Can solicitation occur without financial compensation?

Solicitation can indeed occur without financial compensation, as it fundamentally involves requesting or encouraging someone to engage in illegal conduct. The key element of solicitation is the act of encouraging, persuading, or commanding another person to commit a crime, regardless of whether there is a monetary incentive involved.

In many situations, one individual might solicit another to commit a crime purely out of a desire for that action to take place—perhaps out of personal interest or ideological beliefs—without any financial transaction being part of the arrangement. Thus, the focus here is on the request for action itself, which is sufficient to establish solicitation.

The other options incorrectly limit the concept of solicitation by tying it exclusively to financial compensation or contractual agreements, or they suggest that the seriousness of the offense must determine whether solicitation can occur. These restrictions do not reflect the broader legal understanding of the term, which emphasizes the nature of the solicitation rather than the presence or absence of monetary gain.