Full Text of HB1652 98th General Assembly
HB1652eng 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning wildlife.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by changing | 5 | | Section 48-3 as follows: | 6 | | (720 ILCS 5/48-3) | 7 | | Sec. 48-3. Hunter or fisherman interference. | 8 | | (a) Definitions. As used in this Section: | 9 | | "Aquatic life" means all fish, reptiles, amphibians, | 10 | | crayfish, and mussels the taking of which is
authorized
by | 11 | | the Fish and Aquatic Life Code. | 12 | | "Interfere with" means to take any action that | 13 | | physically impedes, hinders,
or obstructs the lawful | 14 | | taking of wildlife or aquatic life. | 15 | | "Taking" means the capture or killing of wildlife or | 16 | | aquatic life and
includes
travel, camping, and other acts | 17 | | preparatory to taking which occur on lands
or waters upon | 18 | | which the affected person has the right or privilege to | 19 | | take
such wildlife or aquatic life. | 20 | | "Wildlife" means any wildlife the taking of which is
| 21 | | authorized
by the Wildlife Code and includes those species | 22 | | that are lawfully
released by properly licensed permittees | 23 | | of the Department of Natural
Resources. |
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| 1 | | (b) A person commits hunter or fisherman interference when | 2 | | he or she intentionally or knowingly: | 3 | | (1) obstructs or interferes with the lawful taking of
| 4 | | wildlife or aquatic life by another person with the | 5 | | specific
intent to prevent that lawful taking; | 6 | | (2) drives or disturbs wildlife or aquatic life for the | 7 | | purpose of disrupting a lawful
taking of wildlife or | 8 | | aquatic life; | 9 | | (3) blocks, impedes, or physically harasses another | 10 | | person who is engaged
in the process of lawfully taking | 11 | | wildlife or aquatic life; | 12 | | (4) uses natural or artificial visual, aural, | 13 | | olfactory, gustatory, or
physical stimuli to affect | 14 | | wildlife or aquatic life behavior in order to hinder or | 15 | | prevent the
lawful taking of wildlife or aquatic life; | 16 | | (5) erects barriers with the intent to deny ingress or | 17 | | egress to or from
areas where the lawful taking of wildlife | 18 | | or aquatic life may occur; | 19 | | (6) intentionally interjects himself or herself into | 20 | | the line of fire or fishing lines of a
person lawfully | 21 | | taking wildlife or aquatic life; | 22 | | (7) affects the physical condition or placement of | 23 | | personal or public
property intended for use in the lawful | 24 | | taking of wildlife or aquatic life in order to
impair the | 25 | | usefulness of the property or prevent the use of the | 26 | | property; |
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| 1 | | (8) enters or remains upon or over private lands | 2 | | without the permission of
the
owner or the owner's agent, | 3 | | with the intent to violate this subsection; or | 4 | | (9) fails to obey the order of a peace officer to | 5 | | desist from conduct
in violation of this subsection (b) if | 6 | | the officer observes the conduct,
or has reasonable grounds | 7 | | to believe that the person has engaged in the conduct that | 8 | | day or that the person plans or intends to engage in the | 9 | | conduct
that day on a specific premises ; or . | 10 | | (10) uses a drone in a way that interferes with another | 11 | | person's lawful taking of
wildlife or aquatic life. For the | 12 | | purposes of this paragraph (10), "drone" means any aerial | 13 | | vehicle that does not carry a human operator. | 14 | | (c) Exemptions; defenses. | 15 | | (1) This Section does not apply to actions performed by | 16 | | authorized employees of
the Department of Natural | 17 | | Resources, duly accredited officers of the U.S. Fish
and | 18 | | Wildlife Service, sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, or other | 19 | | peace officers if the
actions are authorized by law and are | 20 | | necessary for the performance of their
official duties. | 21 | | (2) This Section does not apply to landowners, tenants, | 22 | | or lease holders
exercising their legal rights to the | 23 | | enjoyment of land, including, but not
limited to, farming | 24 | | and restricting trespass. | 25 | | (3) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution for a | 26 | | violation of this
Section that the defendant's conduct is |
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| 1 | | protected by his or her right to
freedom of speech under | 2 | | the constitution of this State or the United States. | 3 | | (4) Any interested parties may engage in protests or | 4 | | other free speech activities
adjacent to or on the | 5 | | perimeter of the location where the lawful taking of | 6 | | wildlife or aquatic life is taking place, provided that | 7 | | none of the provisions of this Section
are being violated. | 8 | | (d) Sentence. A first violation of paragraphs (1) through | 9 | | (8) of subsection (b) is a Class B misdemeanor. A second or | 10 | | subsequent violation of
paragraphs (1) through (8) of | 11 | | subsection (b) is a Class A misdemeanor for which imprisonment | 12 | | for not less than 7 days shall be imposed. A
person guilty of a | 13 | | second or subsequent violation of paragraphs (1) through (8) of | 14 | | subsection (b) is not
eligible for court
supervision. A | 15 | | violation of paragraph (9) or (10) of subsection (b) is a Class | 16 | | A misdemeanor. A court shall revoke, for a period of one year | 17 | | to 5 years, any Illinois
hunting, fishing, or trapping | 18 | | privilege, license or permit of any person
convicted of | 19 | | violating any provision of this Section. For
purposes of this | 20 | | subsection, a "second or subsequent violation" means a | 21 | | conviction
under paragraphs (1) through (8) of subsection (b) | 22 | | of this Section within 2 years of a prior violation arising | 23 | | from a separate set
of circumstances. | 24 | | (e) Injunctions; damages. | 25 | | (1) Any court may enjoin conduct which would be in | 26 | | violation
of paragraphs (1) through (8) or (10) of |
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| 1 | | subsection (b) upon petition by a person affected or who | 2 | | reasonably
may be affected by the conduct, upon a showing | 3 | | that the conduct is threatened
or that it has occurred on a | 4 | | particular premises in the past and that it
is not | 5 | | unreasonable to expect that under similar circumstances it | 6 | | will be
repeated. | 7 | | (2) A court shall award all resulting costs and damages | 8 | | to any person
adversely affected by a violation of | 9 | | paragraphs (1) through (8) or (10) of subsection (b), which | 10 | | may include an award for
punitive damages. In addition to | 11 | | other items of special damage, the measure of
damages may | 12 | | include expenditures of the affected person for license and | 13 | | permit
fees, travel, guides, special equipment and | 14 | | supplies, to the extent that these
expenditures were | 15 | | rendered futile by prevention of the taking of wildlife or | 16 | | aquatic life.
| 17 | | (Source: P.A. 97-1108, eff. 1-1-13.)
| 18 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 19 | | becoming law.
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