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1    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by
5changing Section 7-1-1 as follows:
 
6    (65 ILCS 5/7-1-1)  (from Ch. 24, par. 7-1-1)
7    Sec. 7-1-1. Annexation of contiguous territory. Any
8territory that is not within the corporate limits of any
9municipality but is contiguous to a municipality may be annexed
10to the municipality as provided in this Article. For the
11purposes of this Article any territory to be annexed to a
12municipality shall be considered to be contiguous to the
13municipality notwithstanding that the territory is separated
14from the municipality by a strip parcel, railroad or public
15utility right-of-way, or former railroad right-of-way that has
16been converted to a recreational trail, but upon annexation the
17area included within that strip parcel, right-of-way, or former
18right-of-way shall not be considered to be annexed to the
19municipality. For purposes of this Section, "strip parcel"
20means a separation no wider than 30 feet between the territory
21to be annexed and the municipal boundary.
22    Except in counties with a population of more than 600,000
23but less than 3,000,000, territory which is not contiguous to a

 

 

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1municipality but is separated therefrom only by a forest
2preserve district, federal wildlife refuge, open land or open
3space that is part of an open space program, as defined in
4Section 115-5 of the Township Code, or conservation area, may
5be annexed to the municipality pursuant to Section 7-1-7 or
67-1-8, but only if the annexing municipality can show that the
7forest preserve district, federal wildlife refuge, open land,
8open space, or conservation area creates an artificial barrier
9preventing the annexation and that the location of the forest
10preserve district, federal wildlife refuge, open land, open
11space, or conservation area property prevents the orderly
12natural growth of the annexing municipality. It shall be
13conclusively presumed that the forest preserve district,
14federal wildlife refuge, open land, open space, or conservation
15area does not create an artificial barrier if the property
16sought to be annexed is bounded on at least 3 sides by (i) one
17or more other municipalities (other than the municipality
18seeking annexation through the existing forest preserve
19district, federal wildlife refuge, open land, open space, or
20conservation area), (ii) forest preserve district property,
21federal wildlife refuge, open land, open space, or conservation
22area, or (iii) a combination of other municipalities and forest
23preserve district property, federal wildlife refuge property,
24open land, open space, or conservation area. It shall also be
25conclusively presumed that the forest preserve district,
26federal wildlife refuge, open land, open space, or conservation

 

 

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1area does not create an artificial barrier if the municipality
2seeking annexation is not the closest municipality within the
3county to the property to be annexed. The territory included
4within such forest preserve district, federal wildlife refuge,
5open land, open space, or conservation area shall not be
6annexed to the municipality nor shall the territory of the
7forest preserve district, federal wildlife refuge, open land,
8open space, or conservation area be subject to rights-of-way
9for access or services between the parts of the municipality
10separated by the forest preserve district, federal wildlife
11refuge, open land, open space, or conservation area without the
12consent of the governing body of the forest preserve district
13or federal wildlife refuge. The changes made to this Section by
14Public Act 91-824 are declaratory of existing law and shall not
15be construed as a new enactment.
16    For the purpose of this Section, "conservation area" means
17an area dedicated to conservation and owned by a not-for-profit
18organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
19of 1986, or any area owned by a conservation district.
20    In counties that are contiguous to the Mississippi River
21with populations of more than 200,000 but less than 255,000, a
22municipality that is partially located in territory that is
23wholly surrounded by the Mississippi River and a canal,
24connected at both ends to the Mississippi River and located on
25property owned by the United States of America, may annex
26noncontiguous territory in the surrounded territory under

 

 

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1Sections 7-1-7, 7-1-8, or 7-1-9 if that territory is separated
2from the municipality by property owned by the United States of
3America, but that federal property shall not be annexed without
4the consent of the federal government.
5    For the purposes of this Article, any territory to be
6annexed to a municipality that is located in a county with more
7than 500,000 inhabitants shall be considered to be contiguous
8to the municipality if only a river and a national heritage
9corridor separate the territory from the municipality. Upon
10annexation, no river or national heritage corridor shall be
11considered annexed to the municipality.
12    When any land proposed to be annexed is part of any Fire
13Protection District or of any Public Library District and the
14annexing municipality provides fire protection or a public
15library, as the case may be, the Trustees of each District
16shall be notified in writing by certified or registered mail
17before any court hearing or other action is taken for
18annexation. The notice shall be served 10 days in advance. An
19affidavit that service of notice has been had as provided by
20this Section must be filed with the clerk of the court in which
21the annexation proceedings are pending or will be instituted
22or, when no court proceedings are involved, with the recorder
23for the county where the land is situated. No annexation of
24that land is effective unless service is had and the affidavit
25filed as provided in this Section.
26    The new boundary shall extend to the far side of any

 

 

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1adjacent highway and shall include all of every highway within
2the area annexed. These highways shall be considered to be
3annexed even though not included in the legal description set
4forth in the petition for annexation. When any land proposed to
5be annexed includes any highway under the jurisdiction of any
6township, the Township Commissioner of Highways, the Board of
7Town Trustees, the Township Supervisor, and the Township Clerk
8shall be notified in writing by certified or registered mail
9before any court hearing or other action is taken for
10annexation. In the event that a municipality fails to notify
11the Township Commissioner of Highways, the Board of Town
12Trustees, the Township Supervisor, and the Township Clerk of
13the annexation of an area within the township, the municipality
14shall reimburse that township for any loss or liability caused
15by the failure to give notice. If any municipality has annexed
16any area before October 1, 1975, and the legal description in
17the petition for annexation did not include the entire adjacent
18highway, any such annexation shall be valid and any highway
19adjacent to the area annexed shall be considered to be annexed
20notwithstanding the failure of the petition to annex to include
21the description of the entire adjacent highway.
22    Any annexation, disconnection and annexation, or
23disconnection under this Article of any territory must be
24reported by certified or registered mail by the corporate
25authority initiating the action to the election authorities
26having jurisdiction in the territory and the post office

 

 

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1branches serving the territory within 30 days of the
2annexation, disconnection and annexation, or disconnection.
3    Failure to give notice to the required election authorities
4or post office branches will not invalidate the annexation or
5disconnection. For purposes of this Section "election
6authorities" means the county clerk where the clerk acts as the
7clerk of elections or the clerk of the election commission
8having jurisdiction.
9    No annexation, disconnection and annexation, or
10disconnection under this Article of territory having electors
11residing therein made (1) before any primary election to be
12held within the municipality affected thereby and after the
13time for filing petitions as a candidate for nomination to any
14office to be chosen at the primary election or (2) within 60
15days before any general election to be held within the
16municipality shall be effective until the day after the date of
17the primary or general election, as the case may be.
18    For the purpose of this Section, a toll highway or
19connection between parcels via an overpass bridge over a toll
20highway shall not be considered a deterrent to the definition
21of contiguous territory.
22    When territory is proposed to be annexed by court order
23under this Article, the corporate authorities or petitioners
24initiating the action shall notify each person who pays real
25estate taxes on property within that territory unless the
26person is a petitioner. The notice shall be served by certified

 

 

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1or registered mail, return receipt requested, at least 20 days
2before a court hearing or other court action. If the person who
3pays real estate taxes on the property is not the owner of
4record, then the payor shall notify the owner of record of the
5proposed annexation.
6(Source: P.A. 95-174, eff. 1-1-08; 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10;
796-1233, eff. 7-23-10.)