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| | 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016 HB3699 Introduced , by Rep. Jerry F. Costello, II SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that the exemption from a violation of the statute concerning hunter or fisherman interference for landowners, tenants, or lease holders
exercising their legal rights to the enjoyment of land does not apply when those actions are knowingly or intentionally interfering with the lawful taking of wildlife or aquatic life by an adjacent landowner, tenant, or lease holder.
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| | | CORRECTIONAL BUDGET AND IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY | |
| | A BILL FOR |
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| | HB3699 | | LRB099 10508 RLC 31535 b |
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1 | | AN ACT concerning criminal law.
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2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
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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
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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
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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; |
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 , except when those actions are |
25 | | knowingly or intentionally interfering with the lawful |
26 | | taking of wildlife or aquatic life by an adjacent |
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1 | | landowner, tenant, or lease holder . |
2 | | (3) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution for a |
3 | | violation of this
Section that the defendant's conduct is |
4 | | protected by his or her right to
freedom of speech under |
5 | | the constitution of this State or the United States. |
6 | | (4) Any interested parties may engage in protests or |
7 | | other free speech activities
adjacent to or on the |
8 | | perimeter of the location where the lawful taking of |
9 | | wildlife or aquatic life is taking place, provided that |
10 | | none of the provisions of this Section
are being violated. |
11 | | (d) Sentence. A first violation of paragraphs (1) through |
12 | | (8) of subsection (b) is a Class B misdemeanor. A second or |
13 | | subsequent violation of
paragraphs (1) through (8) of |
14 | | subsection (b) is a Class A misdemeanor for which imprisonment |
15 | | for not less than 7 days shall be imposed. A
person guilty of a |
16 | | second or subsequent violation of paragraphs (1) through (8) of |
17 | | subsection (b) is not
eligible for court
supervision. A |
18 | | violation of paragraph (9) or (10) of subsection (b) is a Class |
19 | | A misdemeanor. A court shall revoke, for a period of one year |
20 | | to 5 years, any Illinois
hunting, fishing, or trapping |
21 | | privilege, license or permit of any person
convicted of |
22 | | violating any provision of this Section. For
purposes of this |
23 | | subsection, a "second or subsequent violation" means a |
24 | | conviction
under paragraphs (1) through (8) of subsection (b) |
25 | | of this Section within 2 years of a prior violation arising |
26 | | from a separate set
of circumstances. |
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1 | | (e) Injunctions; damages. |
2 | | (1) Any court may enjoin conduct which would be in |
3 | | violation
of paragraphs (1) through (8) or (10) of |
4 | | subsection (b) upon petition by a person affected or who |
5 | | reasonably
may be affected by the conduct, upon a showing |
6 | | that the conduct is threatened
or that it has occurred on a |
7 | | particular premises in the past and that it
is not |
8 | | unreasonable to expect that under similar circumstances it |
9 | | will be
repeated. |
10 | | (2) A court shall award all resulting costs and damages |
11 | | to any person
adversely affected by a violation of |
12 | | paragraphs (1) through (8) or (10) of subsection (b), which |
13 | | may include an award for
punitive damages. In addition to |
14 | | other items of special damage, the measure of
damages may |
15 | | include expenditures of the affected person for license and |
16 | | permit
fees, travel, guides, special equipment and |
17 | | supplies, to the extent that these
expenditures were |
18 | | rendered futile by prevention of the taking of wildlife or |
19 | | aquatic life.
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20 | | (Source: P.A. 97-1108, eff. 1-1-13; 98-402, eff. 8-16-13.)
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