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Illinois Compiled Statutes:
new system for organizing, citing state laws
The current system of coding and citing the statutes of Illinois via the Illinois Revised Statutes will no longer be used. With enactment of Public Act 87-1005, effective September 3, Illinois set in motion adoption of an official new scheme for organizing and numbering all statutes and a renewed push for simplifying them.
Effective January 1, the new system, devised by the Illinois General Assembly's Legislative Reference Bureau and named the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS), replaces the numbering plan used by West Publishing Co. in its Illinois Revised Statutes. West has been publishing all Illinois statutes, revising the reference works every two years, in a chapter and section numbering system that courts have upheld as protected by copyright.
The new system will be in the public domain and will also be used in the electronically stored database of the statutes maintained by the Illinois Legislative Information System (LIS).
Rep. David Hultgren (R-94 Monmouth), who sponsored the successful measure (HB 3810) this year, said that moving the system to the public domain was a major reason for the push to install the ILCS: "We hoped to eliminate a monopoly that currently exists." And, Rep. Hultgren "anticipates a choice" in publishers. Earlier attempts to adopt the Illinois Revised Statutes as the official state system for organizing and numbering Illinois laws were vetoed by Gov. James R. Thompson because of potential copyright infringements with West Publishing Co.
West plans on incorporating the new ILCS arrangement into its print and electronic publications of Illinois statutes. Lawrence J. Culligan, West vice president and editor-in-chief, said, "West has supported the efforts of the state of Illinois to create an official codification of statutory law and any proposed legislation which would accomplish that end." West's main concern, he said, stems from the belief that PA 87-1005 will initially create a temporary numbering system that will again be changed in a few years, confusing Illinois attorneys and increasing the expense of research and West's publication of this "temporary" system.
Tim Bertschy, chairman of the Illinois State Bar Association's recodification committee, said that many of the statutes themselves have become "archaic and overgrown." He believes that what West sees as a problem with the "two-step" recodification probably won't cause much confusion for Illinois attorneys. Bertschy explained the two-step process. First, the statutes will be arranged under the new system which will take effect on January 1, 1993. Then, many of the statutes themselves will be "edited," combined and updated as recommended by the Legislative Reference Bureau to make them more useful. Mary Lou LowderKent, director of legislative affairs for the Illinois State Bar Association, said, "The change may be initially confusing, but we feel that in the long run it'll be better." Richard C. Edwards, deputy director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, also said the two-step process should not be a concern. He said the revising of statutes is an ongoing, endless process.
Statutes dealing with townships provide an example of the recodification process. About 30 different acts deal with townships in Chapter 139 of West's Illinois Revised Statutes, but various other acts deal with aspects of townships (township cemeteries, township mental health centers, etc.) in four other chapters. Written at different times, these acts have also been amended by the General Assembly. The first step in recodifying will move all acts on townships into one township chapter (60) under the government section of the Illinois Compiled Statutes. The next step involves review of the township acts to make them parallel and unify them as a single code in the ILCS.
As prescribed by PA 87-1005, the Legislative Reference Bureau on September 14 filed the new compilation of the general acts of Illinois with the index division of the Office of the Secretary of State, the General Asssembly, the governor and the Supreme Court. Two booklets are available from the Legislative Reference Bureau documenting the transition from the old to the new systems. The first booklet includes the act-by-act new compilation of the statutes and costs $5; the second provides a section-by-section cross reference between the Illinois Revised Statutes and the Illinois Compiled Statutes and costs $15. Both are available from the Legislative Reference Bureau; for order forms, telephone (217) 782-6625.
While the ILCS is effective this January, a transition period is established by PA 87-1005 to allow the statewide reporting systems for criminal, traffic and other statutory offenses to continue the use of citations to the Illinois Revised Statutes until July 1,1994. The transition date can be moved up by agreement of the Supreme Court, the secretary of state, the director of State Police and the circuit clerks of the two largest counties. Cook and DuPage.
Charles Swearingen
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