Illinois' 2015 New Criminal and Family Laws

 Posted on February 06, 2015 in Criminal Law

Last year, unlike federal legislatures, the Illinois state government was extremely busy when it came to drafting, presenting and passing new laws. In fact, beginning on January 1, 2015, almost 200 new state laws passed in 2014 will take effect in the state of Illinois. These laws span virtually all relevant legal and industry categories and will affect many issues, including family, health, revenue, taxes, senior citizens, state government, veterans rights, transportations, agriculture, natural resources, civil law, consumers, economic development, business, ethics, pensions, public safety, energy, the environment, human services, housing, local government and transportation. Given that these new laws span a broad range of family law and criminal law issues, we decided to provide a list of some of the most important new laws that have recently taken effect in Illinois.

The New Illinois Laws That You Need to Know

The following includes a brief description of the new criminal and family laws that came into effect in Illinois starting in 2015.

New Illinois Criminal and Family Laws

· HB 4653: provides for enhanced criminal penalties for those offenders who commit domestic battery and already have previous convictions;

· HB 4745: prohibits parents from allowing minors to utilize watercrafts, private planes, campers and other property in order to have a place to drink alcohol;

· SB 2636: allows minors to use non-smokable medical marijuana as treatment for an assortment of diseases as long as parental permission is granted;

· HB 5526: prohibits minors from owning kratom, plants which provide mild pain relief and have side effects similar in nature to the drug opium;

· SB 0978: requires the annual expungement of certain types of non-delinquent minor arrest records when the minor reaches the age of 18 years old;

· HB 4093: prevents convicted and charged stalkers from receiving alcohol and drug addiction treatment from Illinois Department of Health Services;

· HB 2378: provides for the sealing of criminal records when additional minor crimes are involved;

· HB 3744: provides Illinois courts with the discretion to require certain violent offenders to be evaluated via risk assessments in order to determine whether GPS surveillance is required to monitor the offender;

· HB 4594: provides judges with discretion to use video conferencing when issuing search warrants;

· SB 2650: provides that when convictions are reversed upon the finding of factual innocence the defendant will not be required to pay any of the related fines and fees related to their case. The defendant will also be refunded any fines and fees already paid in relation to their case;

· SB 2937: prohibits Illinois law enforcement professionals from utilizing privately owned drones to conduct surveillance when no court order has been obtained;

· SB 3405: makes it a crime to institute or pursue frivolous patent litigation;

· SB 3275: outlaws the use and possession of the psychedelic drugs 25B-NBOMe and 25c-NBOMe;

· SB 3074: provides courts with the discretion to extend existing probation periods;

· SB 2709: prevents blood donations from counting towards the community service hours required in juvenile probation sentences; and

· SB 2937: provides law enforcement with the right to seize watercrafts employed in the commission of crimes that involve driving while under the influence.

If you need legal advice on how these new laws will affect your criminal and family law-related issues, contact one of our experienced Joliet criminal defense attorneys at the Law Offices of Cosmo Tedone and Barbara Morton, P.C. today.