by Randal Birkey | Aug 17, 2015 | Attorney, David W. McArdle, Local Government Law Bulletin, Uncategorized
Recently, a federal appellate court determined that an Illinois municipality’s anti-panhandling ordinance was unconstitutional. Specifically, the ordinance in question prohibited panhandling in the municipality’s “downtown historic district.” The area in question only...
by Randal Birkey | Aug 6, 2015 | Brad Stewart, Local Government Law Bulletin, Uncategorized
The McHenry County Sheriff’s Office was fined $5,000 in addition to approximately $80,000 for the other side’s legal costs and filing fees, after a trial court deemed it to have improperly withheld documents from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The FOIA...
by Randal Birkey | Aug 6, 2015 | Local Government Law Bulletin, Michael J. Smoron, Uncategorized
Recently, the Illinois Senate approved a bill (SB 0318) which would place a freeze on property taxes. This freeze would apply to all taxing districts outside of Cook County for 2016 and 2017. This freeze would apply to both home rule and non-home rule municipalities....
by Randal Birkey | Jul 15, 2015 | Brad Stewart, Local Government Law Bulletin, Uncategorized
The Supreme Court, in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, recently invalidated a town’s ordinance which created 23 sign classifications and restrictions thereto. The First Amendment’s freedom of speech was at specific issue, and whether the classifications, which did not...
by Randal Birkey | Jul 15, 2015 | Jonathan M. Feinstein, Local Government Law Bulletin, Uncategorized
Recently, an Illinois appellate court affirmed the decision of a zoning board denying a resident’s request to change his property to a planned business district. The resident completed construction of a barn on his parcel of land that he planned to use as storage for...
by Randal Birkey | Jul 2, 2015 | Kelly A. Cahill, Local Government Law Bulletin, Uncategorized
Recently, a federal appellate court decided Shell v. Smith, a case involving the Americans with Disabilities Act and the termination of a City employee. The employee, a Mechanic’s Helper who had vision and hearing impairments, had held his position with the City for...
