Public Act 0755 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB4121 Enrolled LRB094 14139 RLC 49038 b

Public Act 094-0755

AN ACT concerning criminal law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by changing Section 17-2 as follows:

(720 ILCS 5/17-2) (from Ch. 38, par. 17-2)

Sec. 17-2. False personation; use of title; solicitation; certain entities.

(a) A person commits a false personation when he or she falsely represents himself or herself to be a member or representative of any veterans' or public safety personnel organization or a representative of any charitable organization, or when any person exhibits or uses in any manner any decal, badge or insignia of any charitable, public safety personnel, or veterans' organization when not authorized to do so by the charitable, public safety personnel, or veterans' organization. "Public safety personnel organization" has the meaning ascribed to that term in Section 1 of the Solicitation for Charity Act.

(a-5) A person commits a false personation when he or she falsely represents himself or herself to be a veteran in seeking employment or public office. In this subsection, "veteran" means a person who has served in the Armed Services or Reserved Forces of the United States.

(a-6) A person commits a false personation when he or she falsely represents himself or herself to be a recipient of, or wears on his or her person, any of the following medals if that medal was not awarded to that person by the United States government, irrespective of branch of service: the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy Cross, the Air Force Cross, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, or the Purple Heart.

It is a defense to a prosecution under this subsection (a-6) that the medal is used, or is intended to be used, exclusively:

(1) for a dramatic presentation, such as a theatrical, film, or television production, or a historical re-enactment; or

(2) for a costume worn, or intended to be worn, by a person under 18 years of age.

(b) No person shall use the words "Chicago Police," "Chicago Police Department," "Chicago Patrolman," "Chicago Sergeant," "Chicago Lieutenant," "Chicago Peace Officer" or any other words to the same effect in the title of any organization, magazine, or other publication without the express approval of the Chicago Police Board.

(b-5) No person shall use the words "Cook County Sheriff's Police" or "Cook County Sheriff" or any other words to the same effect in the title of any organization, magazine, or other publication without the express approval of the office of the Cook County Sheriff's Merit Board. The references to names and titles in this Section may not be construed as authorizing use of the names and titles of other organizations or public safety personnel organizations otherwise prohibited by this Section or the Solicitation for Charity Act.

(c) (Blank).

(c-1) No person may claim or represent that he or she is acting on behalf of any police department, chief of a police department, fire department, chief of a fire department, sheriff's department, or sheriff when soliciting financial contributions or selling or delivering or offering to sell or deliver any merchandise, goods, services, memberships, or advertisements unless the chief of the police department, fire department, and the corporate or municipal authority thereof, or the sheriff has first entered into a written agreement with the person or with an organization with which the person is affiliated and the agreement permits the activity.

(c-2) No person, when soliciting financial contributions or selling or delivering or offering to sell or deliver any merchandise, goods, services, memberships, or advertisements may claim or represent that he or she is representing or acting on behalf of any nongovernmental organization by any name which includes "officer", "peace officer", "police", "law enforcement", "trooper", "sheriff", "deputy", "deputy sheriff", "State police", or any other word or words which would reasonably be understood to imply that the organization is composed of law enforcement personnel unless the person is actually representing or acting on behalf of the nongovernmental organization, and the nongovernmental organization is controlled by and governed by a membership of and represents a group or association of active duty peace officers, retired peace officers, or injured peace officers and before commencing the solicitation or the sale or the offers to sell any merchandise, goods, services, memberships, or advertisements, a written contract between the soliciting or selling person and the nongovernmental organization has been entered into.

(c-3) No person may solicit financial contributions or sell or deliver or offer to sell or deliver any merchandise, goods, services, memberships, or advertisements on behalf of a police, sheriff, or other law enforcement department unless that person is actually representing or acting on behalf of the department or governmental organization and has entered into a written contract with the police chief, or head of the law enforcement department, and the corporate or municipal authority thereof, or the sheriff, which specifies and states clearly and fully the purposes for which the proceeds of the solicitation, contribution, or sale will be used.

(c-4) No person, when soliciting financial contributions or selling or delivering or offering to sell or deliver any merchandise, goods, services, memberships, or advertisements, may claim or represent that he or she is representing or acting on behalf of any nongovernmental organization by any name which includes the term "fireman", "fire fighter", "paramedic", or any other word or words which would reasonably be understood to imply that the organization is composed of fire fighter or paramedic personnel unless the person is actually representing or acting on behalf of the nongovernmental organization, and the nongovernmental organization is controlled by and governed by a membership of and represents a group or association of active duty, retired, or injured fire fighters (for the purposes of this Section, "fire fighter" has the meaning ascribed to that term in Section 2 of the Illinois Fire Protection Training Act) or active duty, retired, or injured emergency medical technicians - ambulance, emergency medical technicians - intermediate, emergency medical technicians - paramedic, ambulance drivers, or other medical assistance or first aid personnel, and before commencing the solicitation or the sale or delivery or the offers to sell or deliver any merchandise, goods, services, memberships, or advertisements, a written contract between the soliciting or selling person and the nongovernmental organization has been entered into.

(c-5) No person may solicit financial contributions or sell or deliver or offer to sell or deliver any merchandise, goods, services, memberships, or advertisements on behalf of a department or departments of fire fighters unless that person is actually representing or acting on behalf of the department or departments and has entered into a written contract with the department chief and corporate or municipal authority thereof which specifies and states clearly and fully the purposes for which the proceeds of the solicitation, contribution, or sale will be used.

(c-6) No person may claim or represent that he or she is an airman, airline employee, airport employee, or contractor at an airport in order to obtain the uniform, identification card, license, or other identification paraphernalia of an airman, airline employee, airport employee, or contractor at an airport.

(d) Sentence. False personation, unapproved use of a name or title, or solicitation in violation of subsection (a), (b), or (b-5) of this Section is a Class C misdemeanor. False personation in violation of subsections (a-5) and (c-6) is a Class A misdemeanor. False personation in violation of subsection (a-6) of this Section is a petty offense for which the offender shall be fined at least $100 and not exceeding $200. Engaging in any activity in violation of subsection (c-1), (c-2), (c-3), (c-4), or (c-5) of this Section is a Class 4 felony.

(Source: P.A. 94-548, eff. 8-11-05.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2007