Bill Text: IL SB1571 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Increases the penalty from a Class 1 felony to a Class X felony for bringing into or possessing in a penal institution any amount of a controlled substance classified as a Schedules I or II controlled substance under the Illinois Controlled Substances Act.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-04 - Referred to Assignments [SB1571 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-SB1571-Introduced.html

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104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2025 and 2026 SB1571 Introduced 2/4/2025, by Sen. Sally J. Turner SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
720 ILCS 5/31A-1.1 from Ch. 38, par. 31A-1.1
Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Increases the penalty from a Class 1 felony to a Class X felony for bringing into or possessing in a penal institution any amount of a controlled substance classified as a Schedules I or II controlled substance under the Illinois Controlled Substances Act.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning criminal law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by
changing Section 31A-1.1 as follows:
(720 ILCS 5/31A-1.1) (from Ch. 38, par. 31A-1.1)
Sec. 31A-1.1. Bringing Contraband into a Penal
Institution; Possessing Contraband in a Penal Institution.
(a) A person commits bringing contraband into a penal
institution when he or she knowingly and without authority of
any person designated or authorized to grant this authority
(1) brings an item of contraband into a penal institution or
(2) causes another to bring an item of contraband into a penal
institution or (3) places an item of contraband in such
proximity to a penal institution as to give an inmate access to
the contraband.
(b) A person commits possessing contraband in a penal
institution when he or she knowingly possesses contraband in a
penal institution, regardless of the intent with which he or
she possesses it.
(c) (Blank).
(d) Sentence.
(1) Bringing into or possessing alcoholic liquor in a

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penal institution is a Class 4 felony.
(2) Bringing into or possessing cannabis in a penal
institution is a Class 3 felony.
(3) Bringing into or possessing any amount of a
controlled substance classified in Schedules III, IV or V
of Article II of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act in
a penal institution is a Class 2 felony.
(4) Bringing into or possessing any amount of a
controlled substance classified in Schedules I or II of
Article II of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act in a
penal institution is a Class X 1 felony.
(5) Bringing into or possessing a hypodermic syringe
in a penal institution is a Class 1 felony.
(6) Bringing into or possessing a weapon, tool to
defeat security mechanisms, cutting tool, or electronic
contraband in a penal institution is a Class 1 felony.
(7) Bringing into or possessing a firearm, firearm
ammunition, or explosive in a penal institution is a Class
X felony.
(e) It shall be an affirmative defense to subsection (b),
that the possession was specifically authorized by rule,
regulation, or directive of the governing authority of the
penal institution or order issued under it.
(f) It shall be an affirmative defense to subsection
(a)(1) and subsection (b) that the person bringing into or
possessing contraband in a penal institution had been

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arrested, and that person possessed the contraband at the time
of his or her arrest, and that the contraband was brought into
or possessed in the penal institution by that person as a
direct and immediate result of his or her arrest.
(g) Items confiscated may be retained for use by the
Department of Corrections or disposed of as deemed appropriate
by the Chief Administrative Officer in accordance with
Department rules or disposed of as required by law.
(Source: P.A. 97-1108, eff. 1-1-13; 98-756, eff. 7-16-14.)