Full Text of HB5159 95th General Assembly
HB5159 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008 HB5159
Introduced , by Rep. Jay C. Hoffman SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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610 ILCS 80/2 |
from Ch. 114, par. 98 |
625 ILCS 5/18c-7503 |
from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 18c-7503 |
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Amends the Railroad Police Act. Requires allegations of abuse of authority or misconduct by members of a railroad police force to be investigated by the Illinois State Police. Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Exempts elected representatives of rail carriers from the restrictions concerning trespassing on railroad property. Provides that the listed persons shall be exempt from the restrictions while performing required duties in accordance with reasonable rail carrier company guidelines, engaging in safety inspections, or exercising a right under the federal Railway Labor Act (instead of just while performing required duties in accordance with reasonable rail carrier company guidelines).
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A BILL FOR
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HB5159 |
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LRB095 18226 LCT 44310 b |
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| AN ACT concerning transportation.
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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 Railroad Police Act is amended by changing | 5 |
| Section 2 as follows:
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| (610 ILCS 80/2) (from Ch. 114, par. 98)
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| Sec. 2. Conductors of all railroad trains, and the captain | 8 |
| or master of any
boat carrying passengers within the | 9 |
| jurisdiction of this state, is vested
with police powers while | 10 |
| on duty on their respective trains and boats, and
may wear an | 11 |
| appropriate badge indicative of such authority.
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| In the policing of its properties any registered rail | 13 |
| carrier, as defined in Section 18c-7201 of the Illinois Vehicle | 14 |
| Code, may provide for the
appointment and maintenance of such | 15 |
| police force as it may find necessary
and practicable to aid | 16 |
| and supplement the police forces of any municipality
in the | 17 |
| protection of its property and the protection of the persons | 18 |
| and
property of its passengers and employees, or otherwise in | 19 |
| furtherance of
the purposes for which such railroad was | 20 |
| organized. While engaged in the
conduct of their employment, | 21 |
| the members of such railroad police force have
and may exercise | 22 |
| like police powers as those conferred upon any peace officer | 23 |
| employed by a law enforcement agency of this State.
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LRB095 18226 LCT 44310 b |
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| Any registered rail carrier that appoints and maintains a | 2 |
| police force shall comply with the following requirements: | 3 |
| (1) Establish an internal policy that includes | 4 |
| procedures to ensure objective oversight in addressing | 5 |
| allegations of abuse of authority or other misconduct on | 6 |
| the part of its police officers. | 7 |
| (2) Adopt appropriate policies and guidelines for | 8 |
| employee investigations by police officers. These policies | 9 |
| and guidelines shall provide for initiating employee | 10 |
| investigations only under the following conditions: | 11 |
| (A) There is reason to believe criminal misconduct | 12 |
| has occurred. | 13 |
| (B) In response to an employee accident. | 14 |
| (C) There is reason to believe that the interview | 15 |
| of an employee could result in workplace violence. | 16 |
| (D) There is a legitimate concern for the personal | 17 |
| safety of one or more employees. | 18 |
| These policies and guidelines shall provide for the | 19 |
| right of an employee to request a representative to be | 20 |
| present during any interview concerning a non-criminal | 21 |
| matter. | 22 |
| (3) File copies of the policies and guidelines adopted | 23 |
| under paragraphs (1) and (2) with the Illinois Law | 24 |
| Enforcement Training Standards Board, which shall make | 25 |
| them available for public inspection. | 26 |
| Allegations of abuse of authority or misconduct by members |
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LRB095 18226 LCT 44310 b |
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| of a railroad police force authorized under this Section to | 2 |
| exercise police powers shall be investigated by the Illinois | 3 |
| State Police. | 4 |
| (Source: P.A. 94-846, eff. 1-1-07.)
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| Section 10. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by | 6 |
| changing Section 18c-7503 as follows:
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| (625 ILCS 5/18c-7503) (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 18c-7503)
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| Sec. 18c-7503. Trespassing on railroad property; terminal | 9 |
| security.
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| (1) Trespassing on railroad property prohibited.
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| (a) General prohibition.
Except as otherwise provided | 12 |
| in paragraph (b) of this
subsection, no person may:
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| (i) walk, ride, drive or be upon
or along the right | 14 |
| of way or rail yard of a rail carrier
within the State, | 15 |
| at a place other than a public
crossing;
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| (ii) enter or be
upon any railroad property;
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| (iii) without lawful authority or the railroad
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| carrier's
consent, ride on the outside of a train or | 19 |
| inside a passenger car, locomotive,
or freight car,
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| including a box car, flatbed, or container;
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| (iv) willfully lead or
contrive
any animal
to go | 22 |
| upon the railroad's rights of way for any reason other | 23 |
| than to pass over
such rights of way at a marked public | 24 |
| crossing; or
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| (v) throw or cause to be
thrown on to
the
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| railroad's rights of way any waste paper, ashes, | 3 |
| household waste, glass, metal,
tires, refuse,
or | 4 |
| rubbish.
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| (b) Exceptions.
This subsection shall not apply to:
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| (i) fare paying passengers on trains or employees | 7 |
| of a rail carrier;
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| (ii) railroad employees and an authorized or | 9 |
| elected representatives representative of rail
carrier | 10 |
| employees, while
performing required duties in | 11 |
| accordance with reasonable rail carrier
company | 12 |
| guidelines , engaging in safety inspections, or | 13 |
| exercising a right under the federal Railway Labor Act ;
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| (iii) a person going upon the right of way or into | 15 |
| the
rail yard to save human life or to remove an object | 16 |
| that a reasonable person
would believe poses an | 17 |
| imminent threat to human life or limb;
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| (iv) a person being on the station grounds or in | 19 |
| the
depot of the rail carrier for the purpose of
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| transacting business;
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| (v) a person, his family, or his employees or | 22 |
| agents
going across a farm crossing, as defined in this | 23 |
| Chapter, for the purpose of
crossing from one part to | 24 |
| another part of a farm
he owns or leases, where the | 25 |
| farm lies on both
sides of the right of way;
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| (vi) a person having written permission from the |
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| rail
carrier to go upon the right of way or into the
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| rail yard;
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| (vii) representatives of local, State, and federal | 4 |
| governmental
agencies in performance of their official | 5 |
| duties; and
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| (viii) a person having written permission from the | 7 |
| rail carrier to go
in or be upon railroad property.
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| (2) Penalties.
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| (a) Any person
found in violation of item (i), (ii), | 10 |
| (iii) or (iv) of paragraph (a) of
subsection (1)
shall be | 11 |
| guilty of a Class C misdemeanor for a first offense. In | 12 |
| addition to
such other
sanctions as
may be deemed | 13 |
| appropriate by the court, the person shall be subject to a
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| mandatory fine of
not
less than $150 or more than $500, or | 15 |
| to imprisonment for not less than 5
days nor more
than 30
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| days, or both. For each subsequent offense, the
person | 17 |
| shall be
guilty
of a Class A misdemeanor. In addition to | 18 |
| such sanctions as may be deemed
appropriate by
the
court, | 19 |
| the person shall be subject to a mandatory fine of not less | 20 |
| than
$500 nor more than
$1,000, or to imprisonment for not | 21 |
| less than 10 days or more than one year, or
both.
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| (b) Any person found in violation of item (v) of | 23 |
| paragraph
(a) of subsection (1)
shall be guilty of an | 24 |
| offense and in addition
to such sanctions as may be deemed | 25 |
| appropriate by the court shall be subject to
a fine of
not | 26 |
| less than $100 nor more than $500, or community service of |
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| not less than 8
hours nor
more than 50 hours, or both. If | 2 |
| damage to any railroad property or bodily
injury
occurs
to | 3 |
| another as a result of a violation of item (v) of paragraph | 4 |
| (a) of
subsection (1), that person shall be
charged with | 5 |
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offense of Malicious Removal of or Damage to Railroad | 6 |
| Property or Freight
pursuant to Section
18c-7502.
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| (c) Local authorities shall impose
fines as | 8 |
| established in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection | 9 |
| (2) for
persons found in violation
of
this Section or any | 10 |
| similar local ordinance. | 11 |
| (2.5) Terminal security. The owner of a terminal is | 12 |
| expressly authorized, within the terminal property, to | 13 |
| construct and operate berms, commercially constructed electric | 14 |
| fences, and monitoring equipment as security measures for | 15 |
| reducing the economic impact of theft, enhancing homeland | 16 |
| security, and improving the protection of the general public | 17 |
| welfare. The terminal owner shall properly operate and maintain | 18 |
| these security measures. Any electric fence installed pursuant | 19 |
| to this subsection shall: (i) be marked with appropriate signs; | 20 |
| (ii) be entirely surrounded at a distance of at least 36 inches | 21 |
| by properly maintained non-electric perimeter fences at least 8 | 22 |
| feet tall; (iii) operate at a level of current that is not | 23 |
| lethal to a human being upon contact; (iv) be covered at all | 24 |
| times by an insurance policy maintained by the operator of the | 25 |
| terminal for liability from claims arising out of the operation | 26 |
| of the fence in an amount not less than $10,000,000 per |
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| occurrence; and (v) be regularly monitored and inspected by a | 2 |
| qualified electrician. The use of any of these security | 3 |
| measures in accordance with this subsection is not a violation | 4 |
| of this Sub-chapter.
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| (3) Definitions. For purposes of this Section:
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| "Passenger" means a person
who is traveling by train with | 7 |
| lawful authority and who does not participate in
the train's
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| operation. The term "passenger" does not include stowaways.
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| "Railroad" means
any form of
nonhighway ground | 10 |
| transportation that runs on rails or electromagnetic
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| guideways,
including:
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| (i) commuter or other short-haul railroad | 13 |
| passenger service in a
metropolitan or
urban area; and
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| (ii) high-speed ground transportation systems that | 15 |
| connect metropolitan
areas;
but does not include rapid | 16 |
| transit operations in an urban area that are not
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| connected to the
general railroad system of | 18 |
| transportation.
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| "Railroad carrier" means a person providing railroad | 20 |
| transportation.
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| "Railroad property" means all tangible property owned, | 22 |
| leased, or operated by
a railroad
carrier including a right of | 23 |
| way, track, bridge, yard, shop, station, tunnel,
viaduct, | 24 |
| trestle, depot,
warehouse, terminal, or any other structure, | 25 |
| appurtenance, or equipment owned,
leased, or used
in the | 26 |
| operation of any railroad carrier including trains, |
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| locomotives,
engines,
railroad cars, work
equipment, rolling | 2 |
| stock, or safety devices.
"Railroad property" does not include | 3 |
| a railroad
carrier's administrative buildings or offices, | 4 |
| office equipment, or intangible
property such as
software or | 5 |
| other information.
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| "Right of way" means
the track or roadbed owned, leased, or | 7 |
| operated by a rail
carrier which is located on
either side of | 8 |
| its tracks and which is readily recognizable to a reasonable
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| person as being railroad property or is reasonably
identified | 10 |
| as such
by fencing or appropriate signs.
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| "Terminal" means a rail terminal facility, intermodal | 12 |
| facility where at least one mode of transportation serviced by | 13 |
| the facility is a railroad, or other railroad freight facility | 14 |
| larger than 25 acres.
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| "Yard" means a system of parallel tracks, crossovers, and | 16 |
| switches where
railroad cars are
switched and made up into | 17 |
| trains, and where railroad cars, locomotives, and
other rolling | 18 |
| stock
is kept when not in use or when awaiting repair.
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| (Source: P.A. 94-736, eff. 5-1-06.)
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