2023 Illinois Compiled Statutes › Chapter 740 - CIVIL LIABILITIES › 740 ILCS 147/ - Illinois Streetgang Terrorism Omnibus Prevention Act.

(740 ILCS 147/1)
Sec. 1. 
		Short title. 
		This Article may be cited as the Illinois Streetgang Terrorism Omnibus Prevention Act.
(Source: P.A. 87-932.)
(740 ILCS 147/5)
Sec. 5. 
		Legislative findings.
(a) The General Assembly hereby finds and declares that it is the right
of every person, regardless of race, color, creed, religion, national
origin, sex, age, or disability, to be secure and protected from fear,
intimidation, and physical harm caused by the activities of violent groups
and individuals.  It is not the intent of this Act to interfere with the
exercise of the constitutionally protected rights of freedom of expression
and association.  The General Assembly hereby recognizes the constitutional
right of every citizen to harbor and express beliefs on any lawful subject
whatsoever, to lawfully associate with others who share similar beliefs, to
petition lawfully constituted authority for a redress of perceived
grievances, and to participate in the electoral process.
(b) The General Assembly finds, however, that urban, suburban, and
rural communities, neighborhoods and schools throughout the State are being
terrorized and plundered by streetgangs.  The General Assembly finds that
there are now several hundred streetgangs operating in Illinois, and that
while their terrorism is most widespread in urban areas, streetgangs are
spreading into suburban and rural areas of Illinois.
(c) The General Assembly further finds that streetgangs are often
controlled by criminally sophisticated adults who take advantage of our
youth by intimidating and coercing them into membership by employing them
as drug couriers and runners, and by using them to commit brutal crimes
against persons and property to further the financial benefit to and
dominance of the streetgang.
(d) These streetgangs' activities present a clear and present danger to
public order and safety and are not constitutionally protected.  No society
is or should be required to endure such activities without redress.
Accordingly, it is the intent of the General Assembly in enacting this Act
to create a civil remedy against streetgangs and their members that focuses
upon patterns of criminal gang activity and upon the organized nature of
streetgangs, which together have been the chief source of their success.
(Source: P.A. 87-932.)
(740 ILCS 147/10)
Sec. 10. Definitions.
"Course or pattern of criminal activity" means 2 or more gang-related
criminal offenses committed in whole or in part within this State when:
(1) at least one such offense was committed after the     effective date of this Act;
(2) both offenses were committed within 5 years of     each other; and
(3) at least one offense involved the solicitation to     commit, conspiracy to commit, attempt to commit, or commission of any offense defined as a felony or forcible felony under the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012.
"Course or pattern of criminal activity" also means one or more acts of
criminal defacement of property under Section 21-1.3 of the Criminal Code of
 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, if the defacement includes a sign or other symbol intended to identify
the streetgang.
"Designee of State's Attorney" or "designee" means any attorney for
a public authority who has received written permission from the State's
Attorney to file or join in a civil action authorized by this Act.
"Public authority" means any unit of local government or school
district created or established under the Constitution or laws of this State.
"State's Attorney" means the State's Attorney of any county where an
offense constituting a part of a course or pattern of gang-related criminal
activity has occurred or has been committed.
"Streetgang" or "gang" or "organized gang" or "criminal street gang"
means any combination, confederation,
alliance, network, conspiracy, understanding, or other similar conjoining,
in law or in fact, of 3 or more persons with an established hierarchy that, through its
membership
or through the agency of any member engages in a course or pattern of criminal
activity.
For purposes of this Act, it shall not be necessary to show that a
particular conspiracy, combination, or conjoining of persons possesses,
acknowledges, or is known by any common name, insignia, flag, means of
recognition, secret signal or code, creed, belief, structure, leadership or
command structure, method of operation or criminal enterprise,
concentration or specialty, membership, age, or other qualifications,
initiation rites, geographical or territorial situs or boundary or
location, or other unifying mark, manner, protocol or method of expressing
or indicating membership when the conspiracy's existence, in law or in
fact, can be demonstrated by a preponderance of other competent evidence.
However, any evidence reasonably tending to show or demonstrate, in law or
in fact, the existence of or membership in any conspiracy, confederation,
or other association described herein, or probative of the existence of or
membership in any such association, shall be admissible in any action or
proceeding brought under this Act.
"Streetgang member" or "gang member" means any person who actually
and in fact belongs to a gang, and any person who knowingly acts in the
capacity of an agent for or accessory to, or is legally accountable for, or
voluntarily associates himself with a course or pattern of gang-related
criminal activity, whether in a preparatory, executory, or cover-up phase
of any activity, or who knowingly performs, aids, or abets any such activity.
"Streetgang related" or "gang-related" means any criminal activity,
enterprise, pursuit, or undertaking directed by, ordered by, authorized by,
consented to, agreed to, requested by, acquiesced in, or ratified by any
gang leader, officer, or governing or policy-making person or authority, or
by any agent, representative, or deputy of any such officer, person, or
authority:
(1) with the intent to increase the gang's size,     membership, prestige, dominance, or control in any geographical area; or
(2) with the intent to provide the gang with any     advantage in, or any control or dominance over any criminal market sector, including but not limited to, the manufacture, delivery, or sale of controlled substances or cannabis; arson or arson-for-hire; traffic in stolen property or stolen credit cards; traffic in prostitution, obscenity, or pornography; or that involves robbery, burglary, or theft; or
(3) with the intent to exact revenge or retribution     for the gang or any member of the gang; or
(4) with the intent to obstruct justice, or     intimidate or eliminate any witness against the gang or any member of the gang; or
(5) with the intent to otherwise directly or     indirectly cause any benefit, aggrandizement, gain, profit or other advantage whatsoever to or for the gang, its reputation, influence, or membership.
(Source: P.A. 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)
(740 ILCS 147/15)
Sec. 15. 
		Creation of civil cause of action.
(a) A civil cause of action is hereby created in favor of any public
authority expending money, allocating or reallocating police, firefighting,
emergency or other personnel or resources, or otherwise incurring any loss,
deprivation, or injury, or sustaining any damage, impairment, or harm
whatsoever, proximately caused by any course or pattern of criminal activity.
(b) The cause of action created by this Act shall lie against:
(1) any streetgang in whose name, for whose benefit,     on whose behalf, or under whose direction the act was committed; and
(2) any gang officer or director who causes, orders,     suggests, authorizes, consents to, agrees to, requests, acquiesces in, or ratifies any such act; and
(3) any gang member who, in the furtherance of or in     connection with, any gang-related activity, commits any such act; and
(4) any gang officer, director, leader, or member.
(c) The cause of action authorized by this Act shall be brought by the
State's Attorney or attorneys, or by his or their designees.  This cause of
action shall be in addition to any other civil or criminal proceeding
authorized by the laws of this State or by federal law, and shall not be
construed as requiring the State's Attorney or his designee to elect a
civil, rather than criminal remedy, or as replacing any other cause of
action.  Liability of the gang, its officers, directors, leaders, and
members shall be joint and severable subject only to the apportionment and
allocation of punitive damage authorized under Section 35 of this Act.
(Source: P.A. 87-932.)
(740 ILCS 147/20)
Sec. 20. 
		Commencement of action.
(a) An action may be commenced under this Act by the filing of a verified
complaint as in civil cases.
(b) A complaint filed under this Act, and all other ancillary or
collateral matters arising therefrom, including matter relating to
discovery, motions, trial, and the perfection or execution of judgments
shall be subject to the Code of Civil Procedure, except as may be otherwise
provided in this Act, or except as the court may otherwise order upon motion of
the State's Attorney or his designee in matters relating to immunity or the
physical safety of witnesses.
(c) The complaint shall name each complaining State's Attorney or his
designee, and the public authority represented by him or by them.
(d) The complaint shall also name as defendants the gang, all known gang
officers, and any gang members specifically identified or alleged in the
complaint as having participated in a course or pattern of gang-related
criminal activity. The complaint may also name, as a class of defendants,
all unknown gang members.
(e) When, at any point prior to trial, other specific gang officers or
members become known, the complaint may be amended to include any such
person as a named defendant.
(Source: P.A. 87-932.)
(740 ILCS 147/25)
Sec. 25. 
		Venue.
(a) In an action brought under this Act, venue shall lie in any
county where an act charged in the complaint as part of a course or pattern
of gang-related criminal activity was committed.
(b) It shall not be necessary for all offenses necessary to establishing
a course or pattern of criminal activity to have occurred in any one
county where the State's Attorneys of several counties, or their designees,
each complaining of any offense, elected to join in a complaint.  In such
instance, it shall be sufficient that the complaint, taken as a whole,
alleges a course or pattern of gang-related criminal activity, and each
count of any such joint complaint shall be considered as cumulative to
other counts for purposes of alleging or demonstrating such a course or
pattern of activity.
(c) Where a course or pattern of activity is alleged to have been
committed or to have occurred in more than one county, the State's Attorney
of each such county, or their designees, may join their several causes of
action in a single complaint, which may be filed in any such county agreed
to by or among them, but no such joinder shall be had without the consent
of the State's Attorney having jurisdiction over each offense alleged as
part of the course or pattern of activity.
(Source: P.A. 87-932.)
(740 ILCS 147/30)
Sec. 30. Service of process.
(a) All streetgangs and streetgang members engaged in a course or pattern
of gang-related criminal activity within this State impliedly consent to
service of process upon them as set forth in this Section, or as may be
otherwise authorized by the Code of Civil Procedure.
(b) Service of process upon a streetgang may be had by leaving a copy of
the complaint and summons directed to any officer of such gang, commanding
the gang to appear and answer the complaint or otherwise plead at a time
and place certain:
(1) with any gang officer; or
(2) with any individual member of the gang     simultaneously named therein; or
(3) in the manner provided for service upon a     voluntary unincorporated association in a civil action; or
(4) in the manner provided for service by publication     in a civil action; or
(5) with any parent, legal guardian, or legal     custodian of any persons charged with a gang-related offense when any person sued civilly under this Act is under 18 years of age and is also charged criminally or as a delinquent minor; or
(6) with the director of any agency or department of     this State who is the legal guardian, guardianship administrator, or custodian of any person sued under this Act; or
(7) with the probation or parole officer or aftercare     specialist of any person sued under this Act; or
(8) with such other person or agent as the court may,     upon petition of the State's Attorney or his or her designee, authorize as appropriate and reasonable under all of the circumstances.
(c) If after being summoned a streetgang does not appear, the court
shall enter an answer for the streetgang neither affirming nor denying the
allegations of the complaint but demanding strict proof thereof, and
proceed to trial and judgment without further process.
(d) When any person is named as a defendant streetgang member in any
complaint, or subsequently becomes known and is added or joined as a named
defendant, service of process may be had as authorized or provided for in
the Code of Civil Procedure for service of process in a civil case.
(e) Unknown gang members may be sued as a class and designated as such
in the caption of any complaint filed under this Act.  Service of
process upon unknown members may be made in the manner prescribed for
provision of notice to members of a class in a class action, or as the court
may direct for providing the best service and notice practicable under the
circumstances which shall include individual, personal, or other service
upon all members who can be identified and located through reasonable effort.
(Source: P.A. 98-558, eff. 1-1-14.)
(740 ILCS 147/35)
Sec. 35. 
		Injunctive relief, damages, costs, and fees.
(a) In any action brought under this Act, and upon the verified
application of the State's Attorney or his designee, the circuit court may
at any time enter such restraining orders, injunctions, or other
prohibitions, or order such other relief as it deems proper, including but
not limited to ordering any person to divest himself of any involvement or
interest, direct or indirect, in any illegal streetgang activity and imposing
other reasonable restrictions on the future illegal activities of any
defendant.
(b) A final judgement in favor of a public authority under this Act
shall entitle it to recover compensatory damages for all damages, losses,
impairments, or other harm proximately caused, together with the costs of the
suit and reasonable attorneys' fees.  Punitive damages may be assessed
against any streetgang, against any streetgang officer or member found
guilty of actual participation in or to be legally accountable for a course
or pattern of criminal activity under this Act.
(Source: P.A. 87-932.)
(740 ILCS 147/40)
Sec. 40. Forfeiture.
(a) The following are subject to seizure and forfeiture:
(1) any property that is directly or indirectly used     or intended for use in any manner to facilitate streetgang related activity; and
(2) any property constituting or derived from gross     profits or other proceeds obtained from streetgang related activity.
(b) Property subject to forfeiture under this Section may be seized under the procedures set forth in Section 36-2.1 of the Criminal Code of 2012, except that actual physical seizure of real property subject to forfeiture under this Act requires the issuance of a seizure warrant.  Nothing in this Section prohibits the constructive seizure of real property through the filing of a complaint for forfeiture in circuit court and the recording of a lis pendens against the real property without a hearing, warrant application, or judicial approval.
(c) The State's Attorney may initiate forfeiture proceedings under the procedures in Article 36 of the Criminal Code of 2012. The State shall bear the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the property was acquired through a pattern of streetgang related activity.
(d) Property forfeited under this Section shall be disposed of in accordance with Section 36-7  of Article 36 of the Criminal Code of 2012 for the forfeiture of vehicles, vessels, and aircraft.
(e) Within 60 days of the date of the seizure of contraband under this
Section, the State's Attorney shall initiate  forfeiture proceedings as
provided
in Article 36 of the Criminal Code of 2012. An owner or person who has a lien
on the property may
establish as a defense to the forfeiture of property
that is subject to forfeiture under this Section that the owner or lienholder
had no knowledge that the property was acquired through a pattern of
streetgang related activity.   Property that is forfeited under this Section
shall be disposed of as provided in Article 36 of the Criminal Code of 2012
for the forfeiture of vehicles, vessels, and aircraft.  The
proceeds of the disposition shall be paid to the Gang Violence Victims
and Witnesses Fund to be used to assist in the prosecution of gang crimes.
(f) Property seized or forfeited under this Section is subject to reporting under the Seizure and Forfeiture Reporting Act.
(g) The changes made to this Section by Public Act 100-512 only apply to property seized on and after July 1, 2018.
(Source: P.A. 100-512, eff. 7-1-18; 100-699, eff. 8-3-18; 100-1163, eff. 12-20-18.)
(740 ILCS 147/45)
Sec. 45. Abatement as public nuisance.
(a) Any real property that is erected, established, maintained,
owned, leased, or used by any streetgang for the purpose
of conducting streetgang related activity constitutes a public
nuisance and may be abated as provided in Article 37 of the Criminal Code
of 2012 relating to public nuisances.
(b) An action to abate a nuisance under this  Section may
be brought by the State's Attorney of the county where the seizure
occurred.
(c) Any person who is injured by reason of streetgang related activity
shall have a cause of action for 3 times the actual damages
sustained and, if appropriate, punitive damages;
however, no cause of action shall arise under this subsection (c)
as a result of an otherwise legitimate commercial transaction
between parties to a contract or agreement for the sale of lawful
goods or property or the sale of securities regulated by the Illinois
Securities Law of 1953
or by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.
The person shall also recover reasonable attorney's fees,
costs, and expenses.
(Source: P.A. 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)