Bill Text: IL HB2437 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986 and the Protective Orders Article of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Includes economic or financial abuse in the definition of "abuse". Defines "economic or financial abuse" as controlling a person's access to economic or financial resources in a way that forces him or her to depend on the person controlling the economic or financial resources.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-06-04 - Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Tom Weber [HB2437 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-HB2437-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 HB2437 Introduced , by Rep. Mary E. Flowers - LaToya Greenwood SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
725 ILCS 5/112A-3 from Ch. 38, par. 112A-3
750 ILCS 60/103 from Ch. 40, par. 2311-3
Amends the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986 and the Protective Orders Article of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Includes economic or financial abuse in the definition of "abuse". Defines "economic or financial abuse" as controlling a person's access to economic or financial resources in a way that forces him or her to depend on the person controlling the economic or financial resources.
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A BILL FOR
HB2437 LRB101 08527 LNS 53605 b
AN ACT concerning domestic violence.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 is
amended by changing Section 112A-3 as follows:
(725 ILCS 5/112A-3) (from Ch. 38, par. 112A-3)
Sec. 112A-3. Definitions.
(a) In this Article:
"Advocate" means a person whose communications with the
victim are privileged under Section 8-802.1 or 8-802.2 of the
Code of Civil Procedure or Section 227 of the Illinois Domestic
Violence Act of 1986.
"Named victim" means the person named as the victim in the
delinquency petition or criminal prosecution.
"Protective order" means a domestic violence order of
protection, a civil no contact order, or a stalking no contact
order.
(b) For the purposes of domestic violence cases, the
following terms shall have the following meanings in this
Article:
(1) "Abuse" means physical abuse, economic or
financial abuse, harassment, intimidation of a dependent,
interference with personal liberty or willful deprivation

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but does not include reasonable direction of a minor child
by a parent or person in loco parentis.
(2) "Domestic violence" means abuse as described in
paragraph (1) of this subsection (b).
(2.5) "Economic or financial abuse" has the meaning
provided in Section 103 of the Illinois Domestic Violence Act
of 1986.
(3) "Family or household members" include spouses,
former spouses, parents, children, stepchildren, and other
persons related by blood or by present or prior marriage,
persons who share or formerly shared a common dwelling,
persons who have or allegedly have a child in common,
persons who share or allegedly share a blood relationship
through a child, persons who have or have had a dating or
engagement relationship, persons with disabilities and
their personal assistants, and caregivers as defined in
subsection (e) of Section 12-4.4a of the Criminal Code of
2012. For purposes of this paragraph (3), neither a casual
acquaintanceship nor ordinary fraternization between 2
individuals in business or social contexts shall be deemed
to constitute a dating relationship.
(4) "Harassment" means knowing conduct which is not
necessary to accomplish a purpose which is reasonable under
the circumstances; would cause a reasonable person
emotional distress; and does cause emotional distress to
the petitioner. Unless the presumption is rebutted by a

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preponderance of the evidence, the following types of
conduct shall be presumed to cause emotional distress:
(i) creating a disturbance at petitioner's place
of employment or school;
(ii) repeatedly telephoning petitioner's place of
employment, home or residence;
(iii) repeatedly following petitioner about in a
public place or places;
(iv) repeatedly keeping petitioner under
surveillance by remaining present outside his or her
home, school, place of employment, vehicle or other
place occupied by petitioner or by peering in
petitioner's windows;
(v) improperly concealing a minor child from
petitioner, repeatedly threatening to improperly
remove a minor child of petitioner's from the
jurisdiction or from the physical care of petitioner,
repeatedly threatening to conceal a minor child from
petitioner, or making a single such threat following an
actual or attempted improper removal or concealment,
unless respondent was fleeing from an incident or
pattern of domestic violence; or
(vi) threatening physical force, confinement or
restraint on one or more occasions.
(5) "Interference with personal liberty" means
committing or threatening physical abuse, harassment,

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intimidation or willful deprivation so as to compel another
to engage in conduct from which she or he has a right to
abstain or to refrain from conduct in which she or he has a
right to engage.
(6) "Intimidation of a dependent" means subjecting a
person who is dependent because of age, health, or
disability to participation in or the witnessing of:
physical force against another or physical confinement or
restraint of another which constitutes physical abuse as
defined in this Article, regardless of whether the abused
person is a family or household member.
(7) "Order of protection" or "domestic violence order
of protection" means an ex parte or final order, granted
pursuant to this Article, which includes any or all of the
remedies authorized by Section 112A-14 of this Code.
(8) "Petitioner" may mean not only any named petitioner
for the domestic violence order of protection and any named
victim of abuse on whose behalf the petition is brought,
but also any other person protected by this Article.
(9) "Physical abuse" includes sexual abuse and means
any of the following:
(i) knowing or reckless use of physical force,
confinement or restraint;
(ii) knowing, repeated and unnecessary sleep
deprivation; or
(iii) knowing or reckless conduct which creates an

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immediate risk of physical harm.
(9.3) "Respondent" in a petition for a domestic
violence order of protection means the defendant.
(9.5) "Stay away" means for the respondent to refrain
from both physical presence and nonphysical contact with
the petitioner whether direct, indirect (including, but
not limited to, telephone calls, mail, email, faxes, and
written notes), or through third parties who may or may not
know about the domestic violence order of protection.
(10) "Willful deprivation" means wilfully denying a
person who because of age, health or disability requires
medication, medical care, shelter, accessible shelter or
services, food, therapeutic device, or other physical
assistance, and thereby exposing that person to the risk of
physical, mental or emotional harm, except with regard to
medical care and treatment when such dependent person has
expressed the intent to forgo such medical care or
treatment. This paragraph (10) does not create any new
affirmative duty to provide support to dependent persons.
(c) For the purposes of cases involving sexual offenses,
the following terms shall have the following meanings in this
Article:
(1) "Civil no contact order" means an ex parte or final
order granted under this Article, which includes a remedy
authorized by Section 112A-14.5 of this Code.
(2) "Family or household members" include spouses,

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parents, children, stepchildren, and persons who share a
common dwelling.
(3) "Non-consensual" means a lack of freely given
agreement.
(4) "Petitioner" means not only any named petitioner
for the civil no contact order and any named victim of
non-consensual sexual conduct or non-consensual sexual
penetration on whose behalf the petition is brought, but
includes any other person sought to be protected under this
Article.
(5) "Respondent" in a petition for a civil no contact
order means the defendant.
(6) "Sexual conduct" means any intentional or knowing
touching or fondling by the petitioner or the respondent,
either directly or through clothing, of the sex organs,
anus, or breast of the petitioner or the respondent, or any
part of the body of a child under 13 years of age, or any
transfer or transmission of semen by the respondent upon
any part of the clothed or unclothed body of the
petitioner, for the purpose of sexual gratification or
arousal of the petitioner or the respondent.
(7) "Sexual penetration" means any contact, however
slight, between the sex organ or anus of one person by an
object, the sex organ, mouth or anus of another person, or
any intrusion, however slight, of any part of the body of
one person or of any animal or object into the sex organ or

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anus of another person, including, but not limited to,
cunnilingus, fellatio, or anal penetration. Evidence of
emission of semen is not required to prove sexual
penetration.
(8) "Stay away" means to refrain from both physical
presence and nonphysical contact with the petitioner
directly, indirectly, or through third parties who may or
may not know of the order. "Nonphysical contact" includes,
but is not limited to, telephone calls, mail, e-mail, fax,
and written notes.
(d) For the purposes of cases involving stalking offenses,
the following terms shall have the following meanings in this
Article:
(1) "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, threatens, or communicates to or
about, a person, 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.
(2) "Emotional distress" means significant mental
suffering, anxiety, or alarm.
(3) "Contact" includes any contact with the victim,

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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.
(4) "Petitioner" means any named petitioner for the
stalking no contact order or any named victim of stalking
on whose behalf the petition is brought.
(5) "Reasonable person" means a person in the
petitioner's circumstances with the petitioner's knowledge
of the respondent and the respondent's prior acts.
(6) "Respondent" in a petition for a civil no contact
order means the defendant.
(7) "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 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

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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.
(8) "Stalking no contact order" means an ex parte or
final order granted under this Article, which includes a
remedy authorized by Section 112A-14.7 of this Code.
(Source: P.A. 100-199, eff. 1-1-18; 100-597, eff. 6-29-18.)
Section 10. The Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986 is
amended by changing Section 103 as follows:
(750 ILCS 60/103) (from Ch. 40, par. 2311-3)
Sec. 103. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act, the
following terms shall have the following meanings:
(1) "Abuse" means physical abuse, economic or financial
abuse, harassment, intimidation of a dependent, interference
with personal liberty or willful deprivation but does not
include reasonable direction of a minor child by a parent or
person in loco parentis.
(2) "Adult with disabilities" means an elder adult with
disabilities or a high-risk adult with disabilities. A person

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may be an adult with disabilities for purposes of this Act even
though he or she has never been adjudicated an incompetent
adult. However, no court proceeding may be initiated or
continued on behalf of an adult with disabilities over that
adult's objection, unless such proceeding is approved by his or
her legal guardian, if any.
(3) "Domestic violence" means abuse as defined in paragraph
(1).
(3.5) "Economic or financial abuse" means controlling a
person's access to economic or financial resources in a way
that forces him or her to depend on the person controlling the
economic or financial resources. "Economic or financial abuse"
includes, but is not limited to: forbidding a person to work;
sabotaging work or employment opportunities, including
stalking a person at his or her work place or causing the
person to lose his or her job by physically abusing him or her
prior to important meetings or interviews; forbidding the
person from attending job training or advancement
opportunities; controlling how all money is spent; not
including the person in investment or banking decisions; not
allowing the person access to bank accounts; withholding money
or giving an allowance to the person; forcing the person to
write bad checks or file fraudulent tax returns; running up
large amounts of debt on joint accounts; refusing to work or
contribute to shared income; withholding funds for the person
or children to obtain basic needs, including food and medicine;

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hiding assets; stealing the person's identity, property, or
inheritance; forcing the person to work in a family or shared
business without pay; refusing to pay bills; ruining the
person's credit score; forcing the person to turn over public
benefits or threatening to accuse the person of misusing
benefits; filing false insurance claims; refusing to pay or
evading child support, and manipulating dissolution of
marriage proceedings by hiding or not disclosing assets.
(4) "Elder adult with disabilities" means an adult
prevented by advanced age from taking appropriate action to
protect himself or herself from abuse by a family or household
member.
(5) "Exploitation" means the illegal, including tortious,
use of a high-risk adult with disabilities or of the assets or
resources of a high-risk adult with disabilities. Exploitation
includes, but is not limited to, the misappropriation of assets
or resources of a high-risk adult with disabilities by undue
influence, by breach of a fiduciary relationship, by fraud,
deception, or extortion, or the use of such assets or resources
in a manner contrary to law.
(6) "Family or household members" include spouses, former
spouses, parents, children, stepchildren and other persons
related by blood or by present or prior marriage, persons who
share or formerly shared a common dwelling, persons who have or
allegedly have a child in common, persons who share or
allegedly share a blood relationship through a child, persons

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who have or have had a dating or engagement relationship,
persons with disabilities and their personal assistants, and
caregivers as defined in Section 12-4.4a of the Criminal Code
of 2012. For purposes of this paragraph, neither a casual
acquaintanceship nor ordinary fraternization between 2
individuals in business or social contexts shall be deemed to
constitute a dating relationship. In the case of a high-risk
adult with disabilities, "family or household members"
includes any person who has the responsibility for a high-risk
adult as a result of a family relationship or who has assumed
responsibility for all or a portion of the care of a high-risk
adult with disabilities voluntarily, or by express or implied
contract, or by court order.
(7) "Harassment" means knowing conduct which is not
necessary to accomplish a purpose that is reasonable under the
circumstances; would cause a reasonable person emotional
distress; and does cause emotional distress to the petitioner.
Unless the presumption is rebutted by a preponderance of the
evidence, the following types of conduct shall be presumed to
cause emotional distress:
(i) creating a disturbance at petitioner's place of
employment or school;
(ii) repeatedly telephoning petitioner's place of
employment, home or residence;
(iii) repeatedly following petitioner about in a
public place or places;

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(iv) repeatedly keeping petitioner under surveillance
by remaining present outside his or her home, school, place
of employment, vehicle or other place occupied by
petitioner or by peering in petitioner's windows;
(v) improperly concealing a minor child from
petitioner, repeatedly threatening to improperly remove a
minor child of petitioner's from the jurisdiction or from
the physical care of petitioner, repeatedly threatening to
conceal a minor child from petitioner, or making a single
such threat following an actual or attempted improper
removal or concealment, unless respondent was fleeing an
incident or pattern of domestic violence; or
(vi) threatening physical force, confinement or
restraint on one or more occasions.
(8) "High-risk adult with disabilities" means a person aged
18 or over whose physical or mental disability impairs his or
her ability to seek or obtain protection from abuse, neglect,
or exploitation.
(9) "Interference with personal liberty" means committing
or threatening physical abuse, harassment, intimidation or
willful deprivation so as to compel another to engage in
conduct from which she or he has a right to abstain or to
refrain from conduct in which she or he has a right to engage.
(10) "Intimidation of a dependent" means subjecting a
person who is dependent because of age, health or disability to
participation in or the witnessing of: physical force against

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another or physical confinement or restraint of another which
constitutes physical abuse as defined in this Act, regardless
of whether the abused person is a family or household member.
(11) (A) "Neglect" means the failure to exercise that
degree of care toward a high-risk adult with disabilities which
a reasonable person would exercise under the circumstances and
includes but is not limited to:
(i) the failure to take reasonable steps to protect a
high-risk adult with disabilities from acts of abuse;
(ii) the repeated, careless imposition of unreasonable
confinement;
(iii) the failure to provide food, shelter, clothing,
and personal hygiene to a high-risk adult with disabilities
who requires such assistance;
(iv) the failure to provide medical and rehabilitative
care for the physical and mental health needs of a
high-risk adult with disabilities; or
(v) the failure to protect a high-risk adult with
disabilities from health and safety hazards.
(B) Nothing in this subsection (10) shall be construed to
impose a requirement that assistance be provided to a high-risk
adult with disabilities over his or her objection in the
absence of a court order, nor to create any new affirmative
duty to provide support to a high-risk adult with disabilities.
(12) "Order of protection" means an emergency order,
interim order or plenary order, granted pursuant to this Act,

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which includes any or all of the remedies authorized by Section
214 of this Act.
(13) "Petitioner" may mean not only any named petitioner
for the order of protection and any named victim of abuse on
whose behalf the petition is brought, but also any other person
protected by this Act.
(14) "Physical abuse" includes sexual abuse and means any
of the following:
(i) knowing or reckless use of physical force,
confinement or restraint;
(ii) knowing, repeated and unnecessary sleep
deprivation; or
(iii) knowing or reckless conduct which creates an
immediate risk of physical harm.
(14.5) "Stay away" means for the respondent to refrain from
both physical presence and nonphysical contact with the
petitioner whether direct, indirect (including, but not
limited to, telephone calls, mail, email, faxes, and written
notes), or through third parties who may or may not know about
the order of protection.
(15) "Willful deprivation" means wilfully denying a person
who because of age, health or disability requires medication,
medical care, shelter, accessible shelter or services, food,
therapeutic device, or other physical assistance, and thereby
exposing that person to the risk of physical, mental or
emotional harm, except with regard to medical care or treatment

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when the dependent person has expressed an intent to forgo such
medical care or treatment. This paragraph does not create any
new affirmative duty to provide support to dependent persons.
(Source: P.A. 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11; 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)