Public Act 100-1000

SB3411 Enrolled LRB100 19997 HEP 35278 b

AN ACT concerning civil law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,

represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Stalking No Contact Order Act is amended by

changing Sections 5, 10, and 15 as follows:

(740 ILCS 21/5)

Sec. 5. Purpose. Stalking generally refers to a course of

conduct, not a single act. Stalking behavior includes following

a person, conducting surveillance of the person, appearing at

the person's home, work or school, making unwanted phone calls,

sending unwanted emails, unwanted messages via social media, or

text messages, leaving objects for the person, vandalizing the

person's property, or injuring a pet. Stalking is a serious

crime. Victims experience fear for their safety, fear for the

safety of others and suffer emotional distress. Many victims

alter their daily routines to avoid the persons who are

stalking them. Some victims are in such fear that they relocate

to another city, town or state. While estimates suggest that

70% of victims know the individuals stalking them, only 30% of

victims have dated or been in intimate relationships with their

stalkers. All stalking victims should be able to seek a civil

remedy requiring the offenders stay away from the victims and

third parties.

(Source: P.A. 96-246, eff. 1-1-10.)

(740 ILCS 21/10)

Sec. 10. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act:

"Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts, including but not

limited to acts in which a respondent directly, indirectly, or

through third parties, by any action, method, device, or means

follows, monitors, observes, surveils, or threatens, or

communicates to or about, a person, workplace, school, or place

of worship, engages in other contact, or interferes with or

damages a person's property or pet. A course of conduct may

include contact via electronic communications. The

incarceration of a person in a penal institution who commits

the course of conduct is not a bar to prosecution under this

Section.

"Emotional distress" means significant mental suffering,

anxiety or alarm.

"Contact" includes any contact with the victim, that is

initiated or continued without the victim's consent, or that is

in disregard of the victim's expressed desire that the contact

be avoided or discontinued, 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; and appearing at the

prohibited workplace, school, or place of worship.

"Petitioner" means any named petitioner for the stalking no

contact order or any named victim of stalking on whose behalf

the petition is brought. "Petitioner" includes an authorized

agent of a place of employment, an authorized agent of a place

of worship, or an authorized agent of a school.

"Reasonable person" means a person in the petitioner's

circumstances with the petitioner's knowledge of the

respondent and the respondent's prior acts.

"Stalking" means engaging 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 fear

for his or her safety, the safety of a workplace, school, or

place of worship, or the safety of a third person or suffer

emotional distress. Stalking does not include an exercise of

the right to free speech or assembly that is otherwise lawful

or 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.

"Stalking No Contact Order" means an emergency order or

plenary order granted under this Act, which includes a remedy

authorized by Section 80 of this Act.

(Source: P.A. 96-246, eff. 1-1-10.)

(740 ILCS 21/15)

Sec. 15. Persons protected by this Act. A petition for a

stalking no contact order may be filed when relief is not

available to the petitioner under the Illinois Domestic

Violence Act of 1986:

(1) by any person who is a victim of stalking; or

(2) by a person on behalf of a minor child or an adult

who is a victim of stalking but, because of age,

disability, health, or inaccessibility, cannot file the

petition; .

(3) by an authorized agent of a workplace;

(4) by an authorized agent of a place of worship; or

(5) by an authorized agent of a school.

(Source: P.A. 96-246, eff. 1-1-10.)