HB4351 EnrolledLRB103 36160 LNS 66252 b

1    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by
5changing Section 2-202 as follows:
 
6    (735 ILCS 5/2-202)  (from Ch. 110, par. 2-202)
7    Sec. 2-202. Persons authorized to serve process; place of
8service; failure to make return.
9    (a) Process shall be served by a sheriff, or if the sheriff
10is disqualified, by a coroner of some county of the State. In
11matters where the county or State is an interested party,
12process may be served by a special investigator appointed by
13the State's Attorney of the county, as defined in Section
143-9005 of the Counties Code. A sheriff of a county with a
15population of less than 2,000,000 may employ civilian
16personnel to serve process. Process In counties with a
17population of less than 2,000,000, process may be served,
18without special appointment, by a person who is licensed or
19registered as a private detective under the Private Detective,
20Private Alarm, Private Security, Fingerprint Vendor, and
21Locksmith Act of 2004 or by a registered employee of a private
22detective agency certified under that Act as defined in
23Section (a-5). A private detective or licensed employee must

 

 

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1supply the sheriff of any county in which he serves process
2with a copy of his license or certificate; however, the
3failure of a person to supply the copy shall not in any way
4impair the validity of process served by the person. The court
5may, in its discretion upon motion, order service to be made by
6a private person over 18 years of age and not a party to the
7action. It is not necessary that service be made by a sheriff
8or coroner of the county in which service is made. If served or
9sought to be served by a sheriff or coroner, he or she shall
10endorse his or her return thereon, and if by a private person
11the return shall be by affidavit. In a county of 3,000,000 or
12more, any person who is licensed or registered as a private
13detective under the Private Detective, Private Alarm, Private
14Security, Fingerprint Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004 or by
15a registered employee of a private detective agency certified
16under that Act and hired to serve summons shall remit $5 of
17each service fee to the county sheriff.
18    (a-5) Upon motion and in its discretion, the court may
19appoint as a special process server a private detective agency
20certified under the Private Detective, Private Alarm, Private
21Security, Fingerprint Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004. Under
22the appointment, any employee of the private detective agency
23who is registered under that Act may serve the process. The
24motion and the order of appointment must contain the number of
25the certificate issued to the private detective agency by the
26Department of Professional Regulation under the Private

 

 

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1Detective, Private Alarm, Private Security, Fingerprint
2Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004. A private detective or
3private detective agency shall send, one time only, a copy of
4his, her, or its individual private detective license or
5private detective agency certificate to the county sheriff in
6each county in which the detective or detective agency or his,
7her, or its employees serve process, regardless of the size of
8the population of the county. As long as the license or
9certificate is valid and meets the requirements of the
10Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, a new
11copy of the current license or certificate need not be sent to
12the sheriff. A private detective agency shall maintain a list
13of its registered employees. Registered employees shall
14consist of:
15        (1) an employee who works for the agency holding a
16    valid Permanent Employee Registration Card;
17        (2) a person who has applied for a Permanent Employee
18    Registration Card, has had his or her fingerprints
19    processed and cleared by the Illinois State Police and the
20    FBI, and as to whom the Department of Financial and
21    Professional Regulation website shows that the person's
22    application for a Permanent Employee Registration Card is
23    pending;
24        (3) a person employed by a private detective agency
25    who is exempt from a Permanent Employee Registration Card
26    requirement because the person is a current peace officer;

 

 

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1    and
2        (4) a private detective who works for a private
3    detective agency as an employee.
4A detective agency shall maintain this list and forward it to
5any sheriff's department that requests this list within 5
6business days after the receipt of the request.
7    (b) Summons may be served upon the defendants wherever
8they may be found in the State, by any person authorized to
9serve process. An officer may serve summons in his or her
10official capacity outside his or her county, but fees for
11mileage outside the county of the officer cannot be taxed as
12costs. The person serving the process in a foreign county may
13make return by mail.
14    (c) If any sheriff, coroner, or other person to whom any
15process is delivered, neglects or refuses to make return of
16the same, the plaintiff may petition the court to enter a rule
17requiring the sheriff, coroner, or other person, to make
18return of the process on a day to be fixed by the court, or to
19show cause on that day why that person should not be attached
20for contempt of the court. The plaintiff shall then cause a
21written notice of the rule to be served on the sheriff,
22coroner, or other person. If good and sufficient cause be not
23shown to excuse the officer or other person, the court shall
24adjudge him or her guilty of a contempt, and shall impose
25punishment as in other cases of contempt.
26    (d) Except as provided in Sections 1-19, 3-17, 4-14, and

 

 

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15-252 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, if process is served
2by a sheriff, coroner, or special investigator appointed by
3the State's Attorney, the court may tax the fee of the sheriff,
4coroner, or State's Attorney's special investigator as costs
5in the proceeding. If process is served by a private person or
6entity, the court may establish a fee therefor and tax such fee
7as costs in the proceedings.
8    (e) In addition to the powers stated in Section 8.1a of the
9Housing Authorities Act, in counties with a population of
103,000,000 or more inhabitants, members of a housing authority
11police force may serve process for eviction actions commenced
12by that housing authority and may execute eviction orders for
13that housing authority.
14    (f) In counties with a population of 3,000,000 or more,
15process may be served, with special appointment by the court,
16by a private process server or a law enforcement agency other
17than the county sheriff in proceedings instituted under
18Article IX of this Code as a result of a lessor or lessor's
19assignee declaring a lease void pursuant to Section 11 of the
20Controlled Substance and Cannabis Nuisance Act.
21(Source: P.A. 102-538, eff. 8-20-21; 103-379, eff. 7-28-23.)