Public Act 098-1105
 
SB2829 EnrolledLRB098 17209 HEP 52301 b


  
    AN ACT concerning civil law.
  
 
    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 adding 
Section 5-120.5 as follows:
 
    (735 ILCS 5/5-120.5 new)
    Sec. 5-120.5. Administrative review, code compliance.
    (a) In an administrative review action under Article III of 
this Code, if the court reverses the decision of a municipal 
code hearing officer in an action set forth under subsection 
(c) of this Section, then the court may award the plaintiff all 
reasonable costs, including court costs and attorney's fees, 
associated with the action if the court finds that: (i) the 
decision of the hearing officer was arbitrary and capricious; 
or (ii) the defendant failed to file a record under Section 
3-108 of this Code that is sufficient to allow the court to 
determine whether the decision of the hearing officer was 
arbitrary and capricious.
    (b) The court may award the municipality reasonable costs, 
including court costs and attorney's fees, if the court finds 
that the plaintiff's action under Article III of this Code for 
administrative review of a decision by the municipal code 
hearing officer is not reasonably well grounded in fact, is not 
warranted by existing law, or is not accompanied by a 
reasonable argument for the extension, modification, or 
reversal of existing law.
    (c) This Section applies only to the decision of a code 
hearing officer that imposes a fine or penalty against the 
owner of a single-family or multi-family residential dwelling 
for a violation related to the condition or use of that 
residential property. This Section does not apply to any 
administrative decision of a municipality with a population of 
more than 500,000.
    (d) The provisions of this Section are mutually dependent 
and inseverable; if any provision is held invalid, then the 
entire Section is invalid.