Attorney General Opinions

Mining rights

80-039: The Illinois Department of Transportation (DOT) can lease mining rights to land within its jurisdiction to a private corporation. Under the Illinois Civil Administrative Code, DOT has the authority to lease such property holdings, if they are not currently being used by the state, for a maximum period of five years (///. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 127, sec. 49.13). Besides being limited to five years, the lease must protect public use of the highway, provide for protection against mine subsidence and provide sufficient royalty payments to the state.

Conflict of interest

80-028: Employment of a school board member's spouse as a teacher in the district governed by that school board does not in itself create a conflict of interest. The Illinois Corrupt Practices Act prohibits a government official from having a direct or indirect interest in any contract on which he or she may be called upon to vote(///. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 102, sec. 3). But in two 1977 appellate court cases in different districts (Hollister v. North and People v. Simpkins) the court ruled that the marital relationship in itself does not constitute an interest in a contract within the meaning of the act. Because this opinion is based upon a current finding of the law which reflects the 1977 opinions of the higher courts, it changes the opinion rendered by the attorney general in 1976. (For a more detailed discussion of the Hollister case and others, see Illinois Issues, July 1977, pp. 18-20.)

January 1981/Illinois Issues/33