By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

SPRINGFIELD — Along with the new year come new laws which took effect on Jan. 1.

In June, the General Assembly passed a law that any first-time offender guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol will be required to have a breath alcohol ignition interlock device on their vehicle before they will be allowed to get a permit to drive during their license suspension period.

The law made Illinois one of the first states in the nation to require BAID devices, joining New Mexico as the only other state with the law.

According to BAID unit administrator Susan McKinney of the Secretary of State’s Office, first time DUI offenders can petition the court for a permit to drive during the six months’ to one year driving suspension and if a judge approves the request, the interlock system will be required to be installed on the offender’s vehicle.

The device requires the offender to pass a breath-alcohol test before the ignition engages on the vehicle. Additional tests are required at random intervals after the vehicle is started. The devices can be programmed to sound a horn, blink lights after a test is failed, according to information from the state.

Any offender caught driving without a BAID device or driving another person’s car could be charged with a Class 4 felony and face a mandatory minimum of 30 days in jail.

Alcohol is also at the center of another law which took effect on Thursday. SB2472 restricts advertising alcohol to young adults and also requires that items such as “alcopops” or flavored malt beverages be labeled indicating the alcohol content. The bill also places limits on where alcohol can be advertised, banning billboards within 500 feet of a school, public park, amusement park and churches. In addition, alcopop beverages can’t be displayed in any video game, theater or live performance where the audience is primarily made up of children.

Another law that has been touted in the news in the days following the arrest of Governor Rod Blagojevich is the ethics reform law.

The ethics law prohibits state contractors with an aggregate value of $50,000 in state contracts from making campaign contributions to the constitutional officer that awards the contracts or to a declared candidate for that office.

County government is the subject of four laws, with the first requiring county clerk and recorders that display public records on the Internet to remove social security numbers or other personal identifying information from the Internet if written request is received to do so.

Other laws affecting county government are:

n H4725, which allows county board members to serve on emergency telephone system boards, including 911 boards;

n HB4766, which allows counties to lease space on telecommunications towers to a public or private entity such as cell phone providers; and

n HB4992, which permits County Clerk and Recorders to use fees collected for certified copies of vital records to develop and improve technology in their office.

In addition, a new law affecting municipalities requires a 15 day written notice to all taxpayers residing in an area to be annexed.

Other laws which took effect on Thursday are:

n Insurance coverage is now required for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa;

n Insurance coverage is required for shingles vaccine if ordered by a licensed physician and the patient is 60 years old or older;

n Election authorities are prohibited from hiring registered sex offenders as election judges;

n Child sex offenders can’t live or loiter within 500 feet of a school, park, daycare center or other child facility;

n A child sex offender who owns and lives at a residential property can’t knowingly rent a unit in the same building to a parent with a child under 18 years of age;

n The offense of grooming has been created to describe when the Internet is used to seduce or entice a child to commit a sexual offense. The law also makes it an offense to travel to meet a minor to engage in a sexual offense with the child;

n New provisions have been added to the cyberstalking law that makes it illegal to create an Internet webpage for the purpose of cyberstalking or harassment;

n It is now unlawful to carry, sell, purchase or manufacture any type of knuckle weapon;

n It is now a Class A misdemeanor to cause the death of another person by failing to follow the required procedures when approaching an emergency vehicle;

n It is illegal to carry or possess a billy club in public;

n There is no statute of limitation in sexual conduct offenses where the offender’s DNA profile is obtained and entered into a DNA database within 10 years after the offense;

n No person under 18 years old may obtain any tobacco product using a forged ID;

n Licensed long-term care facilities must prepare a consumer choice information report which addresses medical care services, treatment, staffing, facility statistics, meal and nutrition, room furnishing and visitation provisions. The report is to be available online through the Illinois Attorney General’s office;

n School districts must include age-appropriate Internet safety unit in curriculum. It must be taught annually to those children in grades three and up;

n Public universities and colleges are now required to have an emergency response plan and a campus violence prevention plan filed with local emergency management;

n Schools are required to include homeownership in the financial literacy component of consumer education which must include information on the process of obtaining a mortgage, concepts of fixed and adjustable rate mortgages, sub prime loans and predatory lending;

n Minors employed as counselors at day camps are not subject to the adult minimum wage requirement;

n Employees are now protected from adverse employment actions based on genetic testing or genetic information;

n The sale or installation of any device that appears to be a fire protection device that is not designed or capable of performing the required life safety functions is prohibited;

n It is now a Class 2 Felony if a reckless homicide is committed as a result of failure to slow down, change lanes or yield the right of way to a stationery emergency vehicle displaying flashing emergency lights;

n Municipalities may require all new firefighters to be licensed as an EMT basic, intermediate or paramedic;

n Any elected or appointed trustee of a fire protection district is now entitled to be absent from their employment during meetings of the board of trustees for the district;

n Townships, municipalities or fire protection districts may charge reasonable fees for technical rescue services;

n Election officials are required to mail one absentee ballot to a military service member and any qualified voter overseas at the time of consolidated elections; and

n A hospitalized voter now has 14 days before the election to qualify for delivery of an absentee ballot by a relative.