Attorney General Opinions Junked cars Even though the Vehicle Recycling Board failed to deal with the problem of abandoned vehicles, the attorney general concluded that the Motor Vehicle Laws Commission cannot take over the board's job of distributing funds to dispose of these vehicles. Because of the board's inactivity, over $9 million in funds collected through special taxes have not been used and have been transferred for other purposes. However, the Motor Vehicle Laws Commission is a legislative body, authorized only to make studies and investigations, while the Vehicle Recycling Board is an executive body with the authority to distribute appropriated funds. The separation-of-powers requirements of the 1970 Illinois Constitution (Art. 11, sec. 1) prohibit one branch of government from usurping the powers of another. Public records and information, S-1378: Records collected by the director of the Department of Financial Institutions pursuant to the Financial Institutions Disclosure Act, (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, Ch. 95. sec. 201 et seq.) fall within the definition of "records" in the State Records Act. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, Ch. 116, sec. 43.20). Therefore they must be disposed of according to
October 1978/Illinois Issues/31 the provisions of this act which require the department director to obtain the approval of the State Records Commission before disposing of the records. The records must then be disposed of according to the commission's regulations. Special districts, NP-1376: The Waukegan Park District may not charge nonresidents of the district higher fees than residents for the use of terminal and port facilities. Under the specifications of the Waukegan Port District Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, Ch. 19, sec. 179 et seq.), it would not be considered "just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory" to charge one user of the district's facilities more than another merely because of their places of residence. Another fact supporting this conclusion is that this district has never taxed its residents, and thus they have no more claim to use of the facilities than do nonresidents. Even if a tax had been levied, however, the act would not permit fees that discriminate against nonresidents. County zoning, S-1377: A county is unable to control the building of hog pens by zoning. According to the County Zoning Act, a county cannot regulate any land or buildings used for agriculture, except that building or set back lines may be imposed (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, Ch. 34, sec. 3151). This act, however, does not limit the county's zoning power with respect to land, but rather with respect to the land's use for agricultural purposes. Open meetings, S-1375: The Champaign County Council on Alcoholism is not required to keep meetings of its board of directors open to the public. The council is a private, nonprofit organization under contract with the Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities. It does not fall under the provisions of the Open Meetings Act which covers state agencies and committees and their subsidiaries. Funds for cemeteries, S-1379: The Cemetery Care Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, Ch. 21, sec. 64.1 et seq.) requires that cemetery care funds be held intact and states that they exist in perpetuity to maintain cemetery lots, structures or memorials. These may not be used for the payment of other expenses a rising from cemetery management. Laws governing trust funds in general, which might permit this are superceded by the Cemetery Care Act which governs a specific trust fund. Deputy sheriffs, S-1347: Deputy sheriffs are not prohibited by statute from running for a political office. However, a county merit commission may prohibit a person currently serving as a sheriffs deputy from being a political candidate. Powers of a coroner, S-1368: A coroner is not authorized to order any medical procedure from anyone other than the physician designated by law (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, Ch. 31, sec. 10.1). However, a coroner's duty to cause an autopsy to be performed gives him authority to move the body to the place designated for such an operation. Administrative law, S-1362: The Illinois Administrative Procedure Act (Ill. Rev. Stat, 1977, Ch. 127, sec. 1001 et seq.) is applicable to the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, as it applies to every state agency. The board meets the requirements for being an agency since it is both a state board and authorized by law to make rules. State employees, S-1370: Illinois Arts Council employees are covered by the state Personnel Code. The act creating the Arts Council is not incompatible with any of the provisions of the Personnel Code and did not specifically exempt Arts Council employees from its jurisdiction. 32/October 1978/Illinois Issues
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