Prairie State Wire

After the Illinois State Police said via Twitter that they did not plan to issue any misdemeanors against individuals who violated Gov. J.B. Pritzker's stay-at-home order, the rule was withdrawn.

On May 19 the Illinois State Police (ISP) said only corporations and businesses would risk a misdemeanor consistent with state and constitutional law. The next day the agency said the emergency rule threatening businesses with Class A misdemeanors was withdrawn, according to its Twitter account.

Just four days after Pritzker initially used an executive action to allowing businesses to be charged with Class A misdemeanors if they reopened in violation of his stay-at-home order, the ISP issued its statement on its Twitter account that it would focus on encouraging residents to voluntarily comply with the governor’s executive order.

Residents, including business owners, are supposed to stay at home unless they have essential tasks to complete, positions at essential businesses, or need to get items like food and medications.

“Consistent with this community spirit and with state law, policy guidance and discretion, the Illinois State Police will not issue any criminal misdemeanors to individuals for violations of temporary emergency rules or executive orders,” the ISP wrote on Twitter.

This announcement came as sheriffs across the state speak up and say that they won’t arrest individuals who do not comply with the governor’s order.

The day after the ISP made its statement, it announced on Twitter that the emergency rule allowing businesses that defy stay at home orders to be cited for a Class A misdemeanor had been withdrawn. 

“No individual will be arrested or taken to jail for a violation of the Executive Orders or emergency rules,” the original Twitter statement read. “We encourage all citizens to continue to do their part to maintain public health as we move forward in the days ahead with Reopening Illinois.”

Under that withdrawn rule, businesses could have been fined from $75 to $2,500 if they were convicted of those misdemeanor charges. Before withdrawing the rule, Pritzker defended it, saying that it was less punitive than other measures that could be used for enforcement of the stay-at-home order.

"Nobody is you know, sending police forces in to break up activity, you know, across the state," Pritzker said in the May 18 briefing, 5Chicago reported. "What we are doing is enforcing using lots of different methods, enforcing using our licensing capability and our ability to pull licenses from businesses. We're using our ability to make sure that that, you know, the towns that are following this get funded properly and those that don't don't."