Nicole La Ha Zwiercan, Illinois State Representative for 82nd District | Illinois General Assembly
Nicole La Ha Zwiercan, Illinois State Representative for 82nd District | Illinois General Assembly
According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill's official text as follows: "Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that when the victim is under 18 years of age at the time of the offense, a prosecution for involuntary servitude, involuntary sexual servitude of a minor, or trafficking in persons and related offenses may be commenced at any time (rather than within 25 years of the victim attaining the age of 18 years)."
The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.
In essence, this bill amends the Criminal Code of 2012 to alter the statute of limitations for specific offenses. Notably, it removes the time limit for prosecuting cases of involuntary servitude, involuntary sexual servitude of a minor, and trafficking in persons when the victim was under 18 at the time of the offense, allowing these cases to be prosecuted indefinitely. Similarly, prosecutions for female genital mutilation can be commenced at any time if the victim was under 18 when the offense occurred. Additionally, the bill establishes different prosecution periods for various other crimes, such as theft under fiduciary obligation, misconduct by public officers, child pornography-related offenses, and COVID-19-related fraudulent activities, often allowing prosecutions to begin within extended periods after the offense is discovered.
La Ha graduated from School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2004 with a BA.
Nicole La Ha is currently serving in the Illinois State House, representing the state's 82nd House District. She replaced previous state representative John Egofske in 2023.
Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.
You can read more about bills and other measures here.
| Bill Number | Date Introduced | Short Description |
|---|---|---|
| HB1114 | 01/09/2025 | Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that when the victim is under 18 years of age at the time of the offense, a prosecution for involuntary servitude, involuntary sexual servitude of a minor, or trafficking in persons and related offenses may be commenced at any time (rather than within 25 years of the victim attaining the age of 18 years). |
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