Bill Text: IL HB2542 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Enrolled
Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 1961. Changes the elements of the offenses of stalking and cyberstalking. Provides that a person commits stalking when he or she knowingly engages in a course of conduct directed at a specific person, and he or she knows or should know that this course of conduct would cause a reasonable person to: (1) fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third person; or (2) suffer other emotional distress. Provides that if the conduct is committed using electronic communication, the offense is cyberstalking. Provides that a person also commits aggravated stalking when he or she, in conjunction with committing the offense of stalking, violates a stalking no contact order or a civil no contact order. Retains the same penalties for the offenses.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-1)
Status: (Passed) 2009-08-25 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-0686 [HB2542 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2009-HB2542-Enrolled.html
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1 | AN ACT concerning criminal law.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by changing | ||||||
5 | Sections 12-7.3, 12-7.4, and 12-7.5 as follows:
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6 | (720 ILCS 5/12-7.3) (from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.3)
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7 | Sec. 12-7.3. Stalking.
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8 | (a) A person commits stalking when he or she , knowingly | ||||||
9 | engages in a course of conduct directed at a specific person, | ||||||
10 | and he or she knows or should know that this course of conduct | ||||||
11 | would cause a reasonable person to: | ||||||
12 | (1) fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third | ||||||
13 | person; or | ||||||
14 | (2) suffer other emotional distress. | ||||||
15 | (a-3) A person commits stalking when he or she, knowingly | ||||||
16 | and without
lawful justification, on at least 2 separate | ||||||
17 | occasions follows
another person
or places the person under | ||||||
18 | surveillance or any combination thereof and:
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19 | (1) at any time transmits a threat of immediate or | ||||||
20 | future bodily harm, sexual
assault, confinement or | ||||||
21 | restraint and the threat is directed towards that
person or | ||||||
22 | a family member of that
person; or
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23 | (2) places that person in reasonable apprehension of |
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1 | immediate or future
bodily harm, sexual assault, | ||||||
2 | confinement or restraint; or
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3 | (3) places that person in reasonable apprehension that | ||||||
4 | a family member
will receive immediate or future bodily | ||||||
5 | harm, sexual assault, confinement, or
restraint.
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6 | (a-5) A person commits stalking when he or she has | ||||||
7 | previously been
convicted of stalking another person and | ||||||
8 | knowingly and without lawful
justification on one occasion:
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9 | (1) follows that same person or places that same person | ||||||
10 | under
surveillance; and
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11 | (2) transmits a threat of immediate or future bodily | ||||||
12 | harm, sexual
assault, confinement or restraint; and
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13 | (3) the threat is directed towards that person or a | ||||||
14 | family member of
that person.
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15 | (b) Sentence.
Stalking is a Class 4 felony. A second or | ||||||
16 | subsequent
conviction for stalking is a Class 3 felony.
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17 | (c) Definitions. For purposes of this Section: | ||||||
18 | (1) "Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts, including | ||||||
19 | but not limited to acts in which a defendant directly, | ||||||
20 | indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, | ||||||
21 | method, device, or means follows, monitors, observes, | ||||||
22 | surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about, a person, | ||||||
23 | engages in other non-consensual contact, or interferes | ||||||
24 | with or damages a person's property or pet. A course of | ||||||
25 | conduct may include contact via electronic communications. | ||||||
26 | (2) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of |
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1 | signs, signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of | ||||||
2 | any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, | ||||||
3 | radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical | ||||||
4 | system. "Electronic communication" includes transmissions | ||||||
5 | by a computer through the Internet to another computer. | ||||||
6 | (3) "Emotional distress" means significant mental | ||||||
7 | suffering, anxiety or alarm. | ||||||
8 | (4) "Family member" means a parent,
grandparent, | ||||||
9 | brother, sister, or child, whether by whole blood, | ||||||
10 | half-blood, or
adoption and includes a step-grandparent, | ||||||
11 | step-parent, step-brother,
step-sister or step-child. | ||||||
12 | "Family member" also means any other person who
regularly | ||||||
13 | resides in the household, or who, within the prior 6 | ||||||
14 | months,
regularly resided in the household. | ||||||
15 | (5) "Follows another person" means (i) to
move in | ||||||
16 | relative proximity to a person as that person moves from | ||||||
17 | place to place
or (ii) to remain in relative proximity to a | ||||||
18 | person who is stationary or whose
movements are confined to | ||||||
19 | a small area.
"Follows another person" does not
include a | ||||||
20 | following within the residence of the defendant. | ||||||
21 | (6) "Non-consensual contact" means any contact with | ||||||
22 | the victim that is initiated or continued without the | ||||||
23 | victim's consent, including but not limited to being in the | ||||||
24 | physical presence of the victim; appearing within the sight | ||||||
25 | of the victim; approaching or confronting the victim in a | ||||||
26 | public place or on private property; appearing at the |
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1 | workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or | ||||||
2 | remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the | ||||||
3 | victim; or placing an object on, or delivering an object | ||||||
4 | to, property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim. | ||||||
5 | (7) "Places a person under
surveillance" means: (1) | ||||||
6 | remaining present outside the person's school, place of
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7 | employment, vehicle, other place occupied by the person, or | ||||||
8 | residence other
than the residence of the defendant; or (2) | ||||||
9 | placing an electronic tracking device on the person or the | ||||||
10 | person's property. | ||||||
11 | (8) "Reasonable person" means a person in the victim's | ||||||
12 | situation. | ||||||
13 | (9) "Transmits a threat" means a verbal
or
written | ||||||
14 | threat or a threat implied by a pattern of conduct or a | ||||||
15 | combination of
verbal or written statements or conduct. | ||||||
16 | (d) Exemptions. | ||||||
17 | (1) This Section does not apply to any individual or | ||||||
18 | organization (i) monitoring or attentive to compliance | ||||||
19 | with public or worker safety laws, wage and hour | ||||||
20 | requirements, or other statutory requirements, or (ii) | ||||||
21 | picketing occurring at the workplace that is otherwise | ||||||
22 | lawful and arises out of a bona fide labor dispute, | ||||||
23 | including any controversy concerning wages, salaries, | ||||||
24 | hours, working conditions or benefits, including health | ||||||
25 | and welfare, sick leave, insurance, and pension or | ||||||
26 | retirement provisions, the making or maintaining of |
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1 | collective bargaining agreements, and the terms to be | ||||||
2 | included in those agreements. | ||||||
3 | (2) This Section does not apply to an exercise of the | ||||||
4 | right to free speech or assembly that is otherwise lawful. | ||||||
5 | (3) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile | ||||||
6 | service providers, and providers of information services, | ||||||
7 | including, but not limited to, Internet service providers | ||||||
8 | and hosting service providers, are not liable under this | ||||||
9 | Section, except for willful and wanton misconduct, by | ||||||
10 | virtue of the transmission, storage, or caching of | ||||||
11 | electronic communications or messages of others or by | ||||||
12 | virtue of the provision of other related | ||||||
13 | telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or | ||||||
14 | information services used by others in violation of this | ||||||
15 | Section. | ||||||
16 | (d-5) (b-5) The incarceration of a person in a penal | ||||||
17 | institution who commits the course of conduct or transmits a
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18 | threat is not a bar to prosecution under this Section.
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19 | (c) Exemption. This Section does not apply to picketing | ||||||
20 | occurring at
the workplace that is otherwise lawful and arises | ||||||
21 | out of a bona fide labor
dispute, or any exercise of the right | ||||||
22 | of free speech or assembly that is
otherwise lawful.
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23 | (d) For the purpose of this Section, a defendant "places a | ||||||
24 | person under
surveillance" by: (1) remaining present outside | ||||||
25 | the person's school, place of
employment, vehicle, other place | ||||||
26 | occupied by the person, or residence other
than the residence |
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1 | of the defendant; or (2) placing an electronic tracking device | ||||||
2 | on the person or the person's property.
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3 | (e) For the purpose of this Section,
"follows another | ||||||
4 | person" means (i) to
move in relative proximity to a person as | ||||||
5 | that person moves from place to place
or (ii) to remain in | ||||||
6 | relative proximity to a person who is stationary or whose
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7 | movements are confined to a small area.
"Follows another | ||||||
8 | person" does not
include a following within the residence of | ||||||
9 | the defendant.
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10 | (f) For the purposes of this Section and Section 12-7.4, | ||||||
11 | "bona fide labor
dispute" means any controversy concerning | ||||||
12 | wages, salaries, hours, working
conditions, or benefits, | ||||||
13 | including health and welfare, sick leave, insurance,
and
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14 | pension or retirement provisions, the making or maintaining of | ||||||
15 | collective
bargaining agreements, and the terms to be included | ||||||
16 | in those agreements.
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17 | (g) For the purposes of this Section, "transmits a threat" | ||||||
18 | means a verbal
or
written threat or a threat implied by a | ||||||
19 | pattern of conduct or a combination of
verbal or written | ||||||
20 | statements or conduct.
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21 | (h) For the purposes of this Section, "family member" means | ||||||
22 | a parent,
grandparent, brother, sister, or child, whether by | ||||||
23 | whole blood, half-blood, or
adoption and includes a | ||||||
24 | step-grandparent, step-parent, step-brother,
step-sister or | ||||||
25 | step-child. "Family member" also means any other person who
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26 | regularly resides in the household, or who, within the prior 6 |
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1 | months,
regularly resided in the household.
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2 | (Source: P.A. 95-33, eff. 1-1-08.)
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3 | (720 ILCS 5/12-7.4) (from Ch. 38, par. 12-7.4)
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4 | Sec. 12-7.4. Aggravated stalking.
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5 | (a) A person commits
aggravated stalking when he or she, in | ||||||
6 | conjunction with committing the
offense of stalking,
also does | ||||||
7 | any of the following:
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8 | (1) causes bodily harm to the victim;
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9 | (2) confines or restrains the victim; or
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10 | (3) violates a temporary
restraining order, an order of | ||||||
11 | protection, a stalking no contact order, a civil no contact | ||||||
12 | order, or an injunction
prohibiting the behavior described | ||||||
13 | in
subsection (b)(1) of Section 214 of the Illinois | ||||||
14 | Domestic Violence Act of 1986.
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15 | (b) Sentence. Aggravated stalking is a Class 3 felony. A | ||||||
16 | second or
subsequent conviction for aggravated stalking is a | ||||||
17 | Class 2
felony.
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18 | (c) Exemptions Exemption . | ||||||
19 | (1) This Section does not apply to any individual or | ||||||
20 | organization (i) monitoring or attentive to compliance | ||||||
21 | with public or worker safety laws, wage and hour | ||||||
22 | requirements, or other statutory requirements, or (ii) | ||||||
23 | picketing occurring at the
workplace that is otherwise | ||||||
24 | lawful and arises out of a bona fide labor
dispute | ||||||
25 | including any controversy concerning wages, salaries, |
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1 | hours, working conditions or benefits, including health | ||||||
2 | and welfare, sick leave, insurance, and pension or | ||||||
3 | retirement provisions, the managing or maintenance of | ||||||
4 | collective bargaining agreements, and the terms to be | ||||||
5 | included in those agreements. , or any | ||||||
6 | (2) This Section does not apply to an exercise of the | ||||||
7 | right of free speech or assembly that is
otherwise lawful.
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8 | (3) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile | ||||||
9 | service providers, and providers of information services, | ||||||
10 | including, but not limited to, Internet service providers | ||||||
11 | and hosting service providers, are not liable under this | ||||||
12 | Section, except for willful and wanton misconduct, by | ||||||
13 | virtue of the transmission, storage, or caching of | ||||||
14 | electronic communications or messages of others or by | ||||||
15 | virtue of the provision of other related | ||||||
16 | telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or | ||||||
17 | information services used by others in violation of this | ||||||
18 | Section. | ||||||
19 | (d) For purposes of this Section, "bona fide labor dispute" | ||||||
20 | has the
meaning ascribed to it in Section 12-7.3.
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21 | (Source: P.A. 88-402; 88-677, eff. 12-15-94; 89-377, eff. | ||||||
22 | 8-18-95.)
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23 | (720 ILCS 5/12-7.5)
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24 | Sec. 12-7.5. Cyberstalking.
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25 | (a) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she engages |
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1 | in a course of conduct using electronic communication directed | ||||||
2 | at a specific person, and he or she knows or should know that | ||||||
3 | would cause a reasonable person to: | ||||||
4 | (1) fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third | ||||||
5 | person; or | ||||||
6 | (2) suffer other emotional distress. | ||||||
7 | (a-3) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she , | ||||||
8 | knowingly and without
lawful justification, on at least 2 | ||||||
9 | separate occasions, harasses another person
through the use of | ||||||
10 | electronic communication and:
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11 | (1) at any time transmits a threat of immediate or | ||||||
12 | future bodily harm,
sexual assault, confinement, or | ||||||
13 | restraint and the threat is directed towards
that person or | ||||||
14 | a family member of that person, or
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15 | (2) places that person or a family member of that | ||||||
16 | person in reasonable
apprehension of immediate or future | ||||||
17 | bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement,
or restraint; or
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18 | (3) at any time knowingly solicits the commission of an | ||||||
19 | act by any person which would be a violation of this Code | ||||||
20 | directed towards that person or a family member of that | ||||||
21 | person. | ||||||
22 | (a-5) A person commits cyberstalking when he or she, | ||||||
23 | knowingly and without lawful justification, creates and | ||||||
24 | maintains an Internet website or webpage which is accessible to | ||||||
25 | one or more third parties for a period of at least 24 hours, | ||||||
26 | and which contains statements harassing another person and: |
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1 | (1) which communicates a threat of immediate or future | ||||||
2 | bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint, | ||||||
3 | where the threat is directed towards that person or a | ||||||
4 | family member of that person, or | ||||||
5 | (2) which places that person or a family member of that | ||||||
6 | person in reasonable apprehension of immediate or future | ||||||
7 | bodily harm, sexual assault, confinement, or restraint, or | ||||||
8 | (3) which knowingly solicits the commission of an act | ||||||
9 | by any person which would be a violation of this Code | ||||||
10 | directed towards that person or a family member of that | ||||||
11 | person. | ||||||
12 | (b) As used in this Section:
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13 | "Harass"
means to engage in a knowing and willful course of | ||||||
14 | conduct directed at a
specific person
that alarms, torments, or | ||||||
15 | terrorizes that person.
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16 | "Third party" means any person other than the person | ||||||
17 | violating these provisions and the person or persons towards | ||||||
18 | whom the violator's actions are directed. | ||||||
19 | "Electronic communication" means any
transfer of signs, | ||||||
20 | signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of any
nature | ||||||
21 | transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, | ||||||
22 | electronmagnetic,
photoelectric, or photo-optical system. | ||||||
23 | "Electronic communication" includes
transmissions by a
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24 | computer through the Internet to another computer.
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25 | (b) (c) Sentence. Cyberstalking is a Class 4 felony. A | ||||||
26 | second or subsequent
conviction for cyberstalking is a Class 3 |
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1 | felony.
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2 | (c) For purposes of this Section: | ||||||
3 | (1) "Course of conduct" means 2 or more acts, including | ||||||
4 | but not limited to acts in which a defendant directly, | ||||||
5 | indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, | ||||||
6 | method, device, or means follows, monitors, observes, | ||||||
7 | surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about, a person, | ||||||
8 | engages in other non-consensual contact, or interferes | ||||||
9 | with or damages a person's property or pet. The | ||||||
10 | incarceration in a penal institution of a person who | ||||||
11 | commits the course of conduct is not a bar to prosecution | ||||||
12 | under this Section. | ||||||
13 | (2) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of | ||||||
14 | signs, signals, writings, sounds, data, or intelligence of | ||||||
15 | any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, | ||||||
16 | radio, electromagnetic, photoelectric, or photo-optical | ||||||
17 | system. "Electronic communication" includes transmissions | ||||||
18 | by a computer through the Internet to another computer. | ||||||
19 | (3) "Emotional distress" means significant mental | ||||||
20 | suffering, anxiety or alarm. | ||||||
21 | (4) "Harass"
means to engage in a knowing and willful | ||||||
22 | course of conduct directed at a
specific person
that | ||||||
23 | alarms, torments, or terrorizes that person. | ||||||
24 | (5) "Non-consensual contact" means any contact with | ||||||
25 | the victim that is initiated or continued without the | ||||||
26 | victim's consent, including but not limited to being in the |
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1 | physical presence of the victim; appearing within the sight | ||||||
2 | of the victim; approaching or confronting the victim in a | ||||||
3 | public place or on private property; appearing at the | ||||||
4 | workplace or residence of the victim; entering onto or | ||||||
5 | remaining on property owned, leased, or occupied by the | ||||||
6 | victim; or placing an object on, or delivering an object | ||||||
7 | to, property owned, leased, or occupied by the victim. | ||||||
8 | (6) "Reasonable person" means a person in the victim's | ||||||
9 | circumstances, with the victim's knowledge of the | ||||||
10 | defendant and the defendant's prior acts. | ||||||
11 | (7) "Third party" means any person other than the | ||||||
12 | person violating these provisions and the person or persons | ||||||
13 | towards whom the violator's actions are directed. | ||||||
14 | (d) Telecommunications carriers, commercial mobile service | ||||||
15 | providers, and providers of information services, including, | ||||||
16 | but not limited to, Internet service providers and hosting | ||||||
17 | service providers, are not liable under this Section, except | ||||||
18 | for willful and wanton misconduct, by virtue of the | ||||||
19 | transmission, storage, or caching of electronic communications | ||||||
20 | or messages of others or by virtue of the provision of other | ||||||
21 | related telecommunications, commercial mobile services, or | ||||||
22 | information services used by others in violation of this | ||||||
23 | Section. | ||||||
24 | (Source: P.A. 95-849, eff. 1-1-09; revised 9-10-08.)
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25 | Section 97. Severability. The provisions of this Act are |
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1 | severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
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