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COUNTIES
(55 ILCS 5/) Counties Code.

55 ILCS 5/Div. 1-4

 
    (55 ILCS 5/Div. 1-4 heading)
Division 1-4. Uniting Counties

55 ILCS 5/1-4001

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4001) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4001)
    Sec. 1-4001. Petition to unite counties. Whenever any number of legal voters, not less than two hundred, one-half of such number being owners or life tenants of real estate, residing in any county in this State, shall petition the county board of their own county, for leave to have their own county united and annexed to any adjoining county, and shall also petition the county board of the adjoining county, to which they desire their county to be united and annexed, for leave to have their own county united and annexed to such adjoining county, it shall be the duty of the several county boards so petitioned, to order that the propositions provided for in this Division shall be submitted to the legal voters of their respective counties. The several county boards shall certify the propositions to the proper election officials who shall submit the question at a general election in accordance with the general election law. In addition to the requirements of the general election law, the notices of said election shall include the name of each of the two counties, and shall state that the proposition to be voted upon will be whether the county of (naming the county whose legal voters have petitioned for union and annexation) shall be united and annexed to the county of (naming the adjoining county to which the legal voters have petitioned to be united and annexed): Provided, that such proposition shall not be submitted or voted upon more often than once in 5 years.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

55 ILCS 5/1-4002

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4002) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4002)
    Sec. 1-4002. Designation of counties. In this Division and all proceedings thereunder, the county whose legal voters shall petition the several county boards as aforesaid, shall be called the "petitioning county," and the county to which said legal voters shall petition to be united and annexed shall be called the "adjoining county."
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

55 ILCS 5/1-4003

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4003) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4003)
    Sec. 1-4003. Form of proposition. The proposition shall be substantially in the following form: For uniting and annexing the county of (naming the petitioning county) to the county of (naming the adjoining county). Against uniting and annexing the county of (naming the petitioning county) to the county of (naming the adjoining county).
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

55 ILCS 5/1-4004

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4004) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4004)
    Sec. 1-4004. Effect of vote. If a majority of the votes polled in each of such counties at such election shall be in favor of said proposition, all that territory included within the established boundaries of the petitioning county, shall be united and annexed to the adjoining county, and such petitioning county, shall cease to have any separate existence as a county, but shall be merged into and form an integral part of such adjoining county, in fact and in name, at the time and in the manner hereinafter provided.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

55 ILCS 5/1-4005

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4005) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4005)
    Sec. 1-4005. Proclamation by Governor. Within ten days after such election, the county clerk of each of such counties shall send a correct and duly certified abstract of the votes polled at such election to the Secretary of State; and if a majority of votes polled at such election in each of said counties is found to be in favor of uniting and annexing the petitioning county to the adjoining county, the Secretary of State shall forthwith so notify the Governor of the state, and the Governor shall thereupon, forthwith and without delay, issue his proclamation announcing and declaring the result of such election; and on and after the date of such proclamation the petitioning county shall cease to exist as a county, and all that territory embraced in the limits of such petitioning county shall be united and annexed to, and shall form an integral part of such adjoining county.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

55 ILCS 5/1-4006

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4006) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4006)
    Sec. 1-4006. Officers to hold office until expiration of term. All the county officers of the petitioning county shall continue to hold their respective offices until their respective terms of office shall expire, and shall perform the duties of their respective offices arising in the territory which, before the Governor's proclamation aforesaid, had constituted the petitioning county, and shall receive the fees and compensation thereof, in the manner hereinafter provided. They shall keep their offices at the county seat of the adjoining county, in the court house of said county, in such rooms as may be selected by the county board of the adjoining county; and within ten days after the date of the proclamation as aforesaid, by the Governor, they shall remove all the files and records, books, papers, and furniture of their respective offices to the court house of the adjoining county, which shall thereafter be held and taken to be the files, records, books, papers and furniture of the adjoining county as it shall be constituted after the date of the proclamation aforesaid.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

55 ILCS 5/1-4007

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4007) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4007)
    Sec. 1-4007. Process. All process of every kind against any person or property within the territory, which had constituted the petitioning county before the proclamation aforesaid, during the continuance of the term of office of the clerk of the circuit court and the county clerk of the petitioning county, and after the union and annexation aforesaid, may be issued by the clerk of circuit court or the county clerk of the petitioning county, and they shall respectively, collect and account to the county board of the adjoining county for the proper fees for issuing the same, but all such process shall be signed by the proper clerk and have the proper seal of the proper court of the adjoining county attached. The sheriff of the petitioning county may serve all such process, referred to in this Section; and shall collect and account to the county board of the adjoining county for the proper fees for serving the same. The county clerk and the clerk of the circuit court of the petitioning county shall each receive the same compensation he was receiving by law at the date of the aforesaid proclamation, which compensation shall be paid by the county board of the adjoining county out of taxes collected from property in the territory that had constituted the petitioning county before the aforesaid proclamation.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

55 ILCS 5/1-4008

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4008) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4008)
    Sec. 1-4008. Sheriff of petitioning county. The sheriff of the petitioning county shall continue after the date of the Governor's proclamation, to perform the duties of sheriff in the territory that had constituted the petitioning county before the proclamation, until his or her term of office shall expire, at which time he or she shall deliver to the sheriff of the adjoining county, without demand therefor, all books, papers, and furniture pertaining to or connected with his or her office, and also all moneys and process held by him or her as sheriff, and all property attached or levied on by him or her as sheriff. He or she shall have a right to collect all taxes collectible by him or her during his or her term of office from all property in the territory that had constituted the petitioning county before the proclamation. He or she shall receive the same compensation he or she would have received as sheriff and ex-officio collector of the petitioning county, as if the same had not been united and annexed to the adjoining county; but after the date of the Governor's proclamation all his or her acts shall be performed in the name of the sheriff of the adjoining county. After the date of the Governor's proclamation, the sheriff of the petitioning county shall become the deputy of the sheriff of the adjoining county, and the sheriff of the petitioning county may perform all the duties of sheriff, to be performed during his or her term of office in the territory that had constituted the petitioning county before the proclamation without control of the sheriff of the adjoining county, and shall be liable upon his or her bond as sheriff, and upon his or her bond as collector, for any breach of the conditions thereof, in the same manner and to the same extent as if the petitioning county had continued to exist as a county. The compensation payable to the sheriff of the petitioning county, shall be paid by order of the county board of the adjoining county, out of taxes upon property in the territory that has constituted the petitioning county before the Governor's proclamation, and he or she shall account to the county board of the adjoining county for all fees collected by him or her: Provided, that the sheriff of the petitioning county shall forfeit all right to any compensation, if he or she is not ready and willing to perform the duties he or she may perform under this Code.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

55 ILCS 5/1-4009

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4009) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4009)
    Sec. 1-4009. Coroner. The coroner of the petitioning county shall perform all the duties required of him by law within the territory that had constituted the petitioning county before the proclamation aforesaid, until his term of office shall expire, and shall receive the compensation to which he may be entitled by law, and whatever fees or compensation may be payable by law out of the county treasury, shall be certified and paid by the county board of the adjoining county to such coroner, out of taxes collected from property in the territory that had constituted the petitioning county.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

55 ILCS 5/1-4010

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4010) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4010)
    Sec. 1-4010. County treasurer. The county treasurer of the petitioning county shall perform all the duties required of him by law, in the territory that had constituted the petitioning county, during his term of office. He shall assess the taxable property in the territory aforesaid, and shall return his assessment books to the county clerk of the adjoining county, and make all his reports to the county board of the adjoining county; but he shall be liable upon his bond for any breach or breaches of the conditions thereof, in the same manner and to the same extent as if the petitioning county had not been united and annexed to the adjoining county. The compensation to which he may be entitled by law, shall be paid by the county board of the adjoining county out of taxes collected from property in the territory that had constituted the petitioning county, before the proclamation aforesaid. So much of this Section as refers to assessing by the treasurer, shall only be applicable where the petitioning county was not under township organization at the date of the election aforesaid.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

55 ILCS 5/1-4011

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4011) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4011)
    Sec. 1-4011. State's attorney. The State's Attorney for the petitioning county shall, during his term of office, receive the same compensation he was receiving at the date of the proclamation of the Governor, as aforesaid. He shall commence and prosecute all actions, suits, indictments and informations of all kinds, arising in the territory which had constituted the petitioning county before said proclamation, in which the people of the State may be interested, and he shall be assistant county attorney for the adjoining county during his said term of office.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

55 ILCS 5/1-4012

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4012) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4012)
    Sec. 1-4012. Superintendent of schools. The county superintendent of schools of the petitioning county shall continue to act as such in the territory that constituted the petitioning county before said proclamation, until his term of office shall expire; at which time he shall deliver to the county superintendent of schools of the adjoining county, without any demand therefor, all moneys, books, papers and personal property, belonging to the office of the county superintendent of the petitioning county, whenever the term of office of the county superintendent of the petitioning county shall have expired, by death, resignation, or lapse of time, all notes and mortgages, and other contracts, payable to, or made in the name of the county superintendent of the petitioning county may be collected, and in any manner enforced, by suit, or otherwise, by and in the name of the county superintendent of the adjoining county. The county superintendent of the petitioning county shall be subject to the direction and control of the county board of the adjoining county, in the same manner and to the same extent that he would have been subject to the county board of the petitioning county, if the same had continued to have a separate existence as a county.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

55 ILCS 5/1-4013

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4013) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4013)
    Sec. 1-4013. County board. The members of the county board of the petitioning county and the county board of the adjoining county, after the date of the Governor's proclamation aforesaid, shall sit together at all regular and called meetings, as the county board of the adjoining county as it will be constituted after the proclamation aforesaid. Whenever the term of office of any one of the members of the county board of the petitioning county shall expire, by his death or resignation, or refusal to act, or by lapse of time, the expiration of said term, and the manner thereof shall be entered upon the records of the said county board of the adjoining county, and no successor to him shall be elected, and whenever the term of office of any member of the county board of the adjoining county, elected before the date of the Governor's proclamation aforesaid, shall expire in any of the modes hereinbefore mentioned after the date of said proclamation, a successor to him shall be elected in the adjoining county at large, as it shall be constituted after the date of the proclamation aforesaid, including the territory that had constituted the petitioning county before said proclamation.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

55 ILCS 5/1-4014

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4014) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4014)
    Sec. 1-4014. Death of officer of petitioning county. If any county officer of the petitioning county shall die before his term of office shall have expired, after the proclamation aforesaid, no successor to him shall be elected to fill his unexpired term.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

55 ILCS 5/1-4015

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4015) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4015)
    Sec. 1-4015. Town officers. If both the petitioning and adjoining counties are under township organization, the town officers shall not be in any manner affected by the union and annexation aforesaid. If the petitioning county is under township organization, and the adjoining county is not under township organization, the town officers shall continue to act as such until their respective terms of office shall expire; and the members of the county board of the petitioning county shall all sit with, and as a part of the county board of the adjoining county, as hereinbefore provided; and after the term of office of said town officers and said county board of the petitioning county shall expire the said township organization shall cease to exist. If the adjoining county is under township organization, and the petitioning county is not under township organization, immediately after the proclamation of the Governor aforesaid, the territory that had constituted the petitioning county shall be divided into towns, in the manner provided in the Township Code.
(Source: P.A. 88-670, eff. 12-2-94.)

55 ILCS 5/1-4016

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4016) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4016)
    Sec. 1-4016. Legislative and judicial apportionment to remain. The territory which constituted the petitioning county shall continue and remain until the next apportionment of the state for congressional, legislative or judicial purposes part of the same congressional district, of the same senatorial district, of the same judicial grand division, of the same judicial appellate district and of the same judicial circuit that it constituted part of at the date of the proclamation aforesaid; and at any election, where the territory that had constituted the respective counties before said proclamation is in different districts, the county clerk of the adjoining county shall keep separate the votes polled in the territory constituting the respective counties before said proclamation, until the next apportionment aforesaid, and shall report and return the same separately to the Secretary of State.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

55 ILCS 5/1-4017

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4017) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4017)
    Sec. 1-4017. Transfer of causes. All cases of every kind that are on the docket of the circuit court of the petitioning county at the date of the Governor's proclamation aforesaid, shall be transferred by the clerk of the circuit court of the adjoining county to the docket of the circuit court of that county; and all criminal cases so transferred shall be tried by a jury drawn in the manner provided by law from the qualified jurors residing within the limits of the territory that had constituted the petitioning county before the proclamation aforesaid, unless the defendant in any such criminal case shall consent in open court to be tried by a jury of the adjoining county.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

55 ILCS 5/1-4018

    (55 ILCS 5/1-4018) (from Ch. 34, par. 1-4018)
    Sec. 1-4018. Debts; taxes; issuing bonds. The adjoining county shall not become liable for the debts of the petitioning county. The county board of the adjoining county shall have all the powers which the county board of the petitioning county had at the date of the said proclamation of the Governor, to levy taxes upon all the property in the territory which had before the aforesaid proclamation constituted the petitioning county, to pay the debts of the petitioning county. The county board of the adjoining county shall have full power to compromise the debts of the petitioning county; and shall have full power to issue bonds in settlement or compromise of the debts of the petitioning county, which debts may be funded by the adjoining county in bonds issued by that county, setting forth upon their face that the principal and interest of said bonds shall be paid from taxes levied upon the property within the territory which had constituted the petitioning county. And the county board of the adjoining county may submit to the legal voters of the adjoining county, as it will be constituted after the said proclamation of the Governor, a proposition to consolidate the debts of the petitioning and adjoining counties; and if a majority of legal voters of said adjoining county, and a majority of the legal voters residing in the territory that had constituted the petitioning county, at any general election shall be in favor of the consolidation of said debts, the same shall be consolidated, and bonds may be issued therefor in the name of the adjoining county. All suits that might have been brought against the petitioning county, may be brought after the proclamation aforesaid against the adjoining county; and any judgment that may be rendered in said suits may be paid by taxation upon the property in the territory that had constituted the petitioning county. In any funding of the consolidated debts of the said petitioning or adjoining county, the bonds issued shall not bear a greater rate of interest than five per cent.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)