Public Act 099-0662
 
SB2805 EnrolledLRB099 19731 HEP 44129 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 Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording 
Act is amended  by changing Section 5 as follows:
 
    (765 ILCS 33/5)

    Sec. 5. Administration and standards. 
    (a) To adopt standards to implement this Act, there is 
established, within the Office of the Secretary of State, the 
Illinois Electronic Recording Commission consisting of 17 15 
commissioners as follows:
        (1) The Secretary of State or the Secretary's designee 
    shall be a permanent commissioner.
        (2) The Secretary of State shall appoint the following 
    additional 16 14 commissioners:
            (A) Three who are from the land title profession.
            (B) Three who are from lending institutions.
            (C)  One who is an attorney.
            (D) Seven who are county recorders, no more than 4 
        of whom are from one political party, representative of 
        counties of varying size, geography, population, and 
        resources.
            (E) Two who are licensed real estate brokers or 
        managing brokers under the Real Estate License Act of 
        2000.
        (3) On the effective date of this  Act, the Secretary of 
    State or the Secretary's designee shall become the Acting 
    Chairperson of the Commission. The Secretary shall appoint 
    the initial commissioners within 60 days and hold the first 
    meeting of the Commission within 120 days, notifying 
    commissioners of the time and place of the first meeting 
    with at least 14 days' notice.
At its first meeting the 
    Commission shall adopt, by a majority vote, such rules and 
    structure that it deems necessary to govern its operations, 
    including the title, responsibilities, and election of 
    officers.  Once adopted, the rules and structure may be 
    altered or amended by the Commission by majority vote. Upon 
    the election of officers and adoption of rules or bylaws, 
    the duties of the Acting Chairperson shall cease.
        (4) The Commission shall meet at least once every year 
    within the State of Illinois. The time and place of 
    meetings to be determined by the Chairperson and approved 
    by a majority of the Commission.
        (5) Nine Eight commissioners shall constitute a 
    quorum.
        (6) Commissioners shall receive no compensation for 
    their services but may be reimbursed for reasonable 
    expenses at current rates in effect at the Office of the 
    Secretary of State, directly related to their duties as 
    commissioners and participation at Commission meetings or 
    while on business or at meetings which have been authorized 
    by the Commission.
        (7) Appointed commissioners shall serve terms of 3 
    years, which shall expire on December 1st.   Five of the 
    initially appointed commissioners, including at least 2 
    county recorders, shall serve terms of one year, 5 of the 
    initially appointed commissioners, including at least 2 
    county recorders, shall serve terms of 2 years, and  4 of 
    the initially appointed commissioners shall serve terms of 
    3 years, to be determined by lot. Of the commissioners 
    appointed under subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2) of this 
    subsection, one of the initially appointed commissioners 
    shall serve a term of 2 years and one of the initially 
    appointed commissioners shall serve a term of 3 years, to 
    be determined by lot. The calculation of the terms in 
    office of the initially appointed commissioners shall 
    begin on the first December 1st after the commissioners 
    have served at least 6 months in office.
        (8) The Chairperson shall declare a commissioner's 
    office vacant immediately after receipt of a written 
    resignation, death, a recorder commissioner no longer 
    holding the public office, or under other circumstances 
    specified within the rules adopted by the Commission, which 
    shall also by rule specify how and by what deadlines a 
    replacement is to be appointed.
    (c) The Commission shall adopt and  transmit to the 
Secretary of State standards to implement this Act and shall be 
the exclusive entity to set standards for counties to engage in 
electronic recording in the State of Illinois.
    (d) To keep the standards and practices of county recorders 
in this State in harmony with the standards and practices of 
recording offices in other jurisdictions that enact 
substantially this Act and to keep the technology used by 
county recorders in this State compatible with technology used 
by recording offices in other jurisdictions that enact 
substantially this Act, the Commission, so far as is consistent 
with the purposes, policies, and provisions of this Act, in 
adopting, amending, and repealing standards shall consider:
        (1) standards and practices of other jurisdictions;
        (2) the most recent standards promulgated by national 
    standard-setting bodies, such as the Property Records 
    Industry Association;
        (3) the views of interested persons and governmental 
    officials and entities;
        (4) the needs of counties of varying size, population, 
    and resources; and
        (5) standards requiring adequate information security 
    protection to ensure that electronic documents are 
    accurate, authentic, adequately preserved, and resistant 
    to tampering.
    (e) The Commission shall review the statutes related to 
real property and the statutes related to recording real 
property documents and shall recommend to the General Assembly 
any changes in the statutes that the Commission deems necessary 
or advisable.
    (f) Funding.  The Secretary of State may accept for the 
Commission, for any of its purposes and functions, donations, 
gifts, grants, and appropriations of money, equipment, 
supplies, materials, and services from the federal government, 
the State or any of its departments or agencies, a county or 
municipality, or from any institution, person, firm, or 
corporation.  The Commission may authorize a fee payable by 
counties engaged in electronic recording to fund its expenses.  
Any fee shall be proportional based on county population or 
number of documents recorded annually.  On approval by a county 
recorder of the form and amount, a county board may authorize 
payment of any fee out of the special fund it has created to 
fund document storage and electronic retrieval, as authorized 
in Section 3-5018 of the Counties Code.  Any funds received by 
the Office of the Secretary of State for the Commission shall 
be used entirely for expenses approved by and for the use of 
the Commission.
    (g) The Secretary of State shall provide administrative 
support to the Commission, including the preparation of the 
agenda and minutes for Commission meetings, distribution of 
notices and proposed rules to commissioners, payment of bills 
and reimbursement for expenses of commissioners.
    (h) Standards and rules adopted by the Commission shall be 
delivered to the Secretary of State.  Within 60 days, the 
Secretary shall either promulgate by rule the standards 
adopted, amended, or repealed or return them to the Commission, 
with findings, for changes.  The Commission may override the 
Secretary by a three-fifths vote, in which case the Secretary 
shall publish the Commission's standards.

(Source: P.A. 95-472, eff. 8-27-07.)