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The
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
of
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, and regulatory law, as well as case law and local law. The ''
Illinois Compiled Statutes The ''Illinois Compiled Statutes'' (ILCS) are the codified statutes of a general and permanent nature of Illinois. The compilation organizes the general Acts of Illinois into 67 chapters arranged within 9 major topic areas. The ILCS took effect i ...
'' (ILCS) form the general statutory law.


Sources

The
Constitution of Illinois The Constitution of the State of Illinois is the governing document of the state of Illinois. There have been four Illinois Constitutions; the fourth and current version was adopted in 1970. The current constitution is referred to as the "Constit ...
is the foremost source of state law. Legislation is enacted by the
Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...
, published in the ''
Laws of Illinois The Laws of the State of Illinois are the official publication of the session laws of the Illinois General Assembly. History Originally, the Illinois General Assembly met every two years, although special sessions were sometimes held, and the ...
'', and codified in the ''
Illinois Compiled Statutes The ''Illinois Compiled Statutes'' (ILCS) are the codified statutes of a general and permanent nature of Illinois. The compilation organizes the general Acts of Illinois into 67 chapters arranged within 9 major topic areas. The ILCS took effect i ...
'' (ILCS). State agencies publish regulations (sometimes called administrative law) in the ''
Illinois Register The ''Illinois Register'' (Ill. Reg.) is the official weekly publication containing proposed and adopted rules of Illinois state agencies. It is published online every Friday by the Illinois Secretary of State. Citation format References to ...
'', which are in turn codified in the ''
Illinois Administrative Code The Illinois Administrative Code (Ill. Adm. Code or IAC) is the official compilation of the administrative rules of Illinois state agencies published in the Illinois Register, and is maintained by the Illinois Secretary of State in cooperation with ...
''. Illinois's legal system is based on
common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
, which is interpreted by case law through the decisions of the Supreme Court and the Appellate Courts, which are published on the website of the Supreme Court. Counties, townships, cities, and villages may also promulgate
local ordinance A local ordinance is a law issued by a local government. such as a municipality, county, parish, prefecture, or the like. China In Hong Kong, all laws enacted by the territory's Legislative Council remain to be known as ''Ordinances'' () af ...
s. There are also several sources of persuasive authority, which are not binding authority but are useful to lawyers and judges insofar as they help to clarify the current state of the law.


Constitution

The
Constitution of Illinois The Constitution of the State of Illinois is the governing document of the state of Illinois. There have been four Illinois Constitutions; the fourth and current version was adopted in 1970. The current constitution is referred to as the "Constit ...
is the foundation of the
government of Illinois The Government of Illinois, under Illinois' Constitution, has three branches of government: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. The State's executive branch is split into several statewide elected offices, with the Governor as chief executive a ...
and vests the legislative power of the state in the
Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...
. The Illinois Constitution in turn is subordinate only to the
Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...
, which is the supreme law of the land.


Legislation

Pursuant to the state constitution, the
Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...
has enacted
legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...
. These legislative acts are published in the official ''
Laws of Illinois The Laws of the State of Illinois are the official publication of the session laws of the Illinois General Assembly. History Originally, the Illinois General Assembly met every two years, although special sessions were sometimes held, and the ...
'' and are called "
session laws Session laws are the collection of statutes enacted by a legislature during a single session of that legislature, often published following the end of the session as a bound volume. The United States Statutes at Large are an example of session l ...
". The ''
Illinois Compiled Statutes The ''Illinois Compiled Statutes'' (ILCS) are the codified statutes of a general and permanent nature of Illinois. The compilation organizes the general Acts of Illinois into 67 chapters arranged within 9 major topic areas. The ILCS took effect i ...
'' (ILCS) are the codified
statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...
s of a general and permanent nature. The Illinois Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) makes additions, deletions, and changes to ILCS. There is no official version of the ILCS. There are several unofficial versions:
Illinois State Bar Association The Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) is among largest voluntary state bar associations in the United States. Approximately 28,000 lawyers are members of the ISBA. Unlike some state bar associations, in which membership is mandatory, ISBA memb ...
's/
West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
's ''Illinois Compiled Statutes'', West's ''Smith–Hurd Illinois Compiled Statutes Annotated'', and
LexisNexis LexisNexis is a part of the RELX corporation that sells data analytics products and various databases that are accessed through online portals, including portals for computer-assisted legal research (CALR), newspaper search, and consumer informa ...
's ''Illinois Compiled Statutes Annotated''.


Administrative law

Pursuant to certain statutes, state agencies have promulgated
regulation Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...
s. The regulations are codified in the ''
Illinois Administrative Code The Illinois Administrative Code (Ill. Adm. Code or IAC) is the official compilation of the administrative rules of Illinois state agencies published in the Illinois Register, and is maintained by the Illinois Secretary of State in cooperation with ...
''. The ''
Illinois Register The ''Illinois Register'' (Ill. Reg.) is the official weekly publication containing proposed and adopted rules of Illinois state agencies. It is published online every Friday by the Illinois Secretary of State. Citation format References to ...
'' is the weekly publication containing proposed and adopted rules. There also exist administrative law decisions. Both the ''Illinois Administrative Code'' and ''Illinois Register'' are maintained by the
Illinois Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Illinois is one of the six elected executive state offices of the government of Illinois, and one of the 47 secretaries of states in the United States. The Illinois Secretary of State keeps the state records, laws, libr ...
. The ''Illinois Administrative Code'' was last printed in 1996. The General Assembly's Joint Committee on Administrative Rules also publishes online versions. The ''Flinn Report'' is a weekly newsletter published by the Joint Committee meant to inform and educate Illinois citizens about current rulemaking activity.


Case law

Illinois's legal system is based on
common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
, which is interpreted by
case law Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of a l ...
through the decisions of the
Supreme Court of Illinois The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the State of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five ap ...
and the
Illinois Appellate Court The Illinois Appellate Court is the court of first appeal for civil and criminal cases rising in the Illinois Circuit Courts. Three Illinois Appellate Court judges hear each case and the concurrence of two is necessary to render a decision. The ...
. The official
reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
for opinions of the Supreme Court and the Appellate Court are published on the website of the Illinois Supreme Court using a public domain
case citation Case citation is a system used by legal professionals to identify past court case decisions, either in series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a neutral style that identifies a decision regardless of where it is reported. Case ci ...
. There are also unofficial sources such as West's ''Illinois Decisions'' (an Illinois-specific version of the ''
North Eastern Reporter The ''North Eastern Reporter'','' North Eastern Reporter Second'' and ''North Eastern Reporter Third '' () are United States regional Reporter (law), case law reporters. It is part of the National Reporter System created by John B. West for West Pu ...
'') with opinions since 1886. Illinois Appellate Court decisions from before 1935 are not binding. Illinois Circuit Court decisions are not published, but jury verdicts and settlements are published in the monthly ''Illinois Jury Verdict Reporter'', with regular updates from the ''Chicago Daily Law Bulletin'', and the weekly ''Cook County Jury Verdict Reporter''. Decisions of the
Illinois Court of Claims The Illinois Court of Claims is a quasi-judicial entity in the State of Illinois. Powers The Illinois Court of Claims has exclusive jurisdiction to hear all claims regarding any contract with the State of Illinois; torts committed by agents of the ...
are published in the ''Court of Claims Reports''. The ''Illinois Digest'' is an indexed compilation of summaries of opinions, or digest. The opinions of the Supreme Court and Appellate Court had been published in the ''
Illinois Reports Illinois Reports is the official reporter of the Illinois Supreme Court. It is published by Thomson Reuters, under contract with the Illinois Supreme Court Reporter of Decisions. The Illinois Supreme Court retains the copyright. For purposes of cit ...
'' and '' Illinois Appellate Court Reports'', respectively, from 1831-2011; according to the
University of Chicago Library University of Chicago Library is the library system of the University of Chicago, located on the university's campus in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is the tenth largest academic library in North America, with over 11.9 million volumes as ...
, since 1819 and 1877, respectively. Illinois Circuit Court decisions were published from 1907–1909.


Local ordinances

Illinois counties, townships, cities, and villages may promulgate
local ordinance A local ordinance is a law issued by a local government. such as a municipality, county, parish, prefecture, or the like. China In Hong Kong, all laws enacted by the territory's Legislative Council remain to be known as ''Ordinances'' () af ...
s. The
Government of Chicago The government of the City of Chicago, Illinois, United States is divided into executive and legislative branches. The Mayor of Chicago is the chief executive, elected by general election for a term of four years, with no term limits. The mayor ...
operates as a special charter municipality. The ''Journal of the Proceedings of the City Council of the City of Chicago'' is the official publication of the acts of the Chicago City Council, and the ''
Municipal Code of Chicago The ''Municipal Code of Chicago'' is the codification of local ordinances of a general and permanent nature of the City of Chicago. The Code contains original and new ordinances, adopted by the Chicago City Council, organized into eighteen titles ...
'' is the codification of its
local ordinance A local ordinance is a law issued by a local government. such as a municipality, county, parish, prefecture, or the like. China In Hong Kong, all laws enacted by the territory's Legislative Council remain to be known as ''Ordinances'' () af ...
s of a general and permanent nature. ''Shepard's Illinois Citations'' includes judicial interpretations of local ordinances.


Other

In addition, there are also several sources of persuasive authority, which are not binding authority but are useful to lawyers and judges insofar as they help to clarify the current state of the law. ''Illinois Jurisprudence'' and ''Illinois Law and Practice'' are two major legal
encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
s. The Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) also publishes guides for
continuing legal education Continuing legal education (CLE), also known as mandatory or minimum continuing legal education (MCLE) or, in some jurisdictions outside the United States, as continuing professional development, consists of professional education for attorneys t ...
.


Unique features

Illinois was one of the last remaining states to recognize the
alienation of affections Alienation of affections is a common law tort, abolished in many jurisdictions. Where it still exists, an action is brought by a spouse against a third party alleged to be responsible for damaging the marriage, most often resulting in divorce. The ...
tort. However, recognition of the tort was statutorily abrogated at the beginning of 2016, pursuant to the Alienation of Affections Abolition Act.740 ILCS 5/0.01
/ref>


See also


Topics

*
Gun laws in Illinois Gun laws in Illinois regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the state of Illinois in the United States.LGBT rights in Illinois *
Illinois wiretapping law Illinois's wiretapping law (''720 Illinois Compiled Statutes 5 / Criminal Code of 2012. Article 14'', also called the ''Illinois eavesdropping law'') was a "two-party consent" law. Illinois made it a crime to use an "eavesdropping device" to overhea ...


Other

*
Politics of Illinois The US state of Illinois is a Democratic stronghold and one of the "big three" Democratic states alongside California and New York. It is considered one of the most Democratic states in the nation and following the 2018 elections, all six statewid ...
*
Law enforcement in Illinois Law enforcement in Illinois is complex with many overlapping jurisdictions related to the administrative divisions of Illinois. At the state level, there are at least eleven law enforcement agencies. At the county level, there are sheriffs, forest ...
*
Crime in Illinois This article refers to crime in the U.S. state of Illinois. State statistics In 2008, there were 446,135 crimes reported in Illinois, including 790 murders. Policing In 2008, Illinois had 877 state and local law enforcement agencies. Those a ...
*
Law of the United States The law of the United States comprises many levels of Codification (law), codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution of the United States, Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the ...


References

*


External links


Illinois Compiled Statutes
from the Illinois Legislative Reference Bureau
Illinois Administrative Code
from the
Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...
Joint Committee on Administrative Rules A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

Public Acts
of the Illinois General Assembly
Laws of Illinois
from
Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. History Western Illin ...

Illinois Register
from the
Illinois Secretary of State The Secretary of State of Illinois is one of the six elected executive state offices of the government of Illinois, and one of the 47 secretaries of states in the United States. The Illinois Secretary of State keeps the state records, laws, libr ...

Cook County Code
from
Municode Municipal Code Corporation (Municode) was a codifier of legal documents for local governments in the United States. The company, founded in 1951 by George Langford was located in Tallahassee, Florida. History George Langford founded Municode C ...

Municipal Code of Chicago
from American Legal Publishing
Chicago Decoded
(unofficial Chicago Municipal Code) from the
OpenGov Foundation The OpenGov Foundation is a United States nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. It conducts research on legislatures like the United States Congress, develops software for government officials, and claims to help governments create policies and ru ...

Local ordinance codes
from
Public.Resource.Org Public.Resource.Org (PRO) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation dedicated to publishing and sharing public domain materials in the United States and internationally. It was founded by Carl Malamud and is based in Sebastopol, California. Public.Re ...

Flinn Reports
from the Illinois General Assembly Joint Committee on Administrative Rules * Case law: {{DEFAULTSORT:Illinois Law State law in the United States Government of Illinois