101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB5582

 

Introduced , by Rep. Emanuel Chris Welch

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/7-1  from Ch. 122, par. 7-1

    Amends the School Code. Provides that in a petition for changing the boundaries of a school district by detachment or dissolution, the signatures on the petition are required to be signed by the qualified voters in their own proper persons only (rather than the requirement that signatures match the official signature and address of the legal resident voters as recorded in the office of the county clerk or board of election commissioners) and opposite the signature of each signer his or her residence address shall be written or printed.


LRB101 19366 CMG 68838 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB5582LRB101 19366 CMG 68838 b

1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
57-1 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/7-1)  (from Ch. 122, par. 7-1)
7    Sec. 7-1. Changing boundaries by detachment or
8dissolution.
9    (a) School district boundaries may be changed by
10detachment, annexation, division or dissolution or any
11combination thereof by the regional board of school trustees or
12by the State Superintendent of Education as provided in
13subsection (l) of Section 7-6.
14    The petition must be filed with and decided solely by the
15regional board of school trustees of the region in which the
16regional superintendent of schools has supervision and
17control, as defined in Section 3-14.2 of this Code, of the
18detaching or dissolving school district. The petition may be
19filed in any office operated by the regional superintendent
20with supervision and control, as defined in Section 3-14.2 of
21this Code, of the detaching or dissolving school district.
22    A petition for boundary change must be filed by the school
23board of the detaching or dissolving district, by a majority of

 

 

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1the legal resident voters in the dissolving district, or by
2two-thirds of a combination of the legal resident voters and
3the owners of record of any real estate with no legal resident
4voters in any territory proposed to be detached. If any of the
5territory proposed to be detached contains real estate with no
6legal resident voters, petitioners shall deliver the petition
7by certified mail, return receipt requested, to all owners of
8record of any real estate with no legal resident voters. Proof
9of such delivery must be presented as evidence at the hearing
10required under Section 7-6 of this Code. Any owner of record of
11real estate with no legal resident voters in any territory
12proposed to be detached may either sign the petition in person
13and before the circulator as described in this Section or
14return the petition with his or her notarized signature to be
15included as a petitioner. No person may sign a petition in the
16capacity of both a legal resident voter and owner of record. If
17there are no legal resident voters within the territory
18proposed to be detached, then the petition must be signed by
19all of the owners of record of the real estate of the
20territory. Legal resident voters shall be determined by the
21official voter registration lists as of the date the petition
22is filed. No signatures shall be added or withdrawn after the
23date the petition is filed. The length of time for signatures
24to be valid, before filing of the petition, shall not exceed 6
25months. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary
26contained in the Election Code, the regional superintendent of

 

 

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1schools shall make all determinations regarding the validity of
2the petition, including, without limitation, signatures on the
3petition. If the regional superintendent determines that the
4petition is not in proper order or not in compliance with any
5applicable petition requirements, the regional superintendent
6may not accept the petition for filing and may return the
7petition to the petitioners. Any party who is dissatisfied with
8the determination of the regional superintendent regarding the
9validity of the petition may appeal the regional
10superintendent's decision to the regional board of school
11trustees by motion, and the motion must be heard by the
12regional board of school trustees prior to any hearing on the
13merits of the petition.
14    Petitions for detachment and dissolution shall include the
15full prayer of the petition with a general description of the
16territory at the top of each page. Such petition shall be
17signed by the qualified voters in their own proper persons
18only, opposite the signature of each signer his or her
19residence address shall be written or printed Each signature
20contained therein shall match the official signature and
21address of the legal resident voters as recorded in the office
22of the county clerk or board of election commissioners, and
23each petitioner shall record the date of his or her signing.
24Except in instances of a notarized signature of an owner of
25record of real estate with no legal resident voters in any
26territory proposed to be detached, each page of the circulated

 

 

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1petition shall be signed by a circulator stating that he or she
2has witnessed the signature of each petitioner on that page.
3Detachment petitions containing 10 or fewer signatures may be
4notarized in lieu of a circulator statement. Each petition
5shall include an accurate legal description and map of the
6territory proposed to be detached. If a petition proposes to
7dissolve an entire district, then the full name and number of
8the district and a map are sufficient. Each petition shall
9include the names of petitioners; the district to be dissolved
10or the district from which the territory is proposed to be
11detached; the district or districts to which the territory is
12proposed to be annexed; evidence that the detaching or
13dissolving territory is compact and contiguous with the
14annexing district or districts or otherwise meets the
15requirements set forth in Section 7-4 of this Code; the
16referendum date, if applicable; and facts that support
17favorable findings for the factors to be considered by the
18regional board of school trustees pursuant to Section 7-6 of
19this Code.
20    Where there is only one school building in an approved
21operating district, the building and building site may not be
22included in any detachment proceeding.
23    Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Code, if,
24pursuant to a petition filed under this subsection (a), all of
25the territory of a school district is to be annexed to another
26school district, then any action by the regional board of

 

 

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1school trustees in granting or approving the petition and any
2change in school district boundaries pursuant to that action is
3subject to and the change in school district boundaries may not
4be made except upon approval, at a regular scheduled election,
5in the manner provided by Section 7-7.7 of this Code, of a
6proposition for the annexation of all of the territory of that
7school district to the other school district.
8    No petition may be filed under this Section to form a new
9school district under this Article; however, such a petition
10may be filed under this Section to form a new school district
11if the boundaries of such new school district lie entirely
12within the boundaries of a military base or installation
13operated and maintained by the government of the United States.
14    (b) Any elementary or high school district with 100 or more
15of its students residing upon territory located entirely within
16a military base or installation operated and maintained by the
17government of the United States, or any unit school district or
18any combination of the above mentioned districts with 300 or
19more of its students residing upon territory located entirely
20within a military base or installation operated and maintained
21by the government of the United States, shall, upon the filing
22with the regional board of school trustees of a petition
23adopted by resolution of the board of education or a petition
24signed by a majority of the registered voters residing upon
25such military base or installation, have all of the territory
26lying entirely within such military base or installation

 

 

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1detached from such school district, and a new school district
2comprised of such territory shall be created. The petition
3shall be filed with and decided solely by the regional board of
4school trustees of the region in which the regional
5superintendent of schools has supervision and control, as
6defined by Section 3-14.2 of this Code, of the school district
7affected. The regional board of school trustees shall have no
8authority to deny the detachment and creation of a new school
9district requested in a proper petition filed under this
10subsection. This subsection shall apply only to those school
11districts having a population of not fewer than 1,000 and not
12more than 500,000 residents, as ascertained by any special or
13general census.
14    The new school district shall tuition its students to the
15same districts that its students were previously attending and
16the districts from which the new district was detached shall
17continue to educate the students from the new district, until
18the federal government provides other arrangements. The
19federal government shall pay for the education of such children
20as required by Section 6 of Public Law 81-874.
21    If a school district created under this subsection (b) has
22not elected a school board and has not become operational
23within 2 years after the date of detachment, then this district
24is automatically dissolved and the territory of this district
25reverts to the school district from which the territory was
26detached or any successor district thereto. Any school district

 

 

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1created under this subsection (b) on or before September 1,
21996 that has not elected a school board and has not been
3operational since September 1, 1996 is automatically dissolved
4on the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1999, and on
5this date the territory of this district reverts to the school
6district from which the territory was detached. For the
7automatic dissolution of a school district created under this
8subsection (b), the regional superintendent of schools who has
9supervision and control, as defined by Section 3-14.2 of this
10Code, of the school district from which the territory was
11detached shall certify to the regional board of school trustees
12that the school district created under this subsection (b) has
13been automatically dissolved.
14(Source: P.A. 100-374, eff. 8-25-17.)