105 ILCS 5/ School Code.

Information maintained by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Updating the database of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) is an ongoing process. Recent laws may not yet be included in the ILCS database, but they are found on this site as Public Acts soon after they become law. For information concerning the relationship between statutes and Public Acts, refer to the Guide.

Because the statute database is maintained primarily for legislative drafting purposes, statutory changes are sometimes included in the statute database before they take effect. If the source note at the end of a Section of the statutes includes a Public Act that has not yet taken effect, the version of the law that is currently in effect may have already been removed from the database and you should refer to that Public Act to see the changes made to the current law.

SCHOOLS
(105 ILCS 5/) School Code.

105 ILCS 5/15-10
    (105 ILCS 5/15-10) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-10)
    Sec. 15-10. Value fixed-Certification of plat-Plat and certificate to govern.
    After the school lands have been subdivided and platted, the trustees of schools or township land commissioners shall fix the value of each lot and certify to the correctness of the plat, stating in the certificate the value of each lot and describing it so that it may be identified. The plat and certificate shall be delivered to the county superintendent and shall govern him in advertising and selling such lands.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)

105 ILCS 5/15-11
    (105 ILCS 5/15-11) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-11)
    Sec. 15-11. Notice of sale.
    Upon receipt of the plat and certificate of valuation the county superintendent shall advertise the sale of such land in lots, as divided and platted, by publishing notice thereof once each week for 3 successive weeks prior to the date of the sale in a newspaper published in the county describing the land and stating the time, place and terms of the sale, and shall be in the following form:NOTICE OF SALE    Notice is hereby given that on the .... day of .... 1 ...., between the hours of 10:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M., the undersigned superintendent of schools of .... county, will sell at public sale to the highest bidder, at the .... door of the court house in ....(or on the premises), the following described real estate, the same being school lands of township No. .... range No. ...., as divided, and platted by the (township land commissioners) (trustees of schools of said township), to-wit: (here insert full and complete description of said premises). Said lands will be sold for cash in hand, with the privilege to any purchaser of borrowing from the undersigned the whole or part of the payment of his bid, for not less than 1 nor more than 5 years, upon his paying interest and giving security as required in case of a loan obtained from the township fund.
    Dated this .... day of .... 1 .....A .... B ....County Superintendent(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)

105 ILCS 5/15-12
    (105 ILCS 5/15-12) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-12)
    Sec. 15-12. Conduct of sale.
    Upon the day of sale, the county superintendent shall make sales by beginning at the lowest numbered lot and proceeding regularly to the highest numbered until they are all sold or offered. No lot shall be sold for less than its valuation. The sale may continue from day to day. Each lot shall be sold separately and offered long enough to enable any person present to bid who so desires.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)

105 ILCS 5/15-13
    (105 ILCS 5/15-13) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-13)
    Sec. 15-13. Payment of purchase price.
    At the close of each day's sale the purchasers shall pay or secure the payment of the purchase money. In case of a failure to do so by 10 a. m. the succeeding day, the lot purchased shall again be offered at public sale, on the terms as before. Regardless of whether or not the sale is made the former purchaser shall be required to pay the difference between his bid and the valuation of the lot, and if he fails to make such payment, the county superintendent may forthwith institute a civil action in his name, as superintendent, for the use of the inhabitants of the township where the land lies, for the required sum; and upon making proof, shall be entitled to judgment, with costs of suit which, when collected, shall be added to the principal of the township fund.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)

105 ILCS 5/15-14
    (105 ILCS 5/15-14) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-14)
    Sec. 15-14. Unsold lands subject to sale thereafter. All lands not sold at public sale, as herein provided for, shall be subject to sale at any time hereafter, at the valuation as provided in Section 15-10, and the county superintendents shall, if possible, sell all such lands at private sale, upon the terms at which they were offered at public sale.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)

105 ILCS 5/15-15
    (105 ILCS 5/15-15) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-15)
    Sec. 15-15. Valuation of unsold land. Where common school lands have been valued under Section 15-10 and have remained unsold for 2 years after having been offered for sale in conformity to this Article, the trustees of schools or township land commissioners where the lands are situated may, without any petition having been filed, vacate the valuation thereof by an order entered in Book A of the county superintendent, and make a new valuation. They shall make a new valuation in the same manner as the former, and shall deliver to the county superintendent a plat of the land at such new valuation with the order of vacation, whereupon the county superintendent shall offer the land for sale as if no former valuation has been made.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)

105 ILCS 5/15-16
    (105 ILCS 5/15-16) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-16)
    Sec. 15-16. Certificate of purchase.
    Upon the completion of every sale the county superintendent shall deliver to the purchaser a certificate of purchase including the name and residence of the purchaser and the price and description of the land.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)

105 ILCS 5/15-17
    (105 ILCS 5/15-17) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-17)
    Sec. 15-17. Patents.
    Every purchaser of common school lands shall be entitled to a patent from the State, conveying and assuring the title. Patents shall be issued by the Secretary of State from returns made to him by the county superintendent, township land commissioners or county board of school trustees as the case may be. They shall contain a description of the land granted and shall be in the name of and signed by the Governor, with the great seal of State affixed thereto by the Secretary of State, and shall operate to vest in the purchaser a title in fee simple. When patents are so executed the Secretary of State shall note on the list of sales the date of each patent in such manner as to perpetuate the evidence of its date and delivery and thereupon transmit it to the county superintendent of the proper county, to be by him delivered to the patentee, his heirs, or assigns, upon the return of the original certificate of purchase, which certificate, when returned, shall be filed and preserved by the county superintendent. All such patents for school lands, or certified copies thereof from any record legally made, shall, after 10 years from the date of the patent, and such sale having been acquiesced in for 10 years by the inhabitants of the township in which the land so conveyed is situated, be conclusive evidence as to the legality of the sale, and that the title to such land was, at the date of patent, legally vested in the patentee.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)

105 ILCS 5/15-18
    (105 ILCS 5/15-18) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-18)
    Sec. 15-18. Copies of lost certificates or patents.
    Purchasers of common school lands, and their heirs or assigns, may obtain certified copies or certificates of purchase and patents upon filing an affidavit with the county superintendent in respect to certificates and with the Secretary of State in respect to patents, proving the loss or destruction of the originals, which copies shall have the effect of originals.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)

105 ILCS 5/15-19
    (105 ILCS 5/15-19) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-19)
    Sec. 15-19. Dedication of streets and highways.
    The trustees of schools or township land commissioners may dedicate to public use for street and highway purposes as much of the unimproved common school lands as may be necessary to open or extend any street or highway which may be ordered by the municipal authorities to be opened or extended, if they are of the opinion that the benefit to accrue from the opening or extending of such street or highway will compensate for the strip so dedicated. It is unlawful for any street or other railroad company to lay tracks on any strip of the common school lands so dedicated, or use them or any part thereof for railroad or street railroad purposes, except upon the purchase or lease thereof from the proper authorities or upon payment to the school fund of the township of the value of such use or land the same as if no street or highway had been laid out thereon, to be determined by condemnation proceedings. This section does not affect existing leases or contracts for the lease or purchase of common school lands.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)

105 ILCS 5/15-20
    (105 ILCS 5/15-20) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-20)
    Sec. 15-20. Books to be kept.
    The county superintendent shall keep 3 books, to be known and designated by the letters A, B, and C. In book A he shall record at length all petitions presented to him for the sale of common school lands, the plats and certificates of valuation made by or under the direction of the trustees of schools, or the township land commissioners, and the affidavits in relation to the same. In book B he shall keep an account of all sales of common school lands, including the date of sale, name of purchaser, description of land sold and the selling price. In book C he shall keep a regular account of all moneys received or paid out; from whom received, on what account, showing whether it is principal or interest, the rate of interest, and a description of the real estate taken as security; if paid out, to whom, when, and on what account, the amount of the sales and the account of each township fund to be kept separate.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)