Bill Text: IL HB2542 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Changes the elements of the offenses of stalking and cyberstalking. Provides that 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. Provides that if the conduct is committed using electronic communication, the offense is cyberstalking. Provides that a person also commits aggravated stalking when he or she, in conjunction with committing the offense of stalking, violates a stalking no contact order or a civil no contact order. Retains the same penalties for the offenses.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-1)

Status: (Passed) 2009-08-25 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-0686 [HB2542 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2009-HB2542-Enrolled.html

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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 Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by changing
Sections 12-7.3, 12-7.4, and 12-7.5 as follows:
(720 ILCS 5/12-7.3) (from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.3)
Sec. 12-7.3. Stalking.
(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:
(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
(2) places that person in reasonable apprehension of

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immediate or future bodily harm, sexual assault,
confinement or restraint; or
(3) places that person in reasonable apprehension that
a family member will receive immediate or future bodily
harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint.
(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:
(1) follows that same person or places that same person
under surveillance; and
(2) transmits a threat of immediate or future bodily
harm, sexual assault, confinement or restraint; and
(3) the threat is directed towards that person or a
family member of that person.
(b) Sentence. Stalking is a Class 4 felony. A second or
subsequent conviction for stalking is a Class 3 felony.
(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

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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

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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
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

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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) (b-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.
(c) Exemption. This Section does not apply to picketing
occurring at the workplace that is otherwise lawful and arises
out of a bona fide labor dispute, or any exercise of the right
of free speech or assembly that is otherwise lawful.
(d) For the purpose of this Section, a defendant "places a
person under surveillance" by: (1) remaining present outside
the person's school, place of employment, vehicle, other place
occupied by the person, or residence other than the residence

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of the defendant; or (2) placing an electronic tracking device
on the person or the person's property.
(e) For the purpose of this Section, "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.
(f) For the purposes of this Section and Section 12-7.4,
"bona fide labor dispute" means 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.
(g) For the purposes of this Section, "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.
(h) For the purposes of this Section, "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

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months, regularly resided in the household.
(Source: P.A. 95-33, eff. 1-1-08.)
(720 ILCS 5/12-7.4) (from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.4)
Sec. 12-7.4. Aggravated stalking.
(a) A person commits aggravated stalking when he or she, in
conjunction with committing the offense of stalking, also does
any of the following:
(1) causes bodily harm to the victim;
(2) confines or restrains the victim; or
(3) violates a temporary restraining order, an order of
protection, a stalking no contact order, a civil no contact
order, or an injunction prohibiting the behavior described
in subsection (b)(1) of Section 214 of the Illinois
Domestic Violence Act of 1986.
(b) Sentence. Aggravated stalking is a Class 3 felony. A
second or subsequent conviction for aggravated stalking is a
Class 2 felony.
(c) Exemptions Exemption.
(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,

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hours, working conditions or benefits, including health
and welfare, sick leave, insurance, and pension or
retirement provisions, the managing or maintenance of
collective bargaining agreements, and the terms to be
included in those agreements. , or any
(2) This Section does not apply to an exercise of the
right of 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) For purposes of this Section, "bona fide labor dispute"
has the meaning ascribed to it in Section 12-7.3.
(Source: P.A. 88-402; 88-677, eff. 12-15-94; 89-377, eff.
8-18-95.)
(720 ILCS 5/12-7.5)
Sec. 12-7.5. Cyberstalking.
(a) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she engages

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in a course of conduct using electronic communication directed
at a specific person, and he or she knows or should know that
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 cyberstalking when he or she,
knowingly and without lawful justification, on at least 2
separate occasions, harasses another person through the use of
electronic communication and:
(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
(2) places that person or a family member of that
person in reasonable apprehension of immediate or future
bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint; or
(3) at any time knowingly solicits the commission of an
act by any person which would be a violation of this Code
directed towards that person or a family member of that
person.
(a-5) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she,
knowingly and without lawful justification, creates and
maintains an Internet website or webpage which is accessible to
one or more third parties for a period of at least 24 hours,
and which contains statements harassing another person and:

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(1) which communicates a threat of immediate or future
bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint,
where the threat is directed towards that person or a
family member of that person, or
(2) which places that person or a family member of that
person in reasonable apprehension of immediate or future
bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint, or
(3) which knowingly solicits the commission of an act
by any person which would be a violation of this Code
directed towards that person or a family member of that
person.
(b) As used in this Section:
"Harass" means to engage in a knowing and willful course of
conduct directed at a specific person that alarms, torments, or
terrorizes that person.
"Third party" means any person other than the person
violating these provisions and the person or persons towards
whom the violator's actions are directed.
"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,
electronmagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical system.
"Electronic communication" includes transmissions by a
computer through the Internet to another computer.
(b) (c) Sentence. Cyberstalking is a Class 4 felony. A
second or subsequent conviction for cyberstalking is a Class 3

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felony.
(c) 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. The
incarceration in a penal institution of a person who
commits the course of conduct is not a bar to prosecution
under this Section.
(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) "Harass" means to engage in a knowing and willful
course of conduct directed at a specific person that
alarms, torments, or terrorizes that person.
(5) "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

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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.
(6) "Reasonable person" means a person in the victim's
circumstances, with the victim's knowledge of the
defendant and the defendant's prior acts.
(7) "Third party" means any person other than the
person violating these provisions and the person or persons
towards whom the violator's actions are directed.
(d) 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.
(Source: P.A. 95-849, eff. 1-1-09; revised 9-10-08.)
Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are

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severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.