Public Act 102-0547
 
SB2204 EnrolledLRB102 16152 KMF 21528 b

    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 2012 is amended by
changing Section 12-7.3 as follows:
 
    (720 ILCS 5/12-7.3)  (from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.3)
    Sec. 12-7.3. Stalking.
    (a) A person commits stalking when he or she knowingly
engages in a course of conduct directed at a specific person,
and he or she knows or should know that this course of conduct
would cause a reasonable person to:
        (1) fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third
    person; or
        (2) suffer other emotional distress.
    (a-3) A person commits stalking when he or she, knowingly
and without lawful justification, on at least 2 separate
occasions follows another person or places the person under
surveillance or any combination thereof and:
        (1) at any time transmits a threat of immediate or
    future bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement or
    restraint and the threat is directed towards that person
    or a family member of that person; or
        (2) places that person in reasonable apprehension of
    immediate or future bodily harm, sexual assault,
    confinement or restraint to or of that person or a family
    member of that person.
    (a-5) A person commits stalking when he or she has
previously been convicted of stalking another person and
knowingly and without lawful justification on one occasion:
        (1) follows that same person or places that same
    person under surveillance; and
        (2) transmits a threat of immediate or future bodily
    harm, sexual assault, confinement or restraint to that
    person or a family member of that person.
    (a-7) A person commits stalking when he or she knowingly
makes threats that are a part of a course of conduct and is
aware of the threatening nature of his or her speech.
    (b) Sentence. Stalking is a Class 4 felony; a second or
subsequent conviction is a Class 3 felony.
    (c) Definitions. For purposes of this Section:
        (1) "Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts,
    including but not limited to acts in which a defendant
    directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any
    action, method, device, or means follows, monitors,
    observes, surveils, threatens, or communicates to or
    about, a person, engages in other non-consensual contact,
    or interferes with or damages a person's property or pet.
    A course of conduct may include contact via electronic
    communications.
        (2) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of
    signs, signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of
    any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire,
    radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical
    system. "Electronic communication" includes transmissions
    by a computer through the Internet to another computer.
        (3) "Emotional distress" means significant mental
    suffering, anxiety or alarm.
        (4) "Family member" means a parent, grandparent,
    brother, sister, or child, whether by whole blood,
    half-blood, or adoption and includes a step-grandparent,
    step-parent, step-brother, step-sister or step-child.
    "Family member" also means any other person who regularly
    resides in the household, or who, within the prior 6
    months, regularly resided in the household.
        (5) "Follows another person" means (i) to move in
    relative proximity to a person as that person moves from
    place to place or (ii) to remain in relative proximity to a
    person who is stationary or whose movements are confined
    to a small area. "Follows another person" does not include
    a following within the residence of the defendant.
        (6) "Non-consensual contact" means any contact with
    the victim that is initiated or continued without the
    victim's consent, including but not limited to being in
    the physical presence of the victim; appearing within the
    sight of the victim; approaching or confronting the victim
    in a public place or on private property; appearing at the
    workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or
    remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the
    victim; or placing an object on, or delivering an object
    to, property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim.
        (7) "Places a person under surveillance" means: (1)
    remaining present outside the person's school, place of
    employment, vehicle, other place occupied by the person,
    or residence other than the residence of the defendant; or
    (2) placing an electronic tracking device on the person or
    the person's property.
        (8) "Reasonable person" means a person in the victim's
    situation.
        (9) "Transmits a threat" means a verbal or written
    threat or a threat implied by a pattern of conduct or a
    combination of verbal or written statements or conduct.
    (d) Exemptions.
        (1) This Section does not apply to any individual or
    organization (i) monitoring or attentive to compliance
    with public or worker safety laws, wage and hour
    requirements, or other statutory requirements, or (ii)
    picketing occurring at the workplace that is otherwise
    lawful and arises out of a bona fide labor dispute,
    including any controversy concerning wages, salaries,
    hours, working conditions or benefits, including health
    and welfare, sick leave, insurance, and pension or
    retirement provisions, the making or maintaining of
    collective bargaining agreements, and the terms to be
    included in those agreements.
        (2) This Section does not apply to an exercise of the
    right to free speech or assembly that is otherwise lawful.
        (3) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile
    service providers, and providers of information services,
    including, but not limited to, Internet service providers
    and hosting service providers, are not liable under this
    Section, except for willful and wanton misconduct, by
    virtue of the transmission, storage, or caching of
    electronic communications or messages of others or by
    virtue of the provision of other related
    telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or
    information services used by others in violation of this
    Section.
    (d-5) The incarceration of a person in a penal institution
who commits the course of conduct or transmits a threat is not
a bar to prosecution under this Section.
    (d-10) A defendant who directed the actions of a third
party to violate this Section, under the principles of
accountability set forth in Article 5 of this Code, is guilty
of violating this Section as if the same had been personally
done by the defendant, without regard to the mental state of
the third party acting at the direction of the defendant.
(Source: P.A. 96-686, eff. 1-1-10; 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11;
97-311, eff. 8-11-11; 97-1109, eff. 1-1-13.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2022