§ 3-6-4 — Enforcement of Discipline - Escape

(a) A committed person who escapes or attempts to escape from an institution or facility of the Department of Corrections, or escapes or attempts to escape while in the custody of an employee of the Department of Corrections, or holds or participates in the holding of any person as a hostage by force, threat or violence, or while participating in any disturbance, demonstration or riot, causes, directs or participates in the destruction of any property is guilty of a Class 2 felony. A committed person who fails to return from furlough or from work and day release is guilty of a Class 3 felony. (b) If one or more committed persons injures or attempts to injure in a violent manner any employee, officer, guard, other peace officer or any other committed person or damages or attempts to damage any building or workshop, or any appurtenances thereof, or attempts to escape, or disobeys or resists any lawful command, the employees, officers, guards and other peace officers shall use all suitable means to defend themselves, to enforce the observance of discipline, to secure the persons of the offenders, and prevent such attempted violence or escape; and said employees, officers, guards, or other peace officers, or any of them, shall, in the attempt to prevent the escape of any such person, or in attempting to retake any such person who has escaped, or in attempting to prevent or suppress violence by a committed person against another person, a riot, revolt, mutiny or insurrection, be justified in the use of force, including force likely to cause death or great bodily harm under Section 7-8 of the Criminal Code of 2012 which he reasonably believed necessary. As used in this Section, "committed person" includes a person held in detention in a secure facility or committed as a sexually violent person and held in a secure facility under the Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act; and "peace officer" means any officer or member of any duly organized State, county or municipal police unit or police force. (c) The Department shall establish procedures to provide immediate notification of the escape of any person, as defined in subsection (a) of this Section, to the persons specified in subsection (c) of Section 3-14-1 of this Code.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 97-1083, eff. 8-24-12; 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)