Public Act 93-0308
HB0138 Enrolled LRB093 03373 MKM 04177 b
AN ACT in relation to counties.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing
Section 28-1 as follows:
(10 ILCS 5/28-1) (from Ch. 46, par. 28-1)
Sec. 28-1. The initiation and submission of all public
questions to be voted upon by the electors of the State or of
any political subdivision or district or precinct or
combination of precincts shall be subject to the provisions
of this Article.
Questions of public policy which have any legal effect
shall be submitted to referendum only as authorized by a
statute which so provides or by the Constitution. Advisory
questions of public policy shall be submitted to referendum
pursuant to Section 28-5 or pursuant to a statute which so
provides.
The method of initiating the submission of a public
question shall be as provided by the statute authorizing such
public question, or as provided by the Constitution.
All public questions shall be initiated, submitted and
printed on the ballot in the form required by Section 16-7 of
this Act, except as may otherwise be specified in the statute
authorizing a public question.
Whenever a statute provides for the initiation of a
public question by a petition of electors, the provisions of
such statute shall govern with respect to the number of
signatures required, the qualifications of persons entitled
to sign the petition, the contents of the petition, the
officer with whom the petition must be filed, and the form of
the question to be submitted. If such statute does not
specify any of the foregoing petition requirements, the
corresponding petition requirements of Section 28-6 shall
govern such petition.
Irrespective of the method of initiation, not more than 3
public questions other than (a) back door referenda, (b)
referenda to determine whether a disconnection may take place
where a city coterminous with a township is proposing to
annex territory from an adjacent township, or (c) referenda
held under the provisions of the Property Tax Extension
Limitation Law in the Property Tax Code, or (d) referenda
held under Section 2-3002 of the Counties Code may be
submitted to referendum with respect to a political
subdivision at the same election.
If more than 3 propositions are timely initiated or
certified for submission at an election with respect to a
political subdivision, the first 3 validly initiated, by the
filing of a petition or by the adoption of a resolution or
ordinance of a political subdivision, as the case may be,
shall be printed on the ballot and submitted at that
election. However, except as expressly authorized by law not
more than one proposition to change the form of government of
a municipality pursuant to Article VII of the Constitution
may be submitted at an election. If more than one such
proposition is timely initiated or certified for submission
at an election with respect to a municipality, the first
validly initiated shall be the one printed on the ballot and
submitted at that election.
No public question shall be submitted to the voters of a
political subdivision at any regularly scheduled election at
which such voters are not scheduled to cast votes for any
candidates for nomination for, election to or retention in
public office, except that if, in any existing or proposed
political subdivision in which the submission of a public
question at a regularly scheduled election is desired, the
voters of only a portion of such existing or proposed
political subdivision are not scheduled to cast votes for
nomination for, election to or retention in public office at
such election, but the voters in one or more other portions
of such existing or proposed political subdivision are
scheduled to cast votes for nomination for, election to or
retention in public office at such election, the public
question shall be voted upon by all the qualified voters of
the entire existing or proposed political subdivision at the
election.
Not more than 3 advisory public questions may be
submitted to the voters of the entire state at a general
election. If more than 3 such advisory propositions are
initiated, the first 3 timely and validly initiated shall be
the questions printed on the ballot and submitted at that
election; provided however, that a question for a proposed
amendment to Article IV of the Constitution pursuant to
Section 3, Article XIV of the Constitution, or for a question
submitted under the Property Tax Cap Referendum Law, shall
not be included in the foregoing limitation.
(Source: P.A. 88-116; 89-510, eff. 7-11-96.)
Section 10. The Counties Code is amended by changing
Sections 2-3002 and 2-3003 as follows:
(55 ILCS 5/2-3002) (from Ch. 34, par. 2-3002)
Sec. 2-3002. Counties with population of less than
3,000,000 and with township form of government.
(a) Reapportionment required. By July 1, 1971, and each
10 years thereafter, the county board of each county having a
population of less than 3,000,000 inhabitants and the
township form of government shall reapportion its county so
that each member of the county board represents the same
number of inhabitants. In reapportioning its county, the
county board shall first determine the size of the county
board to be elected, which may consist of not less than 5 nor
more than 29 members and may not exceed the size of the
county board in that county on October 2, 1969. The county
board shall also determine whether board members shall be
elected at large from the county or by county board
districts.
If the chairman of the county board is to be elected by
the voters in a county of less than 450,000 population as
provided in Section 2-3007, such chairman shall not be
counted as a member of the county board for the purpose of
the limitations on the size of a county board provided in
this Section.
(b) Advisory referenda. The voters of a county may
advise the county board, through an advisory referendum, on
questions concerning (i) the number of members of the county
board to be elected, (ii) whether the board members should be
elected from single-member districts, multi-member districts,
or at-large, (iii) whether voters will have cumulative voting
rights in the election of county board members, or (iv) any
combination of the preceding 3 questions. The advisory
referendum may be initiated either by petition or by
ordinance of the county board. A written petition for an
advisory referendum authorized by this Section must contain
the signatures of at least 8% of the votes cast for
candidates for Governor in the preceding gubernatorial
election by the registered voters of the county and must be
filed with the appropriate election authority. An ordinance
initiating an advisory referendum authorized by this Section
must be approved by a majority of the members of the county
board and must be filed with the appropriate election
authority. An advisory referendum initiated under this
Section shall be placed on the ballot at the general election
designated in the petition or ordinance.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)
(55 ILCS 5/2-3003) (from Ch. 34, par. 2-3003)
Sec. 2-3003. Apportionment plan. (1) If the county board
determines that members shall be elected by districts, it
shall develop an apportionment plan and specify the number of
districts and the number of county board members to be
elected from each district and whether voters will have
cumulative voting rights in multi-member districts. Each such
district:
a. Shall be equal in population to each other district;
b. Shall be comprised of contiguous territory, as nearly
compact as practicable; and
c. May divide townships or municipalities only when
necessary to conform to the population requirement of
paragraph a. of this Section.
d. Shall be created in such a manner so that no precinct
shall be divided between 2 or more districts, insofar as is
practicable.
(2) The county board of each county having a population
of less than 3,000,000 inhabitants may, if it should so
decide, provide within that county for single member
districts outside the corporate limits and multi-member
districts within the corporate limits of any municipality
with a population in excess of 75,000. Paragraphs a, b, c
and d of subsection (1) of this Section shall apply to the
apportionment of both single and multi-member districts
within a county to the extent that compliance with paragraphs
a, b, c and d still permit the establishment of such
districts, except that the population of any multi-member
district shall be equal to the population of any single
member district, times the number of members found within
that multi-member district.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.