Local Government Law

The newsletter of the ISBA’s Section on Local Government Law

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2004 Articles

Attorney General’s office issues compatibility of office opinion-county board chairman and county ESDA coordinator By Lynn Patton December 2004 Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office recently issued an informal opinion addressing the compatibility of various public offices.
Attorney General’s office issues Open Meetings Act opinion By Lynn Patton September 2004 Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office recently issued an opinion addressing the validity of action taken at a rescheduled regular meeting of the Johnson County Board.
Attorney General’s office issues opinion addressing the authority of a county to require the dedication of property to prescribed uses By Lynn Patton October 2004 Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office recently issued an opinion addressing a county's authority to adopt an ordinance requiring the dedication to a fire protection district of property for fire station sites.
Attorney General’s office issues opinions on the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act By Lynn Patton July 2004 Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office recently issued two opinions regarding the implementation of the new State Officials and Employees Ethics Act (added by Public Act 93-615, effective November 19, 2003, as amended by Public Act 93-617, effective December 9, 2003, to be codified at 5 ILCS 430/1-1 et seq.).
Contracts-Did one exist? By John H. Brechin April 2004 Plaintiff D.S.A. purchases accounts receivable from other companies at a discount. In November 2000, a representative from D.P. Staffing approached D.S.A. noting that D.P. Staffing had provided services to Provident Hospital, and as a result Provident owed D.P. Staffing more than $300,000.
A county has an implied authority to require subdivision applicants to reimburse the county for fees paid to consultants By John H. Brechin April 2004 In 1995 Plaintiff submitted a proposed subdivision to Kane County for review.
Curfew law revisited to remove chill on minors’ First Amendment rights By Joy A. Roberts November 2004 On January 22, 2004, the United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, rendered a ruling in Hodgkins v. Peterson, 355 F.3d 1048 (7th Cir. 2004), that prompted a constitutional reassessment of municipal curfew ordinances.
Denial or disclosure: Are lists of names and addresses exempt from disclosure under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act? By Michael Dallas August 2004 Quite often, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seek a list of names and addresses. For example, a sports reporter from the Chicago Sun-Times may want the names and addresses of all State-licensed ticket brokers within the Chicago area to investigate "icing" practices among team box offices.
Freedom of information-The Southern Illinoisan v. The Department of Public Health, Fifth District Appellate Court, June 9, 2004 By John H. Brechin June 2004 Plaintiff, a daily newspaper, sought certain Illinois Cancer Registry information from the Defendant. The circuit court ordered Defendants to release the information and awarded attorney fees to the Plaintiff.
Important new public acts By Larry Frang January 2004 House Bill 223 amends the Criminal Code to exempt electronic recordings made of a custodial interrogation of an individual by a law enforcement officer at a police station or other place of detention from an eavesdropping violation. Statements made by suspects during custodial interrogation are presumed inadmissible unless they are electronically or digitally recorded.
It’s budget time again! By Robin L. Perry November 2004 In a nice, sunny, warm summer day, the golf course is filled with county board members, county administrators and elected officials, as well as village presidents and village department heads.
Klaeren-One Last Time? By John H. Brechin December 2004 On October 12, 2004 the Second District Appellate Court issued its opinion affirming the trial court's grant of summary judgment to the Plaintiffs and its denial of Plaintiffs' Motion for Leave to File an Amended Complaint and petition for attorney fees.
Open Meetings Act- A convenient place lies somewhere between a broom closet and football stadium By John H. Brechin April 2004 Gerwin involved an action by a citizen alleging that a meeting held by the defendant was in violation of the Open Meetings Act because it held a meeting at a location that was not convenient to the public.
Open Meetings Act- Right to participate By John H. Brechin April 2004 The City of Cocoa enacted regulations limiting the right of non-resident to speak during its city council meetings.
The Public Works Contract Change Order Act: The creation of the re-bid requirement By Michael T. Jurusik June 2004 To address the problem of bidders who submit unreasonably low bids to secure public works contracts and then seek large change orders that are more reflective of the actual cost of the project, on January 22, 2004, Governor Rod Blagojevich signed House Bill 940 into law as Public Act 93-0656, which is known as the "Public Works Contract Change Order Act." 50 ILCS 525/1 et seq. ("the Act").
Recent zoning cases decided under RLUIPA By Michael T. Jurusik September 2004 The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000cc et seq.) ("RLUIPA") is designed to protect individuals, religious assemblies and institutions (churches, mosques and synagogues) from zoning and landmarking laws that substantially interfere with their exercise of religion, including the use of land and buildings for religious purposes.
A request for refund of impact fees paid is not barred by the Tort Immunity Act By John H. Brechin April 2004 Raintree filed an action against Long Grove, seeking a declaratory judgment as to the validity of the Village's ordinance requiring the payment of impact fees to obtain building permits. Its action also sought a refund of the fees paid by Raintree totaling more than $80,000.
State Officials and Employees Ethics Act-Applicability to municipalities By John H. Brechin October 2004 In late 2003, the Illinois General Assembly passed two bills representing significant ethics reform legislation. Public Act 93-615 became affective November 19, 2003.
Termination not wrongful By Thomas W. Kelty December 2004 The city clerk of Mattoon, Illinois was terminated from his position by the newly elected mayor and incoming city council.
Twenty questions about Public Act 93-0523: Recording closed session meetings By Stewart H. Diamond & Keri-Lyn J. Krafthefer January 2004 Public Act 93-0523, effective January 1, 2004, requires all Illinois units of local government, including fire protection districts and school districts to audio or video record their closed sessions.
Vested rights and tort immunity By John H. Brechin April 2004 n 1981 the Village and O'Malley entered into an annexation agreement. In 1994 the parties extended the original annexation agreement to 2001 and O'Malley submitted a development concept plan to the Village
Willful and wanton conduct By Alfred M. Swanson, Jr. July 2004 Plaintiff filed suit against the District and several paramedics, emergency medical technicians and firefighters alleging the wrongful death of his daughter.
A year later: Klaeren v. Lisle and the troubles it has wrought By Victor P. Filippini, Jr. March 2004 This article will re-examine the supreme court's analysis of the legislative zoning scheme to determine whether the court's revolutionary zoning decision inadvertently re-wrote the Illinois zoning enabling acts.