55 ILCS 5/ Counties Code.

(55 ILCS 5/5-38011) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-38011)

Sec. 5-38011. Report of board. Within 30 days after the close of each fiscal year, the county library board shall make a written report to the county board. In cases where a public county library service is maintained by contract with an existing library or libraries, a report shall be made to the county board at the same time by the librarian or the secretary or some other officer of the county library board of such library or libraries. A copy of each report shall be filed at the same time with the Illinois State library.

It shall contain (a), an itemized statement of the various sums of money received from the library fund, or from other sources; (b), an itemized statement of the objects and purposes to which those sums of money have been devoted; (c), a statement of the number of books and periodicals available for use, and the number thereof circulated during the fiscal year; (d), a statement of the real and personal property acquired by legacy, purchase, gift or otherwise, during the fiscal year; (e), a statement of the number, location and character of the branches or stations of the public county library service, if any, established during the fiscal year; (f), a statement of the character of any other extensions of public county library service undertaken during the fiscal year; and (g), any other statistics or information that may be required by the county board.

(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

(55 ILCS 5/5-38012) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-38012)

Sec. 5-38012. Referendum on establishment of county library service. None of the foregoing powers or duties shall be exercised, however, unless the question of establishing a public county library service shall have been submitted to the voters of the county, at a regular election, and unless a majority of the votes cast upon the question at any such election within the limits of the cities, villages and incorporated towns in the county and a majority of those cast upon the question outside the limits of such cities, villages or incorporated towns shall be in favor of the establishment of a public county library service.

This question shall not be submitted to the voters, however, unless there shall have been filed a petition therefor, signed by not less than one hundred legal voters of the county.

The proposition of establishing a public county library service shall be in substantially the following form: FOR the establishment of a public county library service. AGAINST the establishment of a public county library service.

(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

(55 ILCS 5/5-38013) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-38013)

Sec. 5-38013. Inapplicability to counties of 500,000 or more. This Division shall not apply to counties having a population of 500,000 or more.

(Source: P.A. 86-962.)

(55 ILCS 5/Div. 5-39 heading) Division 5-39. County Law Libraries

(55 ILCS 5/5-39001) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-39001)

Sec. 5-39001. Establishment and use; fee. The county board of any county may establish and maintain a county law library, to be located in any county building or privately or publicly owned building at the county seat of government. The term "county building" includes premises leased by the county from a public building commission created under the Public Building Commission Act. After August 2, 1976, the county board of any county may establish and maintain a county law library at the county seat of government and, in addition, branch law libraries in other locations within that county as the county board deems necessary.

The facilities of those libraries shall be freely available to all licensed Illinois attorneys, judges, other public officers of the county, and all members of the public, whenever the court house is open, and may include self-help centers and other legal assistance programs for the public as part of the services it provides on-site and online.

The expense of establishing and maintaining those libraries shall be borne by the county. To defray that expense, including the expense of any attendant self-help centers and legal assistance programs, in any county having established a county law library or libraries, the clerk of all trial courts located at the county seat of government shall charge and collect a county law library fee of $2, and the county board may authorize a county law library fee of not to exceed $21 through December 31, 2021 and $20 on and after January 1, 2022, to be charged and collected by the clerks of all trial courts located in the county. The fee shall be paid at the time of filing the first pleading, paper, or other appearance filed by each party in all civil cases, but no additional fee shall be required if more than one party is represented in a single pleading, paper, or other appearance.

Each clerk shall commence those charges and collections upon receipt of written notice from the chairman of the county board that the board has acted under this Division to establish and maintain a law library.

The fees shall be in addition to all other fees and charges of the clerks, assessable as costs, remitted by the clerks monthly to the county treasurer, and retained by the county treasurer in a special fund designated as the County Law Library Fund. Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, disbursements from the fund shall be by the county treasurer, on order of a majority of the resident circuit judges of the circuit court of the county. In any county with more than 2,000,000 inhabitants, the county board shall order disbursements from the fund and the presiding officer of the county board, with the advice and consent of the county board, may appoint a library committee of not less than 9 members, who, by majority vote, may recommend to the county board as to disbursements of the fund and the operation of the library. In single county circuits with 2,000,000 or fewer inhabitants, disbursements from the County Law Library Fund shall be made by the county treasurer on the order of the chief judge of the circuit court of the county. In those single county circuits, the number of personnel necessary to operate and maintain the county law library shall be set by and those personnel shall be appointed by the chief judge. The county law library personnel shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority. The salaries of those personnel shall be fixed by the county board of the county. Orders shall be pre-audited, funds shall be audited by the county auditor, and a report of the orders and funds shall be rendered to the county board and to the judges.

Fees shall not be charged in any criminal or quasi-criminal case, in any matter coming to the clerk on change of venue, or in any proceeding to review the decision of any administrative officer, agency, or body.

No moneys distributed from the County Law Library Fund may be directly or indirectly used for lobbying activities, as defined in Section 2 of the Lobbyist Registration Act or as defined in any ordinance or resolution of a municipality, county, or other unit of local government in Illinois.

(Source: P.A. 98-351, eff. 8-15-13; 99-859, eff. 8-19-16.)

(55 ILCS 5/Div. 5-40 heading) Division 5-40. Floodplain Regulation

(55 ILCS 5/5-40001) (from Ch. 34, par. 5-40001)

Sec. 5-40001. Floodplain regulations. Counties are authorized to adopt and enforce floodplain regulations consistent with Federal Emergency Management Agency regulations that implement the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, as amended. For the purposes of preventing flood damages and preserving the flood carrying capacity of streams, floodplain regulations shall apply to all buildings, structures, construction, excavation, and filling in the floodplain whether or not the land, buildings, structures, construction, excavation, or filling are for agricultural purposes. The Department of Natural Resources shall prepare manuals and model ordinances and shall advise counties on achieving floodplain regulation purposes without unnecessarily interfering with land uses.

(Source: P.A. 89-445, eff. 2-7-96.)

(55 ILCS 5/Div. 5-41 heading) Division 5-41. Administrative Adjudication of Ordinance Violations

(55 ILCS 5/5-41003)

Sec. 5-41003. Applicability. This Division 5-41 applies to all counties except for the counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will.

(Source: P.A. 96-1386, eff. 7-29-10.)

(55 ILCS 5/5-41005)

Sec. 5-41005. Definitions. In this Division 5-41, unless the context requires otherwise:

"Code" means any county ordinance that pertains to or regulates any of the following: animal control; the definition, identification, and abatement of public nuisances; the accumulation, disposal, and transportation of garbage, refuse, and other forms of solid waste; the construction and maintenance of buildings and structures; sanitation practices; or zoning.

"Code enforcement officer" means a county employee authorized to issue citations for county code violations and to conduct inspections of public or private real property to determine whether code violations exist. However, nothing in this Division 5-41 shall be construed to allow for administrative adjudication of an ordinance violation in the case where a State statute or administrative rule provides for a specific method or procedure to be followed, other than administrative adjudication, in enforcing a county ordinance.

"Hearing officer" means a person other than a code enforcement officer or law enforcement officer having the following powers and duties:

(1) To preside at an administrative hearing called to determine whether a code violation exists.

(2) To hear testimony and accept evidence from the code enforcement officer, the respondent, and all interested parties relevant to the existence of a code violation.

(3) To preserve and authenticate the record of the hearing and all exhibits and evidence introduced at the hearing.

(4) To issue and sign written findings and a decision and order stating whether a code violation exists.

(5) To impose penalties consistent with applicable code provisions and to assess costs reasonably related to instituting the proceedings upon finding the respondent liable for the charged violation. In no event, however, shall the hearing officer have the authority to impose a penalty of incarceration.

"Property owner" means the legal or beneficial owner of an improved or unimproved parcel of real estate.

"Respondent" means a property owner, waste hauler, or other person charged with liability for an alleged code violation and the person to whom the notice of violation is directed.

"Solid waste" means demolition materials, food and industrial processing wastes, garden trash, land cleaning waste, mixed refuse, non-combustible refuse, and trash as defined in the Solid Waste Disposal District Act.

"Waste hauler" means any person owning or controlling any vehicle used to carry or transport garbage, refuse, or other forms of solid waste.

(Source: P.A. 90-517, eff. 8-22-97.)

(55 ILCS 5/5-41010)

Sec. 5-41010. Code hearing unit. The county board in any county may establish by ordinance a code hearing unit within an existing code enforcement agency or as a separate and independent agency in county government. A county may establish a code hearing unit and administrative adjudication process only under the provisions of this Division 5-41. The function of the code hearing unit shall be to expedite the prosecution and correction of code violations as provided in this Division 5-41.

(Source: P.A. 95-471, eff. 8-27-07.)