220 ILCS 55/0.01
(220 ILCS 55/0.01) (from Ch. 134, par. 0.01) Sec. 0.01. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Telegraph Act. (Source: P.A. 86-1324.)
220 ILCS 55
220 ILCS 55
in effect220 ILCS 55/1
(220 ILCS 55/1) (from Ch. 134, par. 1) Sec. 1. That every company heretofore incorporated under any general or special law, or which may be incorporated under any general law of this state for the construction or operation of any telegraph line through or in this state, shall possess the powers and privileges and be subject to the duties, restrictions and liabilities prescribed in this act. (Source: R.S. 1874, p. 1052.)
220 ILCS 55/2
(220 ILCS 55/2) (from Ch. 134, par. 2) Sec. 2. Every such company may enter upon any lands for the purpose of making surveys and examinations with a view to the erection of any telegraph line, and take and damage private property for the erection and maintenance of such lines, and may, subject to the provisions contained in this act, construct lines of telegraph along and upon any railroad, road, highway, street or alley, along or across any of the waters or lands within this state, and may erect poles, posts, piers or abutments for supporting the insulators, wires and other necessary fixtures of their lines, in such manner and at such points as not to incommode the public use of the railroad, highway, street or alley, or interrupt the navigation of such waters. (Source: R.S. 1874, p. 1052.)
220 ILCS 55/3
(220 ILCS 55/3) (from Ch. 134, par. 3) Sec. 3. When it shall be necessary, for the construction, alteration or repair of any line of telegraph, to take or damage any property, the same may be done and the compensation therefor ascertained and made in the manner which may be at that time provided by law for the exercise of the right of eminent domain. (Source: R.S. 1874, p. 1052.)
220 ILCS 55/3.5
(220 ILCS 55/3.5) Sec. 3.5. Eminent domain. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, any power granted under this Act to acquire property by condemnation or eminent domain is subject to, and shall be exercised in accordance with, the Eminent Domain Act. (Source: P.A. 94-1055, eff. 1-1-07.)
220 ILCS 55/4
(220 ILCS 55/4) (from Ch. 134, par. 4) Sec. 4. No such company shall have the right to erect any poles, posts, piers, abutments, wires or other fixtures of their lines along or upon any public ground outside the corporate limits of a city, town or village, without the consent of the county board of the county in which such public ground is situated, nor upon any public ground within any incorporated city, town or village, without the consent of the corporate authorities of such city, town or village. The consent herein required must be in writing, and shall be recorded in the recorder's office of the county. And such county board, or the city council, or board of trustees of such city, town or village, as the case may be, shall have power to direct any alteration in the location or erection of any such poles, posts, piers or abutments, and also in the height of the wires, having first given the company or its agent opportunity to be heard in regard to such alteration. The right of any such company to erect such structures, wires or fixtures within the right of way of any public highway is subject to the provisions of Section 9-113 of the "Illinois Highway Code" as the same may from time to time be amended. (Source: Laws 1959, p. 187.)
220 ILCS 55/6
(220 ILCS 55/6) (from Ch. 134, par. 6) Sec. 6. If any company or person owning or operating any telegraph line in this state shall refuse to receive any dispatch from any other company or person owning or operating any telegraph line in this state, or shall refuse or willfully neglect to transmit the same in good faith, and without partiality, the company or person so offending shall forfeit all rights and franchises acquired under the laws of this state, and shall forfeit all right to transact telegraph business in this state, and may be enjoined therefrom by complaint filed in the circuit court, and be liable to pay all damages which shall accrue, by reason of such refusal, to the company or person offering such dispatch for transmission. (Source: P.A. 79-1359.)
220 ILCS 55/7
(220 ILCS 55/7) (from Ch. 134, par. 7) Sec. 7. It shall be the duty of all persons employed in transmitting messages by telegraph to transmit them in the order in which they are received; and any person who shall fail so to transmit a message, or who shall suppress a message, or who shall make known the contents of a message to any person other than the one to whom it is addressed, or his agent, or who shall wrongfully take from any dispatch to any newspaper any information and send it to any newspaper other than the one to which it is addressed, shall be deemed guilty of a business offense, and be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000). (Source: P.A. 77-2613.)
220 ILCS 55/7a
(220 ILCS 55/7a) (from Ch. 134, par. 8) Sec. 7a. Any telegraph company or any officer, agent or employee of a telegraph company which shall disclose or knowingly permit to be disclosed, or shall impart or knowingly permit to be imparted, the contents of any message entrusted to such company for transmission, to any person, firm or corporation other than the person, firm or corporation to which the said message is addressed, shall be deemed guilty of a business offense and upon conviction thereof may be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000). (Source: P.A. 77-2613.)
220 ILCS 55/8
(220 ILCS 55/8) (from Ch. 134, par. 9) Sec. 8. Whoever shall transmit or cause to be transmitted by telegraph, from any place in this state to any other place in this state or elsewhere, any falsehood, knowing the same to be such, shall be guilty of a petty offense. (Source: P.A. 77-2613.)
220 ILCS 55/9
(220 ILCS 55/9) (from Ch. 134, par. 10) Sec. 9. Any person who, for the purpose of inciting or aiding rebellion, riot or insurrection in this state against the government or laws of this state or of the United States, or a hostile invasion of this state, shall transmit or cause to be transmitted by telegraph any communication whatever, shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not exceeding ten years. (Source: R.S. 1874, p. 1052.)
220 ILCS 55/10
(220 ILCS 55/10) (from Ch. 134, par. 11) Sec. 10. Any telegraph operator or person employed in any telegraph office in this state, or any other person, who shall, knowing the design thereof, deliver or cause to be delivered any communication prohibited by the preceding section of this act, to any person other than the proper officers, agents or employees of this state or the United States, shall be subject to indictment, and, on conviction, to the punishment provided in said section. (Source: R.S. 1874, p. 1052.)
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs.aspFetched: 10/17/2026