---
type: "Bill"
title: "HARASSING ELECTRONIC COMM"
description: "Amends the Harassing and Obscene Communications Act. Creates the Cyberbullying Law. Provides that the offense of harassment through electronic communications also includes the use of electronic communication for making a harassing statement for the purpose of alarming, tormenting, or terrorizing a specific person on at least 2 separate occasions; or creating and maintaining an Internet website or webpage, which is accessible to one or more third parties for a period of at least 24 hours, and which contains harassing statements made for the purpose of alarming, tormenting, or terrorizing a specific person. Establishes penalties. Effective immediately."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "95th"
identifier: "SB 2426"
citation: "Illinois SB 2426 (95th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 45
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2008-02-15"
last_action: "2008-08-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8b0d2afa-c3b5-4c0d-92eb-bd22547a4f0a"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=2426&GAID=9&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=36448&SessionID=51&GA=95"
source_hash: "9db42717c90e2237351f28d503265cb13d6372cb3e5c37844a4f0994251a3737"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-il"]
---

# Illinois SB 2426 (95th) — HARASSING ELECTRONIC COMM

Amends the Harassing and Obscene Communications Act. Creates the Cyberbullying Law. Provides that the offense of harassment through electronic communications also includes the use of electronic communication for making a harassing statement for the purpose of alarming, tormenting, or terrorizing a specific person on at least 2 separate occasions; or creating and maintaining an Internet website or webpage, which is accessible to one or more third parties for a period of at least 24 hours, and which contains harassing statements made for the purpose of alarming, tormenting, or terrorizing a specific person. Establishes penalties. Effective immediately.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09500SB2426&GA=95&SessionId=51&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=36448&DocNum=2426&GAID=9&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09500SB2426eng&GA=95&SessionId=51&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=36448&DocNum=2426&GAID=9&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09500SB2426enr&GA=95&SessionId=51&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=36448&DocNum=2426&GAID=9&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **108–1** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **53–1** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Ira I. Silverstein — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2008-02-15** Filed with Secretary by Sen. Ira I. Silverstein `filing`
- **2008-02-15** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2008-02-15** Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2008-02-27** Assigned to Judiciary Criminal Law `referral-committee`
- **2008-03-06** Postponed - Judiciary Criminal Law
- **2008-03-12** Do Pass Judiciary Criminal Law; 008-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2008-03-12** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading March 13, 2008
- **2008-04-01** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Ira I. Silverstein `amendment-introduction`
- **2008-04-01** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2008-04-02** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Rules Refers to Judiciary Criminal Law
- **2008-04-03** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Recommend Do Adopt Judiciary Criminal Law; 010-000-000
- **2008-04-10** Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Ira I. Silverstein `amendment-introduction`
- **2008-04-10** Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2008-04-11** Senate Floor Amendment No. 3 Filed with Secretary by Sen. Ira I. Silverstein `amendment-introduction`
- **2008-04-11** Senate Floor Amendment No. 3 Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2008-04-15** Senate Floor Amendment No. 3 Rules Refers to Judiciary Criminal Law
- **2008-04-16** Senate Floor Amendment No. 3 Recommend Do Adopt Judiciary Criminal Law; 010-000-000
- **2008-04-16** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2008-04-16** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Motion to Table Amendment - Prevailed Silverstein
- **2008-04-16** Senate Floor Amendment No. 1 Tabled `amendment-failure`
- **2008-04-16** Senate Floor Amendment No. 3 Adopted; Silverstein `amendment-passage`
- **2008-04-16** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading April 17, 2008
- **2008-04-16** Added as Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Linda Holmes
- **2008-04-17** Third Reading - Passed; 053-001-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2008-04-17** Senate Floor Amendment No. 2 Tabled Pursuant to Rule 5-4(a) `amendment-failure`
- **2008-04-17** Arrived in House `introduction`
- **2008-04-17** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading `reading-1`
- **2008-04-17** Chief House Sponsor Rep. Patrick J Verschoore
- **2008-04-24** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2008-04-24** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2008-05-06** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Robert F. Flider
- **2008-05-06** Assigned to Judiciary II - Criminal Law Committee `referral-committee`
- **2008-05-09** Committee Deadline Extended-Rule 9(b) May 23, 2008
- **2008-05-15** Do Pass / Short Debate Judiciary II - Criminal Law Committee; 011-002-000 `committee-passage`
- **2008-05-15** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2008-05-19** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Robert S. Molaro
- **2008-05-19** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Michael K. Smith
- **2008-05-19** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2008-05-19** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2008-05-22** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 108-001-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2008-05-22** Passed Both Houses
- **2008-06-20** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2008-08-18** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2008-08-18** Effective Date January 1, 2009
- **2008-08-18** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 95-0849 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8b0d2afa-c3b5-4c0d-92eb-bd22547a4f0a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).