(a) A person or a vendor commits unlawful attempt to collect a compensated debt against a crime victim when, with intent to collect funds for a debt incurred by or on behalf of a crime victim, which debt has been approved for payment by the Court of Claims under the Crime Victims Compensation Act, but the funds are involuntarily withheld from the person or vendor by the Comptroller by virtue of an outstanding obligation owed by the person or vendor to the State under the Uncollected State Claims Act, the person or vendor:
         (1) communicates with, harasses, or intimidates the
    
crime victim for payment;
        (2) contacts or distributes information to affect the
    
compensated crime victim’s credit rating as a result of the compensated debt; or
        (3) takes any other action adverse to the crime
    
victim or his or her family on account of the compensated debt.
    (b) Sentence. Unlawful attempt to collect a compensated debt against a crime victim is a Class A misdemeanor.

Attorney's Note

Under the Illinois Statutes, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
Class A misdemeanorup to 1 yearup to $2,500
For details, see § Ill. Comp. Stat. 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-55

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Terms Used In Illinois Compiled Statutes 720 ILCS 5/17-5.5

  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • State: when applied to different parts of the United States, may be construed to include the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" may be construed to include the said district and territories. See Illinois Compiled Statutes 5 ILCS 70/1.14

     (c) Nothing in this Code prevents the attempt to collect an uncompensated debt or an uncompensated portion of a compensated debt incurred by or on behalf of a crime victim and not covered under the Crime Victims Compensation Act.
     (d) As used in this Section, “crime victim” means a victim of a violent crime or applicant as defined in the Crime Victims Compensation Act. “Compensated debt” means a debt incurred by or on behalf of a crime victim and approved for payment by the Court of Claims under the Crime Victims Compensation Act.