Harassment and Stalking Laws in Illinois

Online harassment is called harassment through electronic communications in Illinois: using electronic communication to make obscene comments to offend, threaten injury to someone or their family or property, disrupt their phone or device service, or harass a child under 13. A first offense is a Class B misdemeanor (up to 6 months), a second is a Class A misdemeanor with a minimum of 14 days in jail or 240 hours of community service, and it is a Class 4 felony in listed cases such as a threat to kill, a prior offense against the same victim, a violation while under an order of protection or on release, or an adult harassing a minor. Stalking (a course of conduct that would make a reasonable person fear for safety or suffer emotional distress) and cyberstalking (the same done electronically) are Class 4 felonies (1 to 3 years), and Class 3 felonies on a second conviction. Aggravated stalking, which involves causing bodily harm, confining the victim, or violating a protective order, is a Class 3 felony (2 to 5 years), and a Class 2 felony on a second conviction.

Illinois's rule on court-appointed lawyers: Under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 401(a), an indigent defendant has the right to appointed counsel whenever the charge is punishable by imprisonment. The trial judge appoints the county Office of the Public Defender, which assigns the individual assistant public defender. Whether a person is indigent is left to the trial court's discretion based on as complete a financial picture as possible; a person need not be entirely without funds to be found indigent, and a court may not refuse appointment solely because the defendant posted bail. The Office of the State Appellate Defender handles appeals for indigent defendants. Ill. S. Ct. R. 401(a); People v. Campbell, 224 Ill. 2d 80 (2007); Burnette v. Terrell, 232 Ill. 2d 522 (2009); People v. Ellis, 309 Ill. App. 3d 443 (1999); People ex rel. Baker v. Power, 60 Ill. 2d 151 (1975)

Lawyers set their own fees, and Illinois has rules on how they may charge. See hiring a criminal defense lawyer in Illinois for fee rules, how to check a lawyer's license and free help.

How release before trial works in Illinois: Illinois abolished cash (monetary) bail under the Pretrial Fairness Act (part of the SAFE-T Act); cash bail ended in Illinois courts on September 18, 2023, after the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the law in Rowe v. Raoul, 2023 IL 129248. The default is pretrial release on personal recognizance, with conditions. The State may seek detention only in specified cases by filing a petition; at the first detention hearing the State must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the proof is evident or the presumption great that the defendant committed a detainable offense, that the defendant poses a real and present threat to any person or the community or a high likelihood of willful flight, and that no conditions could mitigate that threat or risk. The court must revisit continued detention at later hearings. 725 ILCS 5/110-6.1 (P.A. 101-652, 102-1104); Rowe v. Raoul, 2023 IL 129248 What happens after an arrest.

Each state sets its own rules for sealing or expunging records. See Illinois expungement and record sealing rules.