An Illinois Appellate Court ruled in favor of a Village in a
bike injury case in Johnson
v. Village of Palatine. In
June 2020, a cyclist was riding his bicycle on a sidewalk adjacent to a
high-traffic street. While riding his bike, the cyclist struck an uneven
section of the sidewalk, and fell and was injured. He sued the Village,
claiming the Village owed him a duty of care to maintain or repair the sidewalk,
which he claimed the Village negligently failed to do, leaving it dangerous and
unsafe for use.The Village asserted the following defenses against the
lawsuit:
Continue Reading Village Owed No Duty of Care to Bicyclist Injured on Sidewalk

Effective
on August 9, 2024, Illinois Governor Pritzker signed SB 1960 into law as Public
Act 103-0899, which amends the Illinois Vehicle Code to add provisions
regarding low-speed electric scooters.
The new law defines a low-speed electric scooter as follows:A device weighing less than 100 pounds, with 2 or 3 wheels, handlebars, and a floorboard that can be stood upon while riding, that is solely powered by an electric motor and human power, and whose maximum speed, with or without human propulsion, is no more than 10 miles per hour. “Low-speed electric scooter” does not include a moped or motor-driving…
Continue Reading New Illinois Law Regulates Low-Speed Electric Scooters

The Public Access Counselor of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office issued its 10th binding opinion of 2024 in PAC Op. 24-010, finding a Village Board in violation of the Open Meetings Act for failing to make its meetings open and convenient to the public.Multiple requests for review were filed against a Village relating to meetings held in June and July of 2024. Specific complaints included allegations that there was insufficient space in the meeting room for members of the public who wanted to attend and many were turned away from each of these meetings because of limited seating capacity,,…
Continue Reading PAC Finds Village Board Meetings Were Not Open or Convenient Under OMA

With
municipalities across Illinois set to elect new local officers at the 2025
Consolidated Elections, an overview of the lesser-known nomination method of
municipal caucuses may be helpful for smaller municipalities. Note that the overview discussed below applies to official caucus nomination methods established by statute, and not the informal “caucus” political party nomination process that is used in some municipalities. If you are not sure which system your municipality must follow, please consult with your legal counsel.Illinois
municipalities administer either partisan elections (where candidates are
nominated and elected from political parties) or nonpartisan elections (where
candidates are nominated and…
Continue Reading Municipal Caucus Overview for the 2025 Consolidated Election

The Seventh Circuit Court of
Appeals recently issued an opinion upholding municipal sign regulations
against a First Amendment challenge brought by a billboard company. GEFT
Outdoor, LLC v. City of Evansville, Indiana.
A City in Indiana had enacted sign regulations that distinguish between on-premises signs and
off-premises signs. In a lawsuit that spanned several years and included
various arguments under the First Amendment, these regulations were challenged
by a billboard company on various grounds, including that: (1) the distinction between on- and
off-premises signs in the City’s sign code was an unconstitutional content-based classification; (2)
the City’s criteria for…
Continue Reading In the Zone: Seventh Circuit Rejects Challenge to Local Sign Regulations

Every election cycle presents
unique challenges for public bodies. To
stay ahead of these possible issues, one thing to add to your checklist is
the review of your sign ordinance to make sure you are prepared to address any
issues that arise related to the regulation of election and campaign
signs. First, you should confirm your sign
ordinances does not single out political signs. Municipal officials should be
aware of restrictions on their authority to regulate temporary election and
campaign signs on private property. Illinois law prevents municipalities from
prohibiting the display of temporary outdoor political campaign signs on
private residential…
Continue Reading Regulating Election and Campaign Signs

Note: this is part 2 in our 2-part series on elected officials compensation.Our previous post discussed
the time period by which public bodies must establish compensation for their
officers to be elected in the April 2025 election. In this post, we address special factors to
keep in mind when establishing compensation for elected officials.
First, section 3.1-30-5 of the Illinois Municipal
Code requires municipalities to establish their compensation by ordinance – not
by a resolution or motion. The salaries may be fixed in the annual appropriation or budget
ordinance, provided that the salaries or compensation of an elected official
may not…
Continue Reading Special Considerations about Establishing Compensation of Elected Officials

Note: this is part 1 of a 2-part series on elected officials compensation. Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrowAlthough the outcome of the
November 2024 elections is still unresolved, it is time for Illinois local
governments to start focusing on the 2025 elections. One important action step that needs to move
to the top of your list is establishing compensation for the officers who will
be elected in 2025. Section 2 of the
Local Government Officer Compensation Act specifies that the compensation of
elected officers “shall be fixed at least 180 days before the beginning of the
terms of the officers…
Continue Reading It’s Time to Establish Elected Officials’ Compensation for Terms Starting in 2025

Former employees sued a City claiming it unlawfully withheld employment taxes and compensatory time from benefits they received pursuant to the Public Employee Disability Act (PEDA). PEDA provides benefits to certain eligible public employees who are injured in the line of duty for a period of up to a year. The trial court ruled in favor of the employees, but on appeal, the Illinois Appellate Court reversed and sent the case back to the trial court for further proceedings. Bitner v. City of Pekin.
The employees claimed, among other things, that the City violated the Illinois Wage Payment and
Collection…
Continue Reading Appellate Court Reverses Ruling in PEDA Benefits Case

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling in favor of a municipality that its zoning
code did not unlawfully discriminate against religious institutions where it only permitted religious institutions as special uses in certain zoning districts. Word
Seed Church v. Village of Hazel Crest
A church was looking for a new permanent building for its 120-person congregation and wanted to buy property in a village. The
village’s zoning code did not allow churches as permitted, by-right uses in any
of its zoning districts, but some of the districts allowed churches as special
uses. The church sued the village…
Continue Reading In the Zone: Seventh Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Church Zoning Dispute

The Democratic National
Convention is being held in Chicago from August 19-22, 2024. In preparation for
the event, the Chicago Police Department and the Secret Service established security protocols for the areas surrounding the convention
facilities. The City of Chicago also enacted an ordinance prohibiting items
such as laptops, drones, pointed objects, and weapons inside the perimeters.In Thayer v. City of Chicago, individuals who planned to protest at the DNC challenged the ordinance as unconstitutionally vague. Specifically, they
challenged the prohibition of “pointed objects,” arguing that this ban raised a question whether protesters could bring ballpoint pens or wear…
Continue Reading DNC Safety Ordinance is Not Unconstitutionally Vague

The State of Illinois sued 3M alleging the company’s Cordova Facility caused PFAS contamination in
the Mississippi River in violation of state environmental protection laws. 3M’s
Cordova Facility is located along the Mississippi River’s banks and chemicals
containing PFAS are manufactured at the facility. 3M sought to remove the lawsuit
to federal court, arguing the PFAS contamination in the Mississippi River
could have come from the Army’s Rock Island facility (which is also located on the Mississippi River), and that it had immunity
from any state law violations under the government contractor defense. The
State argued the case should stay in…
Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Keeps PFAS Lawsuit in State court