Bill Text: IL HB4693 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Provides that it is not a violation of the Eavesdropping Article for a person to use an eavesdropping device to record a government official engaged in his or her official duties in a public place, including a police officer, unless the recording significantly impacts the government official's ability to perform these duties or creates a danger to the government official or others.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB4693 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HB4693-Introduced.html


97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB4693

Introduced , by Rep. Robert W. Pritchard

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
720 ILCS 5/14-2 from Ch. 38, par. 14-2

Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Provides that it is not a violation of the Eavesdropping Article for a person to use an eavesdropping device to record a government official engaged in his or her official duties in a public place, including a police officer, unless the recording significantly impacts the government official's ability to perform these duties or creates a danger to the government official or others.
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A BILL FOR

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1 AN ACT concerning criminal law.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by changing
5Section 14-2 as follows:
6 (720 ILCS 5/14-2) (from Ch. 38, par. 14-2)
7 Sec. 14-2. Elements of the offense; affirmative defense.
8 (a) A person commits eavesdropping when he:
9 (1) Knowingly and intentionally uses an eavesdropping
10 device for the purpose of hearing or recording all or any
11 part of any conversation or intercepts, retains, or
12 transcribes electronic communication unless he does so (A)
13 with the consent of all of the parties to such conversation
14 or electronic communication or (B) in accordance with
15 Article 108A or Article 108B of the "Code of Criminal
16 Procedure of 1963", approved August 14, 1963, as amended;
17 or
18 (2) Manufactures, assembles, distributes, or possesses
19 any electronic, mechanical, eavesdropping, or other device
20 knowing that or having reason to know that the design of
21 the device renders it primarily useful for the purpose of
22 the surreptitious hearing or recording of oral
23 conversations or the interception, retention, or

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1 transcription of electronic communications and the
2 intended or actual use of the device is contrary to the
3 provisions of this Article; or
4 (3) Uses or divulges, except as authorized by this
5 Article or by Article 108A or 108B of the "Code of Criminal
6 Procedure of 1963", approved August 14, 1963, as amended,
7 any information which he knows or reasonably should know
8 was obtained through the use of an eavesdropping device.
9 (b) It is an affirmative defense to a charge brought under
10this Article relating to the interception of a privileged
11communication that the person charged:
12 1. was a law enforcement officer acting pursuant to an
13 order of interception, entered pursuant to Section 108A-1
14 or 108B-5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963; and
15 2. at the time the communication was intercepted, the
16 officer was unaware that the communication was privileged;
17 and
18 3. stopped the interception within a reasonable time
19 after discovering that the communication was privileged;
20 and
21 4. did not disclose the contents of the communication.
22 (c) It is not unlawful for a manufacturer or a supplier of
23eavesdropping devices, or a provider of wire or electronic
24communication services, their agents, employees, contractors,
25or venders to manufacture, assemble, sell, or possess an
26eavesdropping device within the normal course of their business

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1for purposes not contrary to this Article or for law
2enforcement officers and employees of the Illinois Department
3of Corrections to manufacture, assemble, purchase, or possess
4an eavesdropping device in preparation for or within the course
5of their official duties.
6 (d) The interception, recording, or transcription of an
7electronic communication by an employee of a penal institution
8is not prohibited under this Act, provided that the
9interception, recording, or transcription is:
10 (1) otherwise legally permissible under Illinois law;
11 (2) conducted with the approval of the penal
12 institution for the purpose of investigating or enforcing a
13 State criminal law or a penal institution rule or
14 regulation with respect to inmates in the institution; and
15 (3) within the scope of the employee's official duties.
16 For the purposes of this subsection (d), "penal
17institution" has the meaning ascribed to it in clause (c)(1) of
18Section 31A-1.1.
19 (e) It is not a violation of this Article for a person to
20use an eavesdropping device to record a government official
21engaged in his or her official duties in a public place,
22including a police officer, unless the recording significantly
23impacts the government official's ability to perform these
24duties or creates a danger to the government official or
25others.
26(Source: P.A. 94-183, eff. 1-1-06.)
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