republic-os/legislation/us/states/il/98th/sb-2791.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "RAILROAD POLICE AUTHORITY"
description: "Amends the Railroad Police Act. Provides that members of railroad police forces may issue administrative citations in accordance with the provisions of local law. Provides that passengers may be removed from a train or boat for conduct or language that annoys or vexes employees. Provides that this removal, if not done at the location of the offending conduct, may be done at an available public station or dock. Provides that for the purposes of removing an offending passenger, the conductor or captain may only command the assistance of passengers that are willing and able to render assistance. Provides before removing the passenger the conductor or captain must refund the passenger's fare minus the portion attributable to distance already travelled. Provides that no operating rule, bulletin, directive, or other order of a carrier shall contradict or limit this authority. Provides that the captain or master, or employees of a boat, rather than only steamboats, may arrest a passenger that has committed a crime or misdemeanor and take him or her before a judge of the circuit court in any county through which the boat passes on its trip, filing an affidavit with the judge of the circuit court charging the passenger with that crime or misdemeanor. Effective immediately."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "98th"
identifier: "SB 2791"
citation: "Illinois SB 2791 (98th)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 26
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2014-01-30"
last_action: "2014-07-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5988c420-da02-413d-add2-0f10e272a435"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=2791&GAID=12&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=78679&SessionID=85&GA=98"
source_hash: "2c88ffab82db310247dc70a17155b748eb737bd8ed85186f1296351adf5eb5fc"
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 2791 (98th) — RAILROAD POLICE AUTHORITY

Amends the Railroad Police Act. Provides that members of railroad police forces may issue administrative citations in accordance with the provisions of local law. Provides that passengers may be removed from a train or boat for conduct or language that annoys or vexes employees. Provides that this removal, if not done at the location of the offending conduct, may be done at an available public station or dock. Provides that for the purposes of removing an offending passenger, the conductor or captain may only command the assistance of passengers that are willing and able to render assistance. Provides before removing the passenger the conductor or captain must refund the passenger's fare minus the portion attributable to distance already travelled. Provides that no operating rule, bulletin, directive, or other order of a carrier shall contradict or limit this authority. Provides that the captain or master, or employees of a boat, rather than only steamboats, may arrest a passenger that has committed a crime or misdemeanor and take him or her before a judge of the circuit court in any county through which the boat passes on its trip, filing an affidavit with the judge of the circuit court charging the passenger with that crime or misdemeanor. 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=09800SB2791&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=78679&DocNum=2791&GAID=12&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09800SB2791eng&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=78679&DocNum=2791&GAID=12&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09800SB2791enr&GA=98&SessionId=85&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=78679&DocNum=2791&GAID=12&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **54–1** (pass) · upper
- Third Reading — **103–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Toi W. Hutchinson — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2014-01-30** Filed with Secretary by Sen. Toi W. Hutchinson `filing`
- **2014-01-30** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2014-01-30** Referred to Assignments `referral-committee`
- **2014-02-11** Assigned to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2014-02-19** Do Pass Judiciary; 012-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2014-02-19** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading February 20, 2014
- **2014-02-27** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2014-02-27** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading March 4, 2014
- **2014-03-06** Third Reading - Passed; 054-001-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2014-03-06** Arrived in House `introduction`
- **2014-03-10** Chief House Sponsor Rep. John D'Amico
- **2014-03-19** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2014-03-19** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2014-04-23** Assigned to Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2014-04-30** Do Pass / Short Debate Judiciary; 014-000-000 `committee-passage`
- **2014-04-30** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2014-05-06** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2014-05-06** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2014-05-06** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Anthony DeLuca
- **2014-05-08** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 103-000-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2014-05-08** Passed Both Houses
- **2014-05-08** Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Mike Fortner
- **2014-06-06** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2014-07-25** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2014-07-25** Effective Date July 25, 2014
- **2014-07-25** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 98-0791 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5988c420-da02-413d-add2-0f10e272a435`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).