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Illinois Compiled Statutes

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/Art. 15

 
    (105 ILCS 5/Art. 15 heading)
ARTICLE 15. COMMON SCHOOL LANDS

105 ILCS 5/15-1

    (105 ILCS 5/15-1) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-1)
    Sec. 15-1. Lands constituting.
    Section 16 in every township, the sections and parts of sections granted in lieu of all or part of such section, shall be held as common school lands.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)

105 ILCS 5/15-2

    (105 ILCS 5/15-2) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-2)
    Sec. 15-2. Place of transacting business. All the business of a township relating to common school lands shall be transacted in the county which contains all or the greater portion of such lands.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)

105 ILCS 5/15-3

    (105 ILCS 5/15-3) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-3)
    Sec. 15-3. Leases-Pooling agreements-Railroad rights of way and depot grounds.
    The township land commissioners or trustees of schools in townships in which Section 16, or lands granted in lieu thereof, remain unsold, or which have title to any other school lands or real estate, may lease them for an annual cash rent or for an annual grain rent or a combination of cash and grain rent, or may lease them for drilling for oil and gas upon a royalty basis. The lease shall be made by the president and the clerk, under the direction of the township land commissioners or trustees of schools, with the lessee or lessees, shall be in writing, shall be filed with the records of the board, and a copy shall be transmitted to the county superintendent. In case of default in the payment of rent the township land commissioners or trustees shall at once proceed to collect it as may be provided by law for the collection of rents by landlords. No lease under the provisions of this Act shall be for a longer period than 5 years except when lands are leased for the purpose of having permanent improvements made thereon, as in cities and villages, and except when leased for oil and gas development and drilling. The township land commissioners or trustees of schools which have title to any school real estate or lands, whether the lands or real estate are being used by any school district for school purposes or not, may lease such real estate or lands, or any part thereof, for drilling for oil and gas upon such terms as may be agreed upon. Where such a lease is made for drilling for oil and gas, the township land commissioners or trustees of schools may also enter into pooling agreements with the owners of adjacent lands so that the township land commissioners or trustees of schools will participate in royalties in proportion to their acreage ownership as to all oil produced from any of the lands in the pooling agreements. This section does not apply to cities having a population of over one hundred thousand inhabitants.
    The township land commissioners or trustees of schools of any township may sell and convey to any railroad company a right of way across any school lands of the township, and necessary depot grounds.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)

105 ILCS 5/15-4

    (105 ILCS 5/15-4) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-4)
    Sec. 15-4. (Repealed).
(Source: Laws 1965, p. 3739. Repealed by P.A. 89-159, eff. 1-1-96.)

105 ILCS 5/15-5

    (105 ILCS 5/15-5) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-5)
    Sec. 15-5. Penalty for trespass.
    Every trespasser upon common school lands is guilty of a petty offense and shall be fined 3 times the amount of the injury occasioned by the trespass.
(Source: P.A. 77-2267.)

105 ILCS 5/15-6

    (105 ILCS 5/15-6) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-6)
    Sec. 15-6. Disposition of penalties and fines. All penalties and fines collected under the provisions of Sections 15-4 and 15-5 shall be paid to the school treasurer and added to the principal of the township fund.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)

105 ILCS 5/15-7

    (105 ILCS 5/15-7) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-7)
    Sec. 15-7. Sale of common school lands - Petition - Referendum. When the inhabitants of any township desire the sale of the common school lands thereof they shall present to the county superintendent of the county in which the school lands of the township, or the greater part thereof lie, a petition for their sale. The petition shall be signed by at least two-thirds of the voters of the township in the presence of at least 2 adult citizens of the township, after the meaning and purpose thereof have been explained, and an affidavit must be affixed thereto by the citizens witnessing the signing, which affidavit shall state the number of inhabitants of the township 18 years of age and over, and the petition so verified shall be delivered to the regional superintendent for his action thereon. In townships having a population of more than 10,000 inhabitants, the petition shall be signed by at least 1/10 of the voters thereof and be delivered to the regional superintendent. Upon the filing of any such petition with the regional superintendent he shall treat the petition in the manner provided by the general election law, and shall certify the proposition to the proper election authorities for submission to the voters of the township at a regular scheduled election the proposition to sell common school lands of the township. In addition to the requirements of the general election law the notice may be in the following form:
REFERENDUM FOR SALE OF COMMON
SCHOOL LANDS
    Notice is hereby given that on.... the.... day of...., 1...., a referendum will be held at.... for the purpose of voting "for" or "against" the proposition to sell common school lands of the township, to-wit: (here insert description of the lands). The polls will be opened at.... and closed at.... o'clock,.... M.
Regional Superintendent
    If two-thirds of the votes upon the proposition are in favor of the sale, the county superintendent shall act thereon. No section shall be sold in any township containing fewer than 200 inhabitants. Common school lands in fractional townships may be sold when the number of acres are in, or above, a ratio of 200 to 640 but not before, provided, that where the lands sought to be sold are swamp or overflow lands, and are located in a township containing less than 200 inhabitants, a petition signed by at least two-thirds of the voters in the township shall be sufficient to cause the regional superintendent to act thereon. All other proceedings shall be the same as provided in this section. This section does not prohibit the transfer of school land belonging to a city in trust for the use of schools under the provisions of "An Act in relation to the transfer of real estate owned by municipalities", approved July 2, 1925, as amended, when the board of education of a city having a population exceeding 100,000 inhabitants desires to convey such land to the city comprising the school district of such board of education; and in case of such transfer the limitations as to the size of the lot or tract of land that may be conveyed contained in Sections 15-9 through 15-12, shall not apply.
(Source: P.A. 81-1489.)

105 ILCS 5/15-8

    (105 ILCS 5/15-8) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-8)
    Sec. 15-8. Fractional townships united to adjacent township.
    Any fractional township not having the requisite number of inhabitants to petition for the sale of school lands, which has not heretofore been united with any township for school purposes, and which does not contain a sufficient number of inhabitants to maintain a free school, is hereby attached for school purposes to the adjacent congressional township having the longest territorial line bordering on such fractional township, and all the provisions of this Article shall apply to such united townships the same as though they were 1 township.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)

105 ILCS 5/15-9

    (105 ILCS 5/15-9) (from Ch. 122, par. 15-9)
    Sec. 15-9. Notice to trustees-Subdivision of land-Plat, roads, streets and alleys.
    When the petition and affidavits are delivered to the county superintendent, and the requisite number of votes are in favor of a sale, he shall notify the trustees of the township or township land commissioners, who shall immediately divide the land into tracts or lots of such form and quantity as will produce the largest sum of money, and cause a plat thereof to be made with each lot numbered and defined so that its boundaries may be forever ascertained.
    In subdividing common school lands, no lot shall contain more than 80 acres and the division may be into town or village lots, with roads, streets or alleys between and through them. All such divisions are hereby declared legal and all such roads, streets and alleys are declared to be public highways.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)