Illinois Criminal Laws

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• Chapter 625 ILCS 5/6 – The Illinois Driver Licensing Law: This traffic law chapter sets requirements for regular and commercial driver’s licenses. It also sets punishments for violating these laws, such as license suspensions.
• Chapter 625 ILCS 5/11 – Rules of the Road: These statutes tell drivers how they are supposed to behave in Illinois. It restricts certain actions and makes it illegal to do things like street racing or driving while under the influence.
• Chapter 625 ILCS 5/12 – Equipment of Vehicles: These laws cover requirements related to how Illinois drivers use their cars while driving. It is similar to chapter 5/11, but more focused on the way specific vehicle parts, like seatbelts, are used, rather than general driving behavior.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/8 – Inchoate Offenses: This covers situations where someone attempted to commit another crime, whether or not they were successful. This includes asking someone to commit a crime like murder or participating in a conspiracy.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/9 – Homicide Offenses: This goes over instances where one person takes another’s life, or attempts to hide a death. This includes murder, reckless homicide, and related offences.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/10: Kidnapping and Related Offenses: This chapter covers laws including kidnapping, restraining individuals, and helping children run away from home. If it involves children, it often will have its own statute.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/11: Sex Offenses: This chapter covers many types of illegal sexual acts in Illinois. Many of these crimes hinge on issues of consent. Breaking these laws is often a felony.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/12: Bodily Harm: These laws cover both threats and actual harm caused to other people. The harm does not need to be intentional to violate several of these laws.
• Chapter 720 ILSC 5/16: Theft and Related Offenses: This section discusses the nature of property and ownership, specifically as it relates to theft.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/17: Deception and Fraud: This chapter covers several crimes where people lie about themselves and what they are doing. Several of these laws are closely related to theft.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/18: Robbery: This section discusses acts where one person takes another’s property. Robbery specifically requires that the alleged offender use force in the process.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/19: Burglary: This chapter covers acts of theft where the victim is typically not present for the alleged crime. It also makes it illegal to own tools that are intended to commit burglary.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/20 – Arson: This section sets laws regarding fires and explosives. It makes it illegal to damage others’ property by burning it.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/21 – Damage and Trespass to Property: This section describes regulations related to property. Specifically, it stops people from harming someone else’s property or visiting where they’re not allowed.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/21.1 Residential Picketing: This chapter is exclusively dedicated to residential picketing. It makes it illegal to protest outside of someone’s home in a way that disturbs their peace.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/21.2 Interference With a Public Institution of Education: This section makes it a crime to take actions that prevent public schools from operating as intended. This includes trespassing, refusing to leave, and other disruptive acts against students or staff.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/24 – Deadly Weapons: This chapter discusses multiple kinds of deadly weapons, but is most focused on guns. It restricts both the ownership and usage of firearms and other types of weapons.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/24.5 – Nitrous Oxide: This chapter is exclusively focused on the substance nitrous oxide. Its sections regulate the usage, manufacture, and delivery of this chemical.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/24.8 – Air Rifles: This section is focused on air rifles and similar devices like paintball guns and BB guns. It focuses specifically on regulations for children under the age of 13.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/25 – Mob Action and Related Offenses: These laws focus mostly on group actions as opposed to individual actions. It makes it a crime for large groups to act violently. It does also include some more individual laws, such as outlawing looting.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/26 – Disorderly Conduct: This chapter covers a wide variety of activities that are known for disrupting the public. Examples include making false fire reports or bomb threats. Most of the time these charges are filed as misdemeanors.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/28 – Gambling and Related Offenses: This section covers lotteries and other forms of gambling. It sets regulations for who can and can’t run a gambling operation, and what counts as gambling in Illinois.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/29 – Bribery In Contests: This chapter discusses penalties for both giving and receiving bribes as they relate to competitions. This includes influencing someone’s decision to attend a certain school.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/29A – Commercial Bribery: This section covers bribes in relation to companies and businesses. It covers situations where one person offers another something in order to influence how they perform their job.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/29B – Money Laundering: This chapter makes it illegal to try to disguise money that was gained illegally as money that was earned legally. It also touches on attempts to hide money from the government
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/29D – Terrorism: These statutes cover large-scale acts of violence or attempts to cause fear in the population. These include both the actions themselves and threats to commit them.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/30 – Treason and Related Offenses: This chapter describes offenses that are taken against the authority of the Illinois government. It also sets special requirements for a person to be found guilty of treason, beyond normal rules.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/31 – Interference With Public Officers: This section makes it a crime to take actions that prevent police or firefighters from doing their job. This could be something overt, like physically resisting arrest, or more subtle, like lying to a police officer.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/31A – Interference with Penal Institution: These statutes set regulations for how people can behave in jails or prisons. One of its focuses is contraband, and it sets rules for both people who are incarcerated and the guards.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/32 – Interference With Judicial Procedure: This chapter sets rules for how people can and can’t act during a criminal investigation or trial. It prohibits things like being dishonest in court, interfering with witnesses, and other actions that could get in the way of justice.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/33 – Official Misconduct: These laws set special rules for government officials, and sets additional penalties if they break the law. It also covers how evidence is supposed to be handled in investigations.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/33A – Armed Violence: This chapter distinguishes violence used during a crime from that crime. It defines what counts as the use of a weapon and sets exceptions to this rule.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/33F – Unlawful Use of Body Armor: This section, similar to chapter 5/33A, makes it a separate crime to wear body armor while breaking the law. It outlines what counts as body armor and other requirements.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/33E – Public Contracts: These statutes create rules for how the government is supposed to hire contractors for work. It includes regulations on how funds are supposed to be used and how bids on contracts are supposed to be handled.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/47 – Nuisance: This chapter describes less crimes that are deemed to be public nuisances. It covers a wide variety of activities, from harassing a person for trying to sell their house to certain types of pollution.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 5/48 – Animals: These statutes describe Illinois’ laws regarding animal ownership, how to treat them, and what animals are illegal to keep as pets. It also describes penalties for getting in the way of somebody who’s legally hunting.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 150: Wrongs to Children Act: This chapter makes it a crime to exploit your children. It specifically looks at situations where a parent or guardian uses a child for financial gain.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 542 – Bath Salts Prohibition Act: This chapter makes it a crime to sell the drug commonly known as bath salts. It specifically targets stores that attempt to sell it.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 550 – Cannabis Control Act: This section discusses regulations regarding marijuana growth and possession in Illinois. It sets extra punishments if it’s around a school.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 570 – Illinois Controlled Substances Act: These laws govern the manufacture, travel, and distribution of drugs like fentanyl, heroin, and morphine.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 600 – Drug Paraphernalia Control Act: This section isn’t about the drugs themselves, but items that are related to them. Penalties depend on the people involved.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 635 – Hypodermic Syringes and Needles Act: This chapter covers who is allowed to buy and use hypodermic needles. People like doctors and pharmacists are permitted to.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 642 – Kratom Control Act: This section covers the sale, possession, and use of kratom by minors. It sets penalties both for selling it to minors, and for minors attempting to purchase it.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 646 – Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act: This law is dedicated to the regulation of crystal meth. Illinois takes meth crimes very seriously, and most of these offenses are felonies.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 648 – Methamphetamine Precursor Control Act: This section sets restrictions on the purchase of substances that can be used to make meht. It governs cold medicine that includes ephedrine or pseudoephedrine.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 670 – Sale of Immoral Publications to Children Act: This section sets rules about the distribution of graphic material, so that it isn’t shown to children. This includes violent and sexual materials.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 675 – Prevention of Tobacco Use by Persons under 21 Years of Age and Sale and Distribution of Tobacco Products Act: This section takes steps to prevent people under 21 from using tobacco. These laws apply to tobacco and other nicotine products, such as vape devices.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 685 – Tobacco Accessories and Smoking Herbs Control Act: This section goes into detail about regulations related to tobacco accessories. It makes it illegal to sell them to people under the age of 21.
• Chapter 720 ILCS 690 – Use of Intoxicating Compounds Act: This section describes restrictions for drugs not listed in other places. Using or selling them can result in fines and jail time.
• Chapter 725 ILCS 5/107 – Arrest: This chapter describes the police procedures they are supposed to follow when conducting an arrest. It also outlines when police are allowed to make arrests without a warrant.
• Chapter 725 ILCS 5/108 – Search and Seizure: This section describes police rules regarding searches. It also outlines what they are supposed to do with evidence they find.
• Chapter 725 ILCS 5/109 – Preliminary Examination: This chapter discusses what the court needs to do after a person has been arrested for a crime, before a trial. It specifically says that a judge must determine if there is enough evidence for the case to even go to trial.
• Chapter 725 ILCS 5/110 – Pretrial Release: This section describes how a person accused of a crime can be released before a trial. It talks about instructions on how to properly decide to release a person, and how restrictions can be applied.
• Chapter 725 ILCS 5/113 – Arraignment: This chapter describes what an arraignment is – an event where a person accused of a crime is brought to court and formally told what crimes they are accused of.
• Chapter 725 ILCS 5/114 – Pre-Trial Motions: This section describes different legal motions that can be filed before a trial. One of the most common, powerful motions is a motion to dismiss charges.
• Chapter 725 ILCS 5/115 – Trial: This chapter describes the trial processes that are available in Illinois. It talks about the rights of the person on trial, and discusses how a jury trial works.
• Chapter 725 ILCS 5/116 – Post-Trial Motions: This section talks about the different motions that a person can file after a trial. If they were convicted, one good option could be to file a motion for a new trial.
• Chapter 725 ILCS 5/122 – Post-Conviction Hearing: This chapter describes what a post-conviction hearing is in Illinois. These can be held if somebody believes that their rights were violated or there was an error in their trial.
• Chapter 730 ILCS 5/5 – Sentencing: These statutes set rules for the Illinois courts to follow when sentencing someone convicted of a crime. They go over both prison and probation sentences.