105 ILCS 5/ School Code.

(105 ILCS 5/3-1) (from Ch. 122, par. 3-1)

Sec. 3-1. Election; eligibility. Quadrennially there shall be elected in every county, except those which have been consolidated into a multicounty educational service region under Article 3A and except those having a population of 2,000,000 or more inhabitants, a regional superintendent of schools, who shall enter upon the discharge of his duties on the first Monday of August next after his election; provided, however, that the term of office of each regional superintendent of schools in office on June 30, 2003 is terminated on July 1, 2003, except that an incumbent regional superintendent of schools shall continue to serve until his successor is elected and qualified, and each regional superintendent of schools elected at the general election in 2002 and every four years thereafter shall assume office on the first day of July next after his election. No one is eligible to file his petition at any primary election for the nomination as candidate for the office of regional superintendent of schools nor to enter upon the duties of such office either by election or appointment unless he possesses the following qualifications: (1) he is of good character, (2) he has a master's degree, (3) he has earned at least 20 semester hours of credit in professional education at the graduate level, (4) he holds a valid all grade supervisory license, a valid State limited supervisory license, a valid state life supervisory license, or a valid administrative license, (5) he has had at least 4 years experience in teaching, and (6) he was engaged for at least 2 years of the 4 previous years in full time teaching or supervising in the common public schools or serving as a county superintendent of schools or regional superintendent of schools for an educational service region in the State of Illinois.

No petition of any candidate for nomination for the office of regional superintendent of schools may be filed and no such candidate's name may be placed on a primary or general election ballot, unless such candidate files as part of his petition a certificate from the State Board of Education certifying that from the records of its office such candidate has the qualifications required by this Section; however, any incumbent filing his petition for nomination for a succeeding term of office shall not be required to attach such certificate to his petition of candidacy.

Nomination papers filed under this Section are not valid unless the candidate named therein files with the county clerk or State Board of Elections a statement of economic interests as required by the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act. Such receipt shall be so filed either previously during the calendar year in which his nomination papers were filed or within the period for the filing of nomination papers in accordance with the general election law.

The changes in qualifications made by Public Act 76-1563 do not affect the right of an incumbent to seek reelection.

On and after July 1, 1994, the provisions of this Section shall have no application in any educational service region having a population of 2,000,000 or more inhabitants; provided further that no election shall be held in November of 1994 or at any other time after July 1, 1992 for the office of regional superintendent of schools in any county or educational service region having a population of 2,000,000 or more inhabitants.

(Source: P.A. 99-30, eff. 7-10-15.)

(105 ILCS 5/3-1.1) (from Ch. 122, par. 3-1.1)

Sec. 3-1.1. Eligible voters. Whenever a unit school district is located in more than one educational service region, a qualified elector residing in that unit school district but outside of the educational service region administered by the regional superintendent of schools having supervision and control over that unit school district shall be eligible to vote in any election held to elect the regional superintendent of schools of the educational service region that is administered by the regional superintendent of schools who has supervision and control over that unit school district, but the elector shall not also be eligible to vote in the election held to elect the regional superintendent of schools of the educational service region in which the elector resides.

Not less than 100 days before each general primary election, the regional superintendent of schools shall certify to the State Board of Elections a list of each unit school district under his or her supervision and control and each county in which all or any part of each of those districts is located. The State Board of Elections shall certify each of those unit school districts and counties to the appropriate election authorities within 20 days after receiving the list certified by the regional superintendent of schools.

The election authority in a single county educational service region whose regional superintendent of schools exercises supervision and control over a unit school district that is located in that single county educational service region and in one or more other educational service regions shall certify to the election authority of each of those other educational service regions in which the unit school district is located the candidates for the office of the regional superintendent of schools exercising supervision and control over that unit school district.

(Source: P.A. 87-328; 88-535.)

(105 ILCS 5/3-2) (from Ch. 122, par. 3-2)

Sec. 3-2. Oath of office - Bond - Salary. Before entering upon his or her duties a regional superintendent of schools shall take and subscribe the oath prescribed by the Constitution and execute a bond payable to the People of the State of Illinois with 2 or more responsible persons having an interest in real estate as sureties (or, if the county is self-insured, the county through its self-insurance program may provide bonding), to be approved by the county board in a penalty of not less than $100,000, conditioned upon the faithful discharge of his or her duties and upon the delivery to his or her successor in office of all monies, books, papers and property in his or her custody as such regional superintendent of schools.

This bond shall be filed in the office of the county clerk, and action upon it may be maintained by any corporate body interested, for the benefit of any township or fund injured by any breach of its condition.

If any vacancy in the office of regional superintendent of schools occurs, such vacancy shall be filled in the manner provided by Section 3A-6.

Regional Superintendents of Schools shall receive the salary provided by Section 3-2.5.

On and after July 1, 1994, the provisions of this Section shall have no application in any educational service region having a population of 2,000,000 or more inhabitants.

(Source: P.A. 88-387; 89-233, eff. 1-1-96.)

(105 ILCS 5/3-2.5)

Sec. 3-2.5. Salaries.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this Section, the regional superintendents of schools shall receive for their services an annual salary according to the population, as determined by the last preceding federal census, of the region they serve, as set out in the following schedule:

Beginning July 1, 2023, all regional superintendents of schools shall receive the same salary regardless of the population of the region they serve. The salary shall be equal to the middle annual salary tier.

The changes made by Public Act 86-98 in the annual salary that the regional superintendents of schools shall receive for their services shall apply to the annual salary received by the regional superintendents of schools during each of their elected terms of office that commence after July 26, 1989 and before the first Monday of August, 1995.

The changes made by Public Act 89-225 in the annual salary that regional superintendents of schools shall receive for their services shall apply to the annual salary received by the regional superintendents of schools during their elected terms of office that commence after August 4, 1995 and end on August 1, 1999.

The changes made by this amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly in the annual salary that the regional superintendents of schools shall receive for their services shall apply to the annual salary received by the regional superintendents of schools during each of their elected terms of office that commence on or after August 2, 1999.

Beginning July 1, 2000, the salary that the regional superintendent of schools receives for his or her services shall be adjusted annually to reflect the percentage increase, if any, in the most recent Consumer Price Index, as defined and officially reported by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, except that no annual increment may exceed 2.9%. If the percentage of change in the Consumer Price Index is a percentage decrease, the salary that the regional superintendent of schools receives shall not be adjusted for that year.

When regional superintendents are authorized by the School Code to appoint assistant regional superintendents, the assistant regional superintendent shall receive an annual salary based on his or her qualifications and computed as a percentage of the salary of the regional superintendent to whom he or she is assistant, as set out in the following schedule:

However, in any region in which the appointment of more than one assistant regional superintendent is authorized, whether by Section 3-15.10 of this Code or otherwise, not more than one assistant may be compensated at the 90% rate and any other assistant shall be paid at not exceeding the 75% rate, in each case depending on the qualifications of the assistant.

The salaries provided in this Section plus an amount for other employment-related compensation or benefits for regional superintendents and assistant regional superintendents are payable monthly by the State Board of Education out of the Personal Property Tax Replacement Fund through a specific appropriation to that effect in the State Board of Education budget. The State Comptroller in making his or her warrant to any county for the amount due it from the Personal Property Tax Replacement Fund shall deduct from it the several amounts for which warrants have been issued to the regional superintendent, and any assistant regional superintendent, of the educational service region encompassing the county since the preceding apportionment from the Personal Property Tax Replacement Fund.

County boards may provide for additional compensation for the regional superintendent or the assistant regional superintendents, or for each of them, to be paid quarterly from the county treasury.

(b) (Blank).

(c) If the State pays all or any portion of the employee contributions required under Section 16-152 of the Illinois Pension Code for employees of the State Board of Education, it shall also, subject to appropriation in the State Board of Education budget for such payments to Regional Superintendents and Assistant Regional Superintendents, pay the employee contributions required of regional superintendents of schools and assistant regional superintendents of schools on the same basis, but excluding any contributions based on compensation that is paid by the county rather than the State.

This subsection (c) applies to contributions based on payments of salary earned after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly, except that in the case of an elected regional superintendent of schools, this subsection does not apply to contributions based on payments of salary earned during a term of office that commenced before the effective date of this amendatory Act.

(d) References to "regional superintendent" in this Section shall also include the chief administrative officer of the educational service centers established under Section 2-3.62 of this Code and serving that portion of a Class II county school unit outside of a city with a population of 500,000 or more inhabitants. References to "assistant regional superintendent" in this Section shall include one assistant appointed by the chief administrative officer of the educational service centers established under Section 2-3.62 of this Code and serving that portion of a Class II county school unit outside of a city with a population of 500,000 or more inhabitants. For the purposes of calculating regional superintendent and assistant regional superintendent salaries for educational service centers established under Section 2-3.62 of this Code, populations shall be established by subtracting from the total county population the population of a city with 500,000 or more inhabitants, divided by the number of educational service centers in the county.

(Source: P.A. 103-110, eff. 6-29-23.)

(105 ILCS 5/3-3)

Sec. 3-3. (Repealed).

(Source: P.A. 87-1251. Repealed by P.A. 103-110, eff. 6-29-23.)

(105 ILCS 5/3-5) (from Ch. 122, par. 3-5)

Sec. 3-5. Report of official acts. The county superintendent shall present under oath or affirmation to the county board at its meeting in September and as nearly quarterly thereafter as it may have regular or special meetings, a report of all his acts as county superintendent, including a list of all the schools visited with the dates of visitation.

(Source: Laws 1961, p. 31.)

(105 ILCS 5/3-6) (from Ch. 122, par. 3-6)

Sec. 3-6. Financial report - Presentation of books and vouchers for inspection. The regional superintendent shall report, in writing, to the county board, on or before January 1 of each year, stating, (1) the balance on hand at the time of the last report, and all receipts since that date, with the sources from which they were derived; (2) the amount distributed to each of the school treasurers in his county; (3) any balance on hand. At the same time he shall present for inspection his books and vouchers for all expenditures, and submit in writing a statement of the condition of the institute fund and of any other funds in his care, custody or control.

(Source: P.A. 81-624.)

(105 ILCS 5/3-6.1) (from Ch. 122, par. 3-6.1)

Sec. 3-6.1. Presentation of records for financial audit. Each regional superintendent of schools, whether for a multicounty or for a single county educational service region, shall present for inspection or otherwise make available to the Auditor General, or to the agents designated by the Auditor General, all financial statements, books, vouchers and other records required to be so presented or made available pursuant to Section 2-3.17a and the rules and regulations of the Auditor General pursuant to that Section.

(Source: P.A. 92-544, eff. 6-12-02.)

(105 ILCS 5/3-7) (from Ch. 122, par. 3-7)

Sec. 3-7. Failure to prepare and forward information. If the trustees of schools of any township in Class II county school units, or any school district which forms a part of a Class II county school unit but which is not subject to the jurisdiction of the trustees of schools of any township in which such district is located, or any school district in any Class I county school units fail to prepare and forward or cause to be prepared and forwarded to the regional superintendent of schools, reports required by this Act, the regional superintendent of schools shall furnish such information or he shall employ a person or persons to furnish such information, as far as practicable. Such person shall have access to the books, records and papers of the school district to enable him or them to prepare such reports, and the school district shall permit such person or persons to examine such books, records and papers at such time and such place as such person or persons may desire for the purpose aforesaid. For such services the regional superintendent of schools shall bill the district an amount to cover the cost of preparation of such reports if he employs a person to prepare such reports.

Each school district shall, as of June 30 of each year, cause an audit of its accounts to be made by a person lawfully qualified to practice public accounting as regulated by the Illinois Public Accounting Act. Such audit shall include financial statements of the district applicable to the type of records required by other sections of this Act and in addition shall set forth the scope of audit and shall include the professional opinion signed by the auditor, or if such an opinion is denied by the auditor, shall set forth the reasons for such denial. Each school district shall on or before October 15 of each year, submit an original and one copy of such audit to the regional superintendent of schools in the educational service region having jurisdiction in which case the regional superintendent of schools shall be relieved of responsibility in regard to the accounts of the school district. If any school district fails to supply the regional superintendent of schools with a copy of such audit report on or before October 15, or within such time extended by the regional superintendent of schools from that date, not to exceed 60 days, then it shall be the responsibility of the regional superintendent of schools having jurisdiction to cause such audit to be made by employing an accountant licensed to practice in the State of Illinois to conduct such audit and shall bill the district for such services, or shall with the personnel of his office make such audit to his satisfaction and bill the district for such service. In the latter case, if the audit is made by personnel employed in the office of the regional superintendent of schools having jurisdiction, then the regional superintendent of schools shall not be relieved of the responsibility as to the accountability of the school district. The copy of the audit shall be forwarded by the regional superintendent to the State Board of Education on or before November 15 of each year and shall be filed by the State Board of Education.

Each school district that is the administrative district for several school districts operating under a joint agreement as authorized by this Act shall, as of June 30 each year, cause an audit of the accounts of the joint agreement to be made by a person lawfully qualified to practice public accounting as regulated by the Illinois Public Accounting Act. Such audit shall include financial statements of the operation of the joint agreement applicable to the type of records required by this Act and, in addition, shall set forth the scope of the audit and shall include the professional opinion signed by the auditor, or if such an opinion is denied, the auditor shall set forth the reason for such denial. Each administrative district of a joint agreement shall on or before October 15 each year, submit an original and one copy of such audit to the regional superintendent of schools in the educational service region having jurisdiction in which case the regional superintendent of schools shall be relieved of responsibility in regard to the accounts of the joint agreement. The copy of the audit shall be forwarded by the regional superintendent to the State Board of Education on or before November 15 of each year and shall be filed by the State Board of Education. The cost of such an audit shall be apportioned among and paid by the several districts who are parties to the joint agreement, in the same manner as other costs and expenses accruing to the districts jointly.

The State Board of Education shall determine the adequacy of the audits. All audits shall be kept on file in the office of the State Board of Education.

(Source: P.A. 86-1441; 87-473.)

(105 ILCS 5/3-8) (from Ch. 122, par. 3-8)

Sec. 3-8. School treasurer's bond - Duties of regional superintendent. Whenever the bond of any school treasurer, approved by the trustees of schools or school board as required by law, is filed with the regional superintendent of schools, he shall carefully examine it, and if it is found to be in all respects according to law, and the sureties sufficient, he shall endorse his approval thereon, and file it with the papers of his office; but if the bond is in any respect defective, or if the penalty is or sureties are insufficient, he shall return it for correction. When the bond has been received and filed, the superintendent shall, on demand, deliver to the school treasurer a written statement certifying that his bond has been approved and filed and that the school treasurer is entitled to the care and custody, on demand, of all moneys and securities belonging to the township or district for which he is treasurer and all books and papers pertaining to his office. The regional superintendent of schools shall file with the State Board of Education before September 1 in each year an affidavit showing which treasurers of school districts under his supervision and control are properly bonded.

(Source: P.A. 81-1508.)

(105 ILCS 5/3-9) (from Ch. 122, par. 3-9)

Sec. 3-9. School funds; apportionment and payment. Whenever the regional superintendent receives amounts due to local school districts, the regional superintendent shall apportion and distribute the moneys to the appropriate local school districts as directed. No part of the State or other school funding, however, shall be paid to any school treasurer or other persons authorized to receive it unless such treasurer has filed the required bond, or if reelected, has renewed the bond and filed it as required by law.

(Source: P.A. 95-496, eff. 8-28-07.)

(105 ILCS 5/3-9.1) (from Ch. 122, par. 3-9.1)

Sec. 3-9.1. Investment of funds. Funds of the educational service region are public funds within the meaning of the Public Funds Investment Act and may be invested by the educational service region as provided in that Act, except as otherwise provided in this Code.

Any educational service region, with the approval of its regional superintendent of schools, is authorized to enter into agreements of any definite or indefinite term regarding the deposit, redeposit, investment, reinvestment or withdrawal of educational service region funds, including, without limitation, agreements with other educational service regions, agreements with community college districts authorized by Section 3-47 of the Public Community College Act and agreements with township and school treasurers authorized by Section 8-7 of this Code.

Each educational service region is permitted to (i) combine moneys of the educational service region for the purpose of investing the moneys and (ii) join with other educational service regions, community college districts, and township and school treasurers in investing educational service region funds, community college funds and school funds. Those joint investments shall be made only in investments authorized by law for the investment of educational service region funds or, in the case of investments made jointly with community colleges and school and township treasurers, in investments authorized by law for the investment of educational service region funds, community college funds and school funds. When moneys of more than one fund of a single educational service region are combined for investment purposes or when moneys of an educational service region are combined with moneys of other educational service regions or moneys of community college districts and school districts, the moneys combined for that purpose shall be accounted for separately in all respects, and the earnings from that investment shall be separately and individually computed and recorded, and credited to the fund or educational service region, community college district or school district, as the case may be, for which the investment was acquired.

(Source: P.A. 87-968; 88-641, eff. 9-9-94.)

(105 ILCS 5/3-9.5)

Sec. 3-9.5. Interfund loans allowed. A regional office of education is allowed to make interfund loans. If a regional office of education makes an interfund loan, then it must repay the loan by the end of the fiscal year.

(Source: P.A. 92-169, eff. 1-1-02.)

(105 ILCS 5/3-10) (from Ch. 122, par. 3-10)

Sec. 3-10. Controversies - opinion and advice - Appeal. In all controversies arising under the school law, the opinion and advice of the regional superintendent shall first be sought, whence appeal may be taken upon a written statement of facts certified by the regional superintendent to the State Board of Education.

(Source: P.A. 81-1508.)