Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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10 ILCS 5/28-2

(10 ILCS 5/28-2) (from Ch. 46, par. 28-2)

Sec. 28-2.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this Section, petitions
for the submission of public questions to referendum must be filed with the
appropriate officer or board not less than 92 days prior to a regular
election to be eligible for submission on the ballot at such election; and
petitions for the submission of a question under Section 18-120 or Section 18-206 of the
Property Tax Code must be filed with the appropriate officer or board not more
than 10 months nor less than 6 months prior to the election at which such
question is to be submitted to the voters.

(b) However, petitions for the submission of a public question to
referendum which proposes the creation or formation of a political
subdivision must be filed with the appropriate officer or board not less
than 122 days prior to a regular election to be eligible for submission on
the ballot at such election.

(c) Resolutions or ordinances of governing boards of political
subdivisions which initiate the submission of public questions pursuant
to law must be adopted not less than 79 days before a regularly scheduled
election to be eligible for submission on the ballot at such election.

(d) A petition, resolution or ordinance initiating the submission of a
public question may specify a regular election at which the question is
to be submitted, and must so specify if the statute authorizing the
public question requires submission at a particular election. However,
no petition, resolution or ordinance initiating the submission of a
public question, other than a legislative resolution initiating an
amendment to the Constitution, may specify such submission at an
election more than one year, or 15 months in the case of a back door referendum as defined in subsection (f), after the date on which it is filed or
adopted, as the case may be. A petition, resolution or ordinance
initiating a public question which specifies a particular election at
which the question is to be submitted shall be so limited, and shall not
be valid as to any other election, other than an emergency referendum
ordered pursuant to Section 2A-1.4.

(e) If a petition initiating a public question does not specify a
regularly scheduled election, the public question shall be submitted to
referendum at the next regular election occurring not less than 92 days
after the filing of the petition, or not less than 122 days after the
filing of a petition for referendum to create a political subdivision.  If
a resolution or ordinance initiating a public question does not specify a
regularly scheduled election, the public question shall be submitted to
referendum at the next regular election occurring not less than 79 days
after the adoption of the resolution or ordinance.

(f) In the case of back door referenda, any limitations in another
statute authorizing such a referendum which restrict the time in which
the initiating petition may be validly filed shall apply to such
petition, in addition to the filing deadlines specified in this Section
for submission at a particular election.  In the case of any back door
referendum, the publication of the ordinance or resolution of the political
subdivision shall include a notice of (1) the specific number of voters
required to sign a petition requesting that a public question be submitted
to the voters of the subdivision; (2) the time within which the petition must
be filed; and (3) the date of the prospective referendum.  The secretary or
clerk of the political subdivision shall provide a petition form to any
individual requesting one. The legal sufficiency of that form, if provided by the secretary or clerk of the political subdivision, cannot be the basis of a challenge to placing the back door referendum on the ballot. As used herein, a "back door
referendum" is the submission of a public question to the voters of a
political subdivision, initiated by a petition of voters or residents of
such political subdivision, to determine whether an action by the
governing body of such subdivision shall be adopted or rejected.

(g) A petition for the incorporation or formation of a new
political subdivision whose officers are to be elected rather than appointed
must have attached to it an affidavit attesting that at least 122 days and
no more than 152 days prior to such election notice of intention to file
such petition was published in a newspaper published within the proposed
political subdivision, or if none, in a newspaper of general circulation
within the territory of the proposed political subdivision in substantially
the following form:

NOTICE OF PETITION TO FORM A NEW........

Residents of the territory described below are notified that a petition
will or has been filed in the Office of............requesting a referendum
to establish a new........, to be called the............

*The officers of the new...........will be elected on the same day as the
referendum.  Candidates for the governing board of the new......may file
nominating petitions with the officer named above until...........

The territory proposed to comprise the new........is described as follows:

        (description of territory included in petition)
        (signature)....................................
        Name and address of person or persons proposing
        the new political subdivision.

* Where applicable.

Failure to file such affidavit, or failure to publish the required notice
with the correct information contained therein shall render the petition,
and any referendum held pursuant to such petition, null and void.

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this subsection (g) or any
other provisions of this Code, the publication of notice and affidavit
requirements of this subsection (g) shall not apply to any petition filed
under Article 7 or 11E of the School Code nor to any
referendum
held pursuant to any such petition, and neither any petition filed under
any of those Articles nor any referendum held pursuant to any such petition
shall be rendered null and void because of the failure to file an affidavit
or publish a notice with respect to the petition or referendum as required
under this subsection (g) for petitions that are not filed under any of
those Articles of the School Code.

(Source: P.A. 100-465, eff. 8-31-17.)