Bill Text: IL HB5021 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Reinserts the provisions of the engrossed bill with the following changes. Removes provisions amending the Seizure and Forfeiture Reporting Act. In provisions amending the Ginseng Harvesting Act, removes provisions concerning forfeiture and seizure.

Sponsorship: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Enrolled) 2026-05-31 - Passed Both Houses [HB5021 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-HB5021-Enrolled.html

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AN ACT concerning conservation.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Ginseng Harvesting Act is amended by
changing Sections 1, 2a, 2b, 2c, 4, and 6 as follows:
(525 ILCS 20/1) (from Ch. 61, par. 501)
Sec. 1. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the
context otherwise requires:
"Cultivated ginseng" means ginseng growing in tilled beds
under shade of artificial structures.
"Department" means the Department of Natural Resources.
"Ginseng" means the root of the American ginseng plant
(Panax quinquefolium). "Ginseng" includes, but is not limited
to, the roots, rhizomes, leaves, and seeds of the American
ginseng plant, which may be cultivated or wild. "Ginseng" does
not include those parts of the American ginseng plant that
have been processed.
"Green ginseng" means a root of ginseng from which the
moisture has not been removed by drying. In this Act, the
amount of dried ginseng rhizome that can be derived from green
ginseng rhizome may be calculated using a ratio of 3.3 to one
by weight.
"Grower" means a person who grows cultivated ginseng for

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the purpose of selling the ginseng.
"Harvester" means any person who harvests, possesses,
transports, cuts, gathers, destroys, digs, or uproots wild
ginseng for the purpose of selling the ginseng or for personal
use.
"Root" means the ginseng rhizome and its roots.
"Wild ginseng" means ginseng in, or collected from, its
natural habitat, notwithstanding whether the ginseng is native
to that habitat or was introduced or increased in abundance by
sowing ginseng seed or by transplanting ginseng plants from
other areas.
(Source: P.A. 83-680.)
(525 ILCS 20/2a) (from Ch. 61, par. 508)
Sec. 2a. Harvest License. No person may cut, root up,
gather or harvest wild ginseng, or attempt to do so, unless the
person has a harvest license issued by the Department. All
persons licensed by the Department pursuant to this Section
shall immediately produce the license when requested to do so
by an officer or authorized employee of the Department or any
sheriff, deputy sheriff, or other peace officer. The fee for a
harvest license is $7 and is valid from April 1 to March 31. A
harvest license is valid during the established harvest season
for wild ginseng for the year during which it is issued. The
Department shall establish by administrative rule the
procedure for issuing licenses and regulations on the methods

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used to harvest. Harvested wild ginseng may be sold only to
dealers licensed by the State of Illinois. All wild ginseng
must be sold by harvesters no later than March 1 of the year
following harvest.
(Source: P.A. 85-152.)
(525 ILCS 20/2b) (from Ch. 61, par. 509)
Sec. 2b. Grower's License. Any person engaged in the
propagation and harvesting of cultivated ginseng shall secure
a registered grower's license from the Department annually for
a fee of $25.00. A grower's license shall authorize the
harvest of cultivated ginseng at any time. A grower's license
is valid from April 1 through March 31. A grower shall maintain
records as to the location of all cultivated ginseng fields,
areas or facilities, quantity of ginseng produced and any
other information required by the Department by administrative
rule and shall keep records and make reports to the Department
as required by administrative rule. The Department shall
establish by administrative rule procedures of issuing
licenses, keeping records and reports, reporting transactions
and certifying the amounts, quantities and origin of the
cultivated ginseng. The Department shall supply, free of
additional charges proper forms to growers for all required
data and information. All persons licensed by the Department
pursuant to this Section shall immediately produce the license
when requested to do so by an officer or authorized employee of

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the Department or any sheriff, deputy sheriff, or other peace
officer.
(Source: P.A. 83-680.)
(525 ILCS 20/2c) (from Ch. 61, par. 510)
Sec. 2c. Dealer License. No person shall be engaged in the
business of buying wild or cultivated ginseng from harvesters,
growers or other dealers for resale to exporters or to other
dealers unless the person has a license issued by the
Department to be a dealer of ginseng. The fee for a dealer's
license is $50.00 for Illinois residents and $100.00 for
nonresidents and is valid from April 1 through March 31. A
dealer shall maintain records, open to duly authorized agents
of the Department, of the quantity of material purchased and
sold, the county where purchased ginseng was harvested, and
other information required by the Department by administrative
rule, and shall make reports to the Department as required.
The Department shall establish by administrative rule
procedures for issuing licenses, keeping records, reporting
transactions, and certifying the origin of ginseng. The
Department shall supply free of additional charge, proper
forms to dealers for all required data and information. A
dealer may purchase roots of wild ginseng harvested in
Illinois only during the period from two weeks after the
opening of the harvest season for wild ginseng to the
following March 1, or may purchase at any time wild or

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cultivated ginseng harvested in another state and certified
for export by that state. All persons licensed by the
Department pursuant to this Section shall immediately produce
the license when requested to do so by an officer or authorized
employee of the Department or any sheriff, deputy sheriff, or
other peace officer.
(Source: P.A. 84-1065.)
(525 ILCS 20/4) (from Ch. 61, par. 516)
Sec. 4. Trespass to Harvest Ginseng. No person shall,
without permission of the owner, enter the forest, field,
yard, building, garden or other enclosure of another and
willfully break down, dig, destroy, take or carry away any
ginseng or attempt to do so.
(Source: P.A. 83-680.)
(525 ILCS 20/6)
Sec. 6. Additional license revocation and denial
provisions.
(a) If a license has been issued to any person under this
Act and that person is found guilty of any misrepresentation
in obtaining that license or a violation of any of the
provisions of this Act or its rules or a violation of the
United States Code that involves the possession, use, sale,
transportation, or harvesting of ginseng when any part of the
United States Code violation occurred in Illinois, the license

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may be revoked by the Department. The Department may also
refuse to issue any license to that person and may suspend that
person from engaging in any activity requiring the license for
a period of time in accordance with rules adopted by the
Department not to exceed 5 years following the revocation.
(b) If a person who has not been issued a license under
this Act is found guilty of a violation of any of the
provisions of this Act or its rules or a violation of the
United States Code that involves the possession, use, sale,
transportation, or harvesting of ginseng when any part of the
United States Code violation occurred in Illinois, the
Department may refuse to issue any license to that person and
may suspend that person from engaging in any activity
requiring the license for a period of time in accordance with
rules adopted by the Department not to exceed 5 years.
(c) The Department's license revocation procedures must be
established by administrative rule.
(d) Any person who violates any of the provisions of this
Act or its rules during any period when his or her license is
revoked or denied by virtue of this Section, or during the time
he or she is suspended under subsection (b), is guilty of a
Class A misdemeanor.
(e) A person whose license to engage in any activity
regulated under this Act has been suspended or revoked may
not, during the period of the suspension or revocation or
until obtaining the proper license, (i) be in the company of

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any person engaging in the activity covered by the license or
(ii) serve as a guide or facilitator for a person who is
engaged or prepared to engage in the activity covered by the
license.
(Source: P.A. 102-837, eff. 5-13-22.)
(525 ILCS 20/1a rep.)
(525 ILCS 20/1b rep.)
(525 ILCS 20/1c rep.)
(525 ILCS 20/1d rep.)
(525 ILCS 20/1e rep.)
Section 10. The Ginseng Harvesting Act is amended by
repealing Sections 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, and 1e.