Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 097-0427
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Public Act 097-0427


 

Public Act 0427 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
Public Act 097-0427
 
SB2069 EnrolledLRB097 08453 RLC 48580 b

    AN ACT concerning process servers.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by
changing Section 2-202 as follows:
 
    (735 ILCS 5/2-202)  (from Ch. 110, par. 2-202)
    Sec. 2-202. Persons authorized to serve process; Place of
service; Failure to make return.
    (a) Process shall be served by a sheriff, or if the sheriff
is disqualified, by a coroner of some county of the State. A
sheriff of a county with a population of less than 2,000,000
may employ civilian personnel to serve process. In counties
with a population of less than 2,000,000, process may be
served, without special appointment, by a person who is
licensed or registered as a private detective under the Private
Detective, Private Alarm, Private Security, Fingerprint
Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004 or by a registered employee
of a private detective agency certified under that Act as
defined in Section (a-5). A private detective or licensed
employee must supply the sheriff of any county in which he
serves process with a copy of his license or certificate;
however, the failure of a person to supply the copy shall not
in any way impair the validity of process served by the person.
The court may, in its discretion upon motion, order service to
be made by a private person over 18 years of age and not a party
to the action. It is not necessary that service be made by a
sheriff or coroner of the county in which service is made. If
served or sought to be served by a sheriff or coroner, he or
she shall endorse his or her return thereon, and if by a
private person the return shall be by affidavit.
    (a-5) Upon motion and in its discretion, the court may
appoint as a special process server a private detective agency
certified under the Private Detective, Private Alarm, Private
Security, Fingerprint Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004. Under
the appointment, any employee of the private detective agency
who is registered under that Act may serve the process. The
motion and the order of appointment must contain the number of
the certificate issued to the private detective agency by the
Department of Professional Regulation under the Private
Detective, Private Alarm, Private Security, Fingerprint
Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004. A private detective or
private detective agency shall send, one time only, a copy of
his, her, or its individual private detective license or
private detective agency certificate to the county sheriff in
each county in which the detective or detective agency or his,
her, or its employees serve process, regardless of size of the
population of the county. As long as the license or certificate
is valid and meets the requirements of the Department of
Financial and Professional Regulation, a new copy of the
current license or certificate need not be sent to the sheriff.
A private detective agency shall maintain a list of its
registered employees. Registered employees shall consist of:
        (1) an employee who works for the agency holding a
    valid Permanent Employee Registration Card;
        (2) a person who has applied for a Permanent Employee
    Registration Card, has had his or her fingerprints
    processed and cleared by the Department of State Police and
    the FBI, and as to whom the Department of Financial and
    Professional Regulation website shows that the person's
    application for a Permanent Employee Registration Card is
    pending;
        (3) a person employed by a private detective agency who
    is exempt from a Permanent Employee Registration Card
    requirement because the person is a current peace officer;
    and
        (4) a private detective who works for a private
    detective agency as an employee.
A detective agency shall maintain this list and forward it to
any sheriff's department that requests this list within 5
business days after the receipt of the request.
    (b) Summons may be served upon the defendants wherever they
may be found in the State, by any person authorized to serve
process. An officer may serve summons in his or her official
capacity outside his or her county, but fees for mileage
outside the county of the officer cannot be taxed as costs. The
person serving the process in a foreign county may make return
by mail.
    (c) If any sheriff, coroner, or other person to whom any
process is delivered, neglects or refuses to make return of the
same, the plaintiff may petition the court to enter a rule
requiring the sheriff, coroner, or other person, to make return
of the process on a day to be fixed by the court, or to show
cause on that day why that person should not be attached for
contempt of the court. The plaintiff shall then cause a written
notice of the rule to be served on the sheriff, coroner, or
other person. If good and sufficient cause be not shown to
excuse the officer or other person, the court shall adjudge him
or her guilty of a contempt, and shall impose punishment as in
other cases of contempt.
    (d) If process is served by a sheriff or coroner, the court
may tax the fee of the sheriff or coroner as costs in the
proceeding. If process is served by a private person or entity,
the court may establish a fee therefor and tax such fee as
costs in the proceedings.
    (e) In addition to the powers stated in Section 8.1a of the
Housing Authorities Act, in counties with a population of
3,000,000 or more inhabitants, members of a housing authority
police force may serve process for forcible entry and detainer
actions commenced by that housing authority and may execute
orders of possession for that housing authority.
    (f) In counties with a population of 3,000,000 or more,
process may be served, with special appointment by the court,
by a private process server or a law enforcement agency other
than the county sheriff in proceedings instituted under the
Forcible Entry and Detainer Article of this Code as a result of
a lessor or lessor's assignee declaring a lease void pursuant
to Section 11 of the Controlled Substance and Cannabis Nuisance
Act.
(Source: P.A. 95-613, eff. 9-11-07; 96-1451, eff. 8-20-10.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2012