Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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720 ILCS 5/21-1.3

(720 ILCS 5/21-1.3)

Sec. 21-1.3. Criminal defacement of property.

(a) A person commits criminal defacement of property when the person
knowingly damages the property of another by
defacing, deforming, or otherwise damaging the property by the use of paint or
any other similar substance, or by the use of a writing instrument, etching
tool, or any other similar device. It is an affirmative defense to a violation of this Section that the owner of the property damaged consented to such damage.

(b) Sentence.

(1) Criminal defacement of property is a Class A misdemeanor for a
first offense when the aggregate value of the damage to the property does not exceed $500.  Criminal
defacement of property is a Class 4 felony when the aggregate value of the damage to property does not
exceed $500 and the property damaged is a school building or place of
worship or property which memorializes or honors an individual or group of police officers, fire fighters, members of the United States Armed Forces or National Guard, or veterans.  Criminal
defacement of property is a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent
conviction or when the aggregate value of the damage to the property exceeds $500.
Criminal defacement of property is a Class 3 felony when the aggregate value of the damage to property
exceeds $500 and the property damaged is a school building or place of
worship or property which memorializes or honors an individual or group of police officers, fire fighters, members of the United States Armed Forces or National Guard, or veterans.

(2) In addition to any other sentence that may be imposed
for a violation of this Section,
 a person convicted of
criminal defacement of
property shall:

(A) pay the actual costs incurred by the property

owner or the unit of government to abate, remediate, repair, or remove the effect of the damage to the property.  To the extent permitted by law, reimbursement for the costs of abatement, remediation, repair, or removal shall be payable to the person who incurred the costs; and

(B) if convicted of criminal defacement of property

that is chargeable as a Class 3 or Class 4 felony, pay a mandatory minimum fine of $500.

(3) In addition to any
other sentence that may be imposed, a court shall order any person convicted of
criminal defacement of property to perform community service for not less than
30 and not more than 120 hours, if community service is available in the
jurisdiction. The community service shall include, but need
not be limited to, the cleanup and repair of the damage to property that was
caused by the offense, or similar damage to property located in the
municipality or county in which the offense occurred.
When the property damaged is a school building, the community service may
include cleanup, removal, or painting over the defacement.
In addition, whenever any
person is placed on supervision for an alleged offense under this Section, the
supervision shall be conditioned
upon the performance of the community service.

(4) For the purposes of this subsection (b), aggregate value shall be determined by adding the value of the damage to one or more properties if the offenses  were committed as part of a single course of conduct.

(Source: P.A. 98-315, eff. 1-1-14; 98-466, eff. 8-16-13; 98-756, eff. 7-16-14; 99-631, eff. 1-1-17.)