CHAPTER 720, ILCS 5/ - CRIMINAL CODE DIVISION I

720 ILCS 5/47-5

Sec. 47-5. Public nuisance. It is a public nuisance:

Illinois Compiled Statute
720 ILCS 5/47-5
Offense Description
Public nuisance
Offense Classification
Class A Misdemeanor
Statutory Penalties & Sentencing Scope
Up to 364 days county jail · Fine up to $2,500
Supreme Court Rule 551 Mandatory Court Appearance
Personal appearance is not mandatory under Rule 551 by default. The citation may be satisfied by written appearance, pre-set administrative payment, or mail-in notice unless aggravated circumstances apply.
SAFE-T Act Pretrial Detention Eligibility (725 ILCS 5/110-6.1)
Presumptive Pretrial Release: This offense is non-detainable under 725 ILCS 5/110-6.1. The defendant is entitled to release on personal recognizance with non-monetary conditions unless charged with a subsequent detainable violation.
Secretary of State Driver's License Action
Standard Administrative Protocol: No automatic driver's license suspension or mandatory revocation is triggered by this offense code alone upon citation.
EXECUTIVE SYNOPSIS · ILLINOIS LEGAL STANDARDS Governing Authority: ILGA & Supreme Court Rules

Under Illinois law, 720 ILCS 5/47-5 (Public nuisance) is classified as a Class A Misdemeanor. Statutory sentencing scope: Up to 364 days county jail · Fine up to $2,500. Court appearance is not mandatory (pre-set bond or notice to appear), and pretrial release is presumptively release-eligible under the SAFE-T Act.

Offense Class & Sentencing Scope Class A Misdemeanor

Up to 364 days county jail · Fine up to $2,500

Court Appearance Mandate Release on Notice (No Mandate)

Personal appearance is not mandatory under Rule 551 by default. The citation may be satisfied by written appearance, pre-set administrative payment, or mail-in notice unless aggravated circumstances apply.

Pretrial Fairness Act (SAFE-T Act) Presumptive Pretrial Release

Presumptive Pretrial Release: This offense is non-detainable under 725 ILCS 5/110-6.1. The defendant is entitled to release on personal recognizance with non-monetary conditions unless charged with a subsequent detainable violation.

Secretary of State License Sanction Standard Administrative Protocol

No automatic driver's license suspension or mandatory revocation is triggered by this offense code alone upon citation.

Classification Class A Misdemeanor
Court Appearance Pre-set Bond / Release on Notice
SAFE-T Act Detention Release Eligible (Conditions Apply)
SOS Reporting Code None Assigned

Associated Offense Codes & Classifications (1)

Offense Description Class Court Mandate SAFE-T Act Reporting Code Official ILGA
Public nuisance Official ILGA · 720 ILCS 5/47-5 -> Class A Misdemeanor Release on Notice Release Eligible — ILGA.gov ->

Illinois General Assembly Statutory Text (Verbatim)

Source: ilga.gov ->

Sec. 47-5. Public nuisance. It is a public nuisance:

(1)

(1) To cause or allow the carcass of an animal or offal, filth, or a noisome substance to be collected, deposited, or to remain in any place to the prejudice of others.

(2)

(2) To throw or deposit offal or other offensive matter or the carcass of a dead animal in a water course, lake, pond, spring, well, or common sewer, street, or public highway.

(3)

(3) To corrupt or render unwholesome or impure the water of a spring, river, stream, pond, or lake to the injury or prejudice of others.

(4)

(4) To obstruct or impede, without legal authority, the passage of a navigable river or waters.

(5)

(5) To obstruct or encroach upon public highways, private ways, streets, alleys, commons, landing places, and ways to burying places.

(6)

(6) To carry on the business of manufacturing gunpowder, nitroglycerine, or other highly explosive substances, or mixing or grinding the materials for those substances, in a building within 20 rods of a valuable building erected at the time the business is commenced.

(7)

(7) To establish powder magazines near incorporated towns, at a point different from that appointed according to law by the corporate authorities of the town, or within 50 rods of an occupied dwelling house.

(8)

(8) To erect, continue, or use a building or other place for the exercise of a trade, employment, or manufacture that, by occasioning noxious exhalations, offensive smells, or otherwise, is offensive or dangerous to the health of individuals or of the public.

(9)

(9) To advertise wares or occupation by painting notices of the wares or occupation on or affixing them to fences or other private property, or on rocks or other natural objects, without the consent of the owner, or if in the highway or other public place, without permission of the proper authorities.

(10)

(10) To permit a well drilled for oil, gas, salt water disposal, or any other purpose in connection with the production of oil and gas to remain unplugged after the well is no longer used for the purpose for which it was drilled.

(11)

(11) To construct or operate a salt water pit or oil field refuse pit, commonly called a "burn out pit", so that salt water, brine, or oil field refuse or other waste liquids may escape from the pit in a manner except by the evaporation of the salt water or brine or by the burning of the oil field waste or refuse.

(12)

(12) To permit concrete bases, discarded machinery, and materials to remain around an oil or gas well, or to fail to fill holes, cellars, slush pits, and other excavations made in connection with the well or to restore the surface of the lands surrounding the well to its condition before the drilling of the well, upon abandonment of the oil or gas well.

(13)

(13) To permit salt water, oil, gas, or other wastes from a well drilled for oil, gas, or exploratory purposes to escape to the surface, or into a mine or coal seam, or into an underground fresh water supply, or from one underground stratum to another.

(14)

(14) To harass, intimidate, or threaten a person who is about to sell or lease or has sold or leased a residence or other real property or is about to buy or lease or has bought or leased a residence or other real property, when the harassment, intimidation, or threat relates to a person's attempt to sell, buy, or lease a residence, or other real property, or refers to a person's sale, purchase, or lease of a residence or other real property.

(15)

(15) To store, dump, or permit the accumulation of debris, refuse, garbage, trash, tires, buckets, cans, wheelbarrows, garbage cans, or other containers in a manner that may harbor mosquitoes, flies, insects, rodents, nuisance birds, or other animal pests that are offensive, injurious, or dangerous to the health of individuals or the public.

(16)

(16) To create a condition, through the improper maintenance of a swimming pool or wading pool, or by causing an action that alters the condition of a natural body of water, so that it harbors mosquitoes, flies, or other animal pests that are offensive, injurious, or dangerous to the health of individuals or the public.

(17)

(17) To operate a tanning facility without a valid permit under the Tanning Facility Permit Act.

Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prevent the corporate authorities of a city, village, or incorporated town, or the county board of a county, from declaring what are nuisances and abating them within their limits. Counties have that authority only outside the corporate limits of a city, village, or incorporated town.

(Source: P.A. 89-234, eff. 1-1-96.)

Frequently Asked Questions & Legal Analysis

Authoritative Statutory Guidance
What is the statutory penalty and sentencing range for 720 ILCS 5/47-5 in Illinois?

Under Illinois law, 720 ILCS 5/47-5 (Public nuisance) is classified as a Class A Misdemeanor.

Sentencing Scope: Up to 364 days county jail · Fine up to $2,500

Is a court appearance mandatory for 720 ILCS 5/47-5 under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 551?

No Mandatory Court Appearance (Pre-Set Bond / Notice to Appear): Personal appearance is not mandatory under Rule 551 by default. The citation may be satisfied by written appearance, pre-set administrative payment, or mail-in notice unless aggravated circumstances apply.

Is an individual accused of 720 ILCS 5/47-5 detainable before trial under the SAFE-T Act?

Presumptive Pretrial Release: Presumptive Pretrial Release: This offense is non-detainable under 725 ILCS 5/110-6.1. The defendant is entitled to release on personal recognizance with non-monetary conditions unless charged with a subsequent detainable violation.

What Secretary of State driver's license sanctions apply to 720 ILCS 5/47-5?

Standard Administrative Protocol: No automatic driver's license suspension or mandatory revocation is triggered by this offense code alone upon citation.

Official Legal Citation Formats

Legal & Academic Reference

Standardized legal citations for briefs, court pleadings, law enforcement documentation, and academic research.

Illinois Supreme Court Citation 720 ILCS 5/47-5 (West 2026)
The Bluebook Style (21st ed.) 720 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/47-5 (2026)
Canonical Web Reference https://ilcsindex.com/statutes/720-ilcs-5-47-5
Cross-Referenced ILCS Codes