Illinois Statute on Criminal Damage To Property
In Illinois the compiled statues on criminal damage to property (ILCS criminal damage to property) is found under:
720 ILCS 5/21-1 et seq. Criminal damage to property.
“(a) A person commits criminal damage to property when he or she:
(1) Knowingly damages property of another; |
(2) Recklessly by means of fire or explosive damage property of another; |
(3) Knowingly starts a fire on the land of another: |
(4) Knowingly injures a domestic animal of another without his or her consent; |
(5) Knowingly deposits on the land or in the building of another any stink bomb or any offensive smelling compound and thereby intends to interfere with the use by another of the land or building; |
(6) Knowingly damages any property, other than as described in paragraph (2) of subsection (a) of Section 20-1, with intent to defraud an insurer; |
(7) Knowingly shoots a firearm at any portion of a railroad train; |
(8) Knowingly, without proper authorization, cuts, injures, damages, defaces, destroys, or tampers with any fire hydrant or any public or private fire fighting equipment, or any apparatus appertaining to fire fighting equipment; or |
(9) Intentionally, without proper authorization, opens any fire hydrant.” |
The Classification Of Criminal Damage To Property Depends On The Damage
The serious of the offense largely depends on the value of the damage caused.
720 ILCS 21-1(d)(1) et seq. describes the following class of offenses:
Class | Damage | Section |
---|---|---|
A Misdemeanor | Under $500 | 21-1(d)(1)(B) |
4 Felony | $500-$10,000 | 21-1(d)(1)(F) |
3 Felony | $10,000-$100,000 | 21-1(d)(1)(H) |
2 Felony | Over $100,000 | 21-1(d)(1)(J) |
Criminal damage to a specially protected kind of property results in a higher class offense. Damage to a school, church, farm equipment or a memorial is a higher class felony.
See the chart below:
Class | Damage | Section |
---|---|---|
4 Felony | Under $500 (school, church, farm equipment, or memorial) | 21-1(d)(1)(C) |
3 Felony | $500-$10,000 (school, church, farm equipment, or memorial) | 21-1(d)(1)(G) |
2 Felony | $10,000-$100,000 (school, church, farm equipment, or memorial) | 21-1(d)(1)(I) |
1Felony | Over $100,000 (school, church, farm equipment, or memorial) | 21-1(d)(1)(J) |
And finally, there are some special classifications of certain kinds of criminal damage to property
See the chart below:
Class | Damage | Section |
---|---|---|
B Misdemeanor | Fire hydrant tampering | 21-1(d)(1)(A) |
4 Felony | Damage to pet unde $10,000 | 21-1(d)(1)(D) |
4 Felony | Shooting at a train | 21-1(d)(1)(E) |
Brett says
Is Criminal Damage To Property a Specific or General Intent Crime?
Brett says
If I am I Licensed Engineer and have Stormwater Management and Drainage listed as skills as well as a Certified Floodplain Manager and aware of Engineering studies of a wetland area located in a FEMA floodplain including a Drainage Remediation Study and Flooding Study completed, if I issued multiple stormwater permits for this wetland and it causes the flooding elevation increase and groundwater level increase to adjacent private property resulting in causing it to experience an adverse drainage impact that was specifically mentioned would occur by these studies causing ongoing flooding and drainage damages could I be charged with Criminal Damage To Property under Illinois Statue? I also didn’t have the private property owners permission to combine their property’s drainage channel with the wetland to create a Retention Pond to store my stormwater.
I could do this without fear of Criminal Prosecution correct even if it damaged it which I was told would result before doing so. I then concealed what I had done from the property owner when asked and told about their damages then filed multiple stormwater permit repeatedly afterwards.
I can’t get into any trouble with the County States Attorney can I?