service is established in the county in
which the offender was convicted, 240 hours of public or
community service.
(b) In any of the following circumstances, a person who
violates Section 1, 1-1, or 1-2 of this Act shall be guilty of
a Class 4 felony:
(1) The person has 3 or more prior violations in the
last 10 years of harassment by telephone under Section 1-1
of this Act, harassment through electronic communications
under Section 1-2 of this Act, or any similar offense of

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any state;
(2) The person has previously violated the harassment
by telephone provisions of Section 1-1 of this Act or the
harassment through electronic communications provisions of
Section 1-2 of this Act or committed any similar offense in
any state with the same victim or a member of the victim's
family or household;
(3) At the time of the offense, the offender was under
conditions of bail, probation, mandatory supervised
release or was the subject of an order of protection, in
this or any other state, prohibiting contact with the
victim or any member of the victim's family or household;
(4) In the course of the offense, the offender
threatened to kill the victim or any member of the victim's
family or household;
(5) The person has been convicted in the last 10 years
of a forcible felony as defined in Section 2-8 of the
Criminal Code of 1961;
(6) The person violates paragraph (4.1) of Section 1-1
or paragraph (3.1) of subsection (a) of Section 1-2; or
(7) The person was at least 18 years of age at the time
of the commission of the offense and the victim was under
18 years of age at the time of the commission of the
offense; or .
(8) At the time of the offense, the offender was an
inmate of a penal institution and the victim of the offense

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was known by the offender to be an employee of that penal
institution. For the purposes of this paragraph (8),
"employee" and "penal institution" have the meanings
ascribed to them in Section 31A-1.2 of the Criminal Code of
1961.
(Source: P.A. 95-984, eff. 6-1-09.)