Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

Updating the database of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) is an ongoing process. Recent laws may not yet be included in the ILCS database, but they are found on this site as Public Acts soon after they become law. For information concerning the relationship between statutes and Public Acts, refer to the Guide.

Because the statute database is maintained primarily for legislative drafting purposes, statutory changes are sometimes included in the statute database before they take effect. If the source note at the end of a Section of the statutes includes a Public Act that has not yet taken effect, the version of the law that is currently in effect may have already been removed from the database and you should refer to that Public Act to see the changes made to the current law.

720 ILCS 5/9-3

(720 ILCS 5/9-3) (from Ch. 38, par. 9-3)

Sec. 9-3. Involuntary Manslaughter and Reckless Homicide.

(a) A person who unintentionally kills an individual without lawful
justification commits involuntary manslaughter if his acts whether lawful
or unlawful which cause the death are such as are likely to cause death or
great bodily harm to some individual, and he performs them recklessly,
except in cases in which the cause of the death consists of the driving of
a motor vehicle or operating a snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle, or watercraft,
in which case the person commits reckless homicide. A person commits reckless homicide if he or she unintentionally kills an individual while driving a vehicle and using an incline in a roadway, such as a railroad crossing, bridge
approach, or hill, to cause the vehicle to become airborne.

(b) (Blank).

(c) (Blank).

(d) Sentence.

(1) Involuntary manslaughter is a Class 3 felony.

(2) Reckless homicide is a Class 3 felony.

(e) (Blank).

(e-2) Except as provided in subsection (e-3), in cases involving reckless homicide in which the offense is committed upon a public thoroughfare where children pass going to and from school  when a school crossing guard is performing  official duties, the penalty is a Class 2 felony, for which a
person, if sentenced to a term of imprisonment, shall be sentenced to a term of
not less than 3 years and not more than 14  years.

(e-3) In cases involving reckless homicide in which (i) the offense  is committed upon a public thoroughfare where children pass going to and from school  when a school crossing guard is performing  official duties and (ii) the defendant causes the deaths of 2 or more persons as part of a single course of conduct, the penalty is a Class 2 felony, for which a
person, if sentenced to a term of imprisonment, shall be sentenced to a term of
not less than 6 years and not more than 28  years.

(e-5) (Blank).

(e-7) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (e-8), in cases involving
reckless homicide in which the defendant: (1)
was
driving in a construction or maintenance zone, as defined in Section 11-605.1
of the Illinois Vehicle Code, or (2) was operating a vehicle while   failing or refusing to comply with any lawful order or direction of any authorized police officer or traffic control aide engaged in traffic control,
the penalty is a Class 2 felony, for which a
person, if sentenced to a term of imprisonment, shall be sentenced to a term of
not less than 3 years and not more than 14 years.

(e-8) In cases involving reckless homicide in which the defendant caused the deaths of 2 or more persons as part of a single course of conduct and: (1) was
driving in a construction or maintenance zone, as defined in Section 11-605.1
of the Illinois Vehicle Code, or (2) was operating a vehicle while   failing or refusing to comply with any lawful order or direction of any authorized police officer or traffic control aide engaged in traffic control,
the penalty is a Class 2 felony, for which a
person, if sentenced to a term of imprisonment, shall be sentenced to a term of
not less than 6 years and not more than 28 years.

(e-9) In cases involving reckless homicide in which the defendant drove a vehicle and used an incline in a roadway, such as a railroad crossing, bridge
approach, or hill, to cause the vehicle to become airborne, and caused the deaths of 2 or more persons as
part of a single course of conduct,
the penalty is a Class 2 felony.

(e-10) In cases involving involuntary manslaughter or reckless homicide resulting in the death of a peace officer killed in the performance of his or her duties as a peace officer, the penalty is a Class 2 felony.

(e-11)
 In cases involving reckless homicide in which the defendant unintentionally kills an individual while driving in a posted school zone, as defined in Section 11-605 of the Illinois Vehicle Code, while children are present or in a construction or maintenance zone, as defined in Section 11-605.1 of the Illinois Vehicle Code, when construction or maintenance workers are present the trier of fact may infer that the defendant's actions were performed recklessly where he or she was also either driving at a speed of more than 20 miles per hour in excess of the posted speed limit or violating Section 11-501 of the Illinois Vehicle Code.

(e-12) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (e-13), in cases involving
reckless homicide in which the offense was committed as result
of a violation of subsection (c) of Section 11-907 of the Illinois Vehicle Code,
the penalty is a Class 2 felony, for which a
person, if sentenced to a term of imprisonment, shall be sentenced to a term of
not less than 3 years and not more than 14 years.

(e-13) In cases involving
reckless homicide in which the offense was committed as result
of a violation of subsection (c) of Section 11-907 of the Illinois Vehicle Code and the defendant caused the deaths of 2 or more persons as
part of a single course of conduct,
the penalty is a Class 2 felony, for which a
person, if sentenced to a term of imprisonment, shall be sentenced to a term of
not less than 6 years and not more than 28 years.

(e-14)
  In cases involving reckless homicide in which the defendant unintentionally kills an individual, the trier of fact may infer that the defendant's actions were performed recklessly where he or she was also violating subsection (c) of Section 11-907 of the Illinois Vehicle Code.  The penalty for a reckless homicide in which the driver also violated subsection (c) of Section 11-907 of the Illinois Vehicle Code is a Class 2 felony, for which a person, if sentenced to a term of imprisonment, shall be sentenced to a term of not less than 3 years and not more than 14 years.

(e-15) In cases involving reckless homicide in which the defendant was operating a vehicle while failing or refusing to comply with subsection (c) of Section 11-907 of the Illinois Vehicle Code resulting in the death of a firefighter or emergency medical services personnel in the performance of his or her official duties,  the penalty is a Class 2 felony.

(f) In cases involving involuntary manslaughter in which the victim was a
family or household member as defined in paragraph (3) of Section 112A-3 of the
Code of
Criminal Procedure of 1963, the penalty shall be a Class 2 felony, for which a
person if sentenced to a term of imprisonment, shall be sentenced to a term of
not less than 3 years and not more than 14 years.

(Source: P.A. 101-173, eff. 1-1-20.)