Rep. Kimberly Du Buclet

Filed: 4/14/2026

 

 


 

 


 
10400HB5558ham001LRB104 18092 TRT 36542 a

1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 5558

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 5558 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing
5Section 5-39001 as follows:
 
6    (55 ILCS 5/5-39001)  (from Ch. 34, par. 5-39001)
7    Sec. 5-39001. Establishment and use; fee. The county board
8of any county may establish and maintain a county law library,
9to be located in any county building or privately or publicly
10owned building at the county seat of government. The term
11"county building" includes premises leased by the county from
12a public building commission created under the Public Building
13Commission Act. After August 2, 1976, the county board of any
14county may establish and maintain a county law library at the
15county seat of government and, in addition, branch law
16libraries in other locations within that county as the county

 

 

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1board deems necessary.
2    The facilities of those libraries shall be freely
3available to all licensed Illinois attorneys, judges, other
4public officers of the county, and all members of the public,
5whenever the court house is open, and may include self-help
6centers and other legal assistance programs for the public as
7part of the services it provides on-site and online. Law
8libraries in counties with more than 2,000,000 inhabitants may
9close, even when the court house is open, based on operational
10necessity or as determined by the county board.
11    The expense of establishing and maintaining those
12libraries shall be borne by the county. To defray that
13expense, including the expense of any attendant self-help
14centers and legal assistance programs, in any county having
15established a county law library or libraries, the clerk of
16all trial courts located at the county seat of government
17shall charge and collect a county law library fee of $2, and
18the county board may authorize a county law library fee of not
19to exceed $21 through December 31, 2021 and $20 on and after
20January 1, 2022, to be charged and collected by the clerks of
21all trial courts located in the county. The fee shall be paid
22at the time of filing the first pleading, paper, or other
23appearance filed by each party in all civil cases, but no
24additional fee shall be required if more than one party is
25represented in a single pleading, paper, or other appearance.
26    Each clerk shall commence those charges and collections

 

 

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1upon receipt of written notice from the chairman of the county
2board that the board has acted under this Division to
3establish and maintain a law library.
4    The fees shall be in addition to all other fees and charges
5of the clerks, assessable as costs, remitted by the clerks
6monthly to the county treasurer or other appropriate county
7office, and retained by the county treasurer in a special fund
8designated as the County Law Library Fund. Except as otherwise
9provided in this paragraph, disbursements from the fund shall
10be made by the county treasurer, on order of a majority of the
11resident circuit judges of the circuit court of the county. In
12any county with more than 2,000,000 inhabitants, the county
13board shall order disbursements from the fund and the
14presiding officer of the county board, with the advice and
15consent of the county board, may appoint a library committee
16of not less than 9 members, who, by majority vote, may
17recommend to the county board as to disbursements of the fund
18and the operation of the library. In single county circuits
19with 2,000,000 or fewer inhabitants, disbursements from the
20County Law Library Fund shall be made by the county treasurer
21on the order of the chief judge of the circuit court of the
22county. In those single county circuits, the number of
23personnel necessary to operate and maintain the county law
24library shall be set by and those personnel shall be appointed
25by the chief judge. The county law library personnel shall
26serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority. The

 

 

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1salaries of those personnel shall be fixed by the county board
2of the county. Orders shall be pre-audited, funds shall be
3audited by the county auditor, and a report of the orders and
4funds shall be rendered to the county board and to the judges.
5    Fees shall not be charged in any criminal or
6quasi-criminal case, in any matter coming to the clerk on
7change of venue, or in any proceeding to review the decision of
8any administrative officer, agency, or body.
9    No moneys distributed from the County Law Library Fund may
10be directly or indirectly used for lobbying activities, as
11defined in Section 2 of the Lobbyist Registration Act or as
12defined in any ordinance or resolution of a municipality,
13county, or other unit of local government in Illinois.
14(Source: P.A. 98-351, eff. 8-15-13; 99-859, eff. 8-19-16.)".