Bill Text: IL HB3454 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that theft of a companion animal not exceeding $500 in value is a Class 4 felony. Defines "companion animal".

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-05 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB3454 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB3454-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB3454 Introduced , by Rep. Matt Hanson SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
720 ILCS 5/16-1 from Ch. 38, par. 16-1
Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that theft of a companion animal not exceeding $500 in value is a Class 4 felony. Defines "companion animal".
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A BILL FOR
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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 16-1 as follows:
(720 ILCS 5/16-1) (from Ch. 38, par. 16-1)
Sec. 16-1. Theft.
(a) A person commits theft when he or she knowingly:
(1) Obtains or exerts unauthorized control over
property of the owner; or
(2) Obtains by deception control over property of the
owner; or
(3) Obtains by threat control over property of the
owner; or
(4) Obtains control over stolen property knowing the
property to have been stolen or under such circumstances
as would reasonably induce him or her to believe that the
property was stolen; or
(5) Obtains or exerts control over property in the
custody of any law enforcement agency which any law
enforcement officer or any individual acting in behalf of
a law enforcement agency explicitly represents to the
person as being stolen or represents to the person such

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circumstances as would reasonably induce the person to
believe that the property was stolen, and
(A) Intends to deprive the owner permanently of
the use or benefit of the property; or
(B) Knowingly uses, conceals or abandons the
property in such manner as to deprive the owner
permanently of such use or benefit; or
(C) Uses, conceals, or abandons the property
knowing such use, concealment or abandonment probably
will deprive the owner permanently of such use or
benefit.
(b) Sentence.
(1) Theft of property not from the person and not
exceeding $500 in value is a Class A misdemeanor.
(1.1) Theft of property not from the person and not
exceeding $500 in value is a Class 4 felony if the theft
was committed in a school or place of worship or if the
theft was of governmental property.
(2) A person who has been convicted of theft of
property not from the person and not exceeding $500 in
value who has been previously convicted of any type of
theft, robbery, armed robbery, burglary, residential
burglary, possession of burglary tools, home invasion,
forgery, a violation of Section 4-103, 4-103.1, 4-103.2,
or 4-103.3 of the Illinois Vehicle Code relating to the
possession of a stolen or converted motor vehicle, or a

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violation of Section 17-36 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or
the Criminal Code of 2012, or Section 8 of the Illinois
Credit Card and Debit Card Act is guilty of a Class 4
felony.
(3) (Blank).
(3.1) Theft of a companion animal not exceeding $500
in value is a Class 4 felony. As used in this paragraph,
"companion animal" has the meaning provided in Section
2.01a of the Humane Care for Animals Act.
(4) Theft of property from the person not exceeding
$500 in value, or theft of property exceeding $500 and not
exceeding $10,000 in value, is a Class 3 felony.
(4.1) Theft of property from the person not exceeding
$500 in value, or theft of property exceeding $500 and not
exceeding $10,000 in value, is a Class 2 felony if the
theft was committed in a school or place of worship or if
the theft was of governmental property.
(5) Theft of property exceeding $10,000 and not
exceeding $100,000 in value is a Class 2 felony.
(5.1) Theft of property exceeding $10,000 and not
exceeding $100,000 in value is a Class 1 felony if the
theft was committed in a school or place of worship or if
the theft was of governmental property.
(6) Theft of property exceeding $100,000 and not
exceeding $500,000 in value is a Class 1 felony.
(6.1) Theft of property exceeding $100,000 in value is

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a Class X felony if the theft was committed in a school or
place of worship or if the theft was of governmental
property.
(6.2) Theft of property exceeding $500,000 and not
exceeding $1,000,000 in value is a Class 1
non-probationable felony.
(6.3) Theft of property exceeding $1,000,000 in value
is a Class X felony.
(7) Theft by deception, as described by paragraph (2)
of subsection (a) of this Section, in which the offender
obtained money or property valued at $5,000 or more from a
victim 60 years of age or older or a person with a
disability is a Class 2 felony.
(8) Theft by deception, as described by paragraph (2)
of subsection (a) of this Section, in which the offender
falsely poses as a landlord or agent or employee of the
landlord and obtains a rent payment or a security deposit
from a tenant is a Class 3 felony if the rent payment or
security deposit obtained does not exceed $500.
(9) Theft by deception, as described by paragraph (2)
of subsection (a) of this Section, in which the offender
falsely poses as a landlord or agent or employee of the
landlord and obtains a rent payment or a security deposit
from a tenant is a Class 2 felony if the rent payment or
security deposit obtained exceeds $500 and does not exceed
$10,000.

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(10) Theft by deception, as described by paragraph (2)
of subsection (a) of this Section, in which the offender
falsely poses as a landlord or agent or employee of the
landlord and obtains a rent payment or a security deposit
from a tenant is a Class 1 felony if the rent payment or
security deposit obtained exceeds $10,000 and does not
exceed $100,000.
(11) Theft by deception, as described by paragraph (2)
of subsection (a) of this Section, in which the offender
falsely poses as a landlord or agent or employee of the
landlord and obtains a rent payment or a security deposit
from a tenant is a Class X felony if the rent payment or
security deposit obtained exceeds $100,000.
(c) When a charge of theft of property exceeding a
specified value is brought, the value of the property involved
is an element of the offense to be resolved by the trier of
fact as either exceeding or not exceeding the specified value.
(d) Theft by lessee; permissive inference. The trier of
fact may infer evidence that a person intends to deprive the
owner permanently of the use or benefit of the property (1) if
a lessee of the personal property of another fails to return it
to the owner within 10 days after written demand from the owner
for its return or (2) if a lessee of the personal property of
another fails to return it to the owner within 24 hours after
written demand from the owner for its return and the lessee had
presented identification to the owner that contained a

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materially fictitious name, address, or telephone number. A
notice in writing, given after the expiration of the leasing
agreement, addressed and mailed, by registered mail, to the
lessee at the address given by him and shown on the leasing
agreement shall constitute proper demand.
(e) Permissive inference; evidence of intent that a person
obtains by deception control over property. The trier of fact
may infer that a person "knowingly obtains by deception
control over property of the owner" when he or she fails to
return, within 45 days after written demand from the owner,
the downpayment and any additional payments accepted under a
promise, oral or in writing, to perform services for the owner
for consideration of $3,000 or more, and the promisor
knowingly without good cause failed to substantially perform
pursuant to the agreement after taking a down payment of 10% or
more of the agreed upon consideration. This provision shall
not apply where the owner initiated the suspension of
performance under the agreement, or where the promisor
responds to the notice within the 45-day notice period. A
notice in writing, addressed and mailed, by registered mail,
to the promisor at the last known address of the promisor,
shall constitute proper demand.
(f) Offender's interest in the property.
(1) It is no defense to a charge of theft of property
that the offender has an interest therein, when the owner
also has an interest to which the offender is not

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entitled.
(2) Where the property involved is that of the
offender's spouse, no prosecution for theft may be
maintained unless the parties were not living together as
man and wife and were living in separate abodes at the time
of the alleged theft.
(Source: P.A. 101-394, eff. 1-1-20.)