Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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.

735 ILCS 5/2-203

(735 ILCS 5/2-203) (from Ch. 110, par. 2-203)

Sec. 2-203. Service on individuals.

(a) Except as otherwise expressly provided, service of summons upon
an individual defendant shall be made (1) by leaving a copy of the summons with
the defendant personally, (2) by leaving a copy at the defendant's
usual place of
abode, with some person of the family or a person residing there, of the
age of 13 years or
upwards, and informing that person of the contents of the summons, provided the
officer or other person making service shall also send a copy of the
summons in a sealed envelope with postage fully prepaid, addressed to
the defendant at his or her usual place of abode, or (3) as provided in
Section 1-2-9.2 of the Illinois Municipal Code with respect to violation of an ordinance governing parking or
standing of vehicles in cities with a population over 500,000.
The certificate of the
officer or affidavit of the person that he or she has sent the copy in
pursuance of this Section is evidence that he or she has done so. No employee of a facility licensed under the Nursing Home Care Act, the Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation Act of 2013, the ID/DD Community Care Act, or the MC/DD Act shall obstruct an officer or other person making service in compliance with this Section. An employee of a gated residential community shall grant entry into the community, including its common areas and common elements, to a process server authorized under Section 2-202 of this Code who is attempting to serve process on a defendant or witness who resides within or is known to be within the community. As used in this Section, "gated residential community" includes a condominium association, housing cooperative, or private community.

(b) The officer, in his or her certificate or in a record filed and
maintained in the Sheriff's office, or other person making service, in
his or her affidavit or in a record filed and maintained in his or her
employer's
office, shall (1) identify as to sex, race, and approximate age the
defendant or other person with whom the summons was left and (2) state
the place where (whenever possible in terms of an exact street address)
and the date and time of the day when the summons was left with the
defendant or other person.

(c) Any person who knowingly sets forth in the certificate or
affidavit any false statement, shall be liable in civil contempt. When
the court holds a person in civil contempt under this Section, it shall
award such damages as it determines to be just and, when the
contempt is
prosecuted by a private attorney, may award reasonable attorney's fees.

(Source: P.A. 98-104, eff. 7-22-13; 98-966, eff. 1-1-15; 99-180, eff. 7-29-15.)