Local Government Law Bulletin
A Reminder as to the Enforceability of Private Property Agreements
Under Illinois law, the Illinois Vehicle Code (IVC) is not enforceable on private property. However, municipalities and counties may choose to enter into private property agreements (PPAs) with private entities (i.e. shopping centers, apartment complexes, commercial...
Proposed Bill Could Expand Illinois’s Video Gaming Act
A proposed addition to the Video Gaming Act (VGA) aims to broaden municipal and county authority to regulate the number of video gaming terminals and location of terminals in its boundaries. Currently under the VGA, municipalities and counties may either prohibit...
Further Limitations Placed on Governmental Immunity
As the snow continues to fall, it is important for local governments to reflect on a recent Illinois Appellate Court case concerning snow removal. In Pattullo-Banks v. City of Park Ridge, the court limited the breadth of governmental immunity under the Tort Immunity...
New Changes to Audit Transparency for Local Governments
The arrival of the New Year has brought about a variety of changes to Illinois laws. In particular, one of these changes brings added transparency to the audit process under the Illinois Counties and Illinois Municipal codes. Specifically, the law now requires that an...
Elected Officials’ E-Mail Addresses Must Be Available and Linked to the Local Government Home Page
Among the new legislation affecting municipalities in 2015 is a new internet posting requirement contained in the Local Records Act (Public Act 98-0930). Before April 2015, local government bodies, including school districts, that maintain a website (whether full-time...
Ability of Municipality to Regulate Video Gaming Is Being Tested
One of the state’s major video game machine suppliers, Accel Entertainment Gaming, LLC, recently lost a challenge to the Village of Elmwood Park’s video gaming ordinance. Accel made several challenges to the ordinance; of particular note was the $1,000 annual...
Warehouse Workers Not Entitled to Pay for Time Spent Waiting and Going Through Anti-theft Screenings
On Dec. 9, 2014, the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision holding that the time spent by employees waiting to go and going through security screenings is not compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (“FLSA”). Pursuant to FLSA and the...
New Relief for Local Governments in Responding to FOIA Requests
The Illinois Legislature recently voted to override Governor Quinn’s veto of HB3796, which went into effect immediately (Dec. 3, 2014). This bill offers two different types of relief to units of local government in responding to Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”)...
Brown, Garner and Rice Cases Are Reminders of Potential Coverage Consequences Brought on by Alleged Police Misconduct
With the recent police shootings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland, as well as the death by strangulation of Eric Garner at the hands of city police officers in New York City, comes a renewed national debate -- whether it...