Government of Illinois | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Part of | United States |
| Constitution | Constitution of Illinois |
| Legislative branch | |
| Name | Legislature |
| Type | Bicameral |
| Meeting place | Illinois General Assembly |
| Upper house | |
| Name | Senate |
| Presiding officer | Don Harmon, President |
| Lower house | |
| Name | House of Representatives |
| Presiding officer | Emanuel Chris Welch, Speaker |
| Executive branch | |
| Head of state andgovernment | |
| Title | Governor |
| Currently | J. B. Pritzker |
| Appointer | Election |
| Cabinet | |
| Name | Cabinet |
| Leader | Governor |
| Deputy leader | Lieutenant Governor |
| Headquarters | Illinois State Capitol |
| Judicial branch | |
| Name | Judiciary of Illinois |
| Courts | Courts of Illinois |
| Supreme Court of Illinois | |
| Chief judge | Mary Jane Theis |
| Seat | Springfield, Illinois |
TheGovernment of Illinois, under the State ofIllinoisConstitution, has three branches of government: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. TheState's executive branch is split into several statewide elected offices, with theGovernor as chief executive and head of state, and has numerous departments, agencies, boards and commissions. Legislative functions are granted to theGeneral Assembly, abicameral body consisting of the 118-memberHouse of Representatives and the 59-memberSenate. The judiciary is composed of theSupreme Court of Illinois and lower courts.
Theexecutive branch is composed of six elected officers and their offices, as well as numerous other departments.[1] Illinois is one of 26 states that elect theirgovernor on the same ticket as theirlieutenant governor.[2] The six elected officers are:
The government of Illinois has numerous departments, agencies, boards and commissions; however, the code departments, so called because they are established by theCivil Administrative Code of Illinois, provide most of the state's services:[1][3]
Former Lt. Governor and Attorney GeneralNeil Hartigan currently serves as General Counsel to The Governor of Illinois (J.B. Pritzker). Regulations are codified in theIllinois Administrative Code.[4] TheIllinois Register is the weekly publication containing proposed and adopted rules.[4]
TheIllinois General Assembly is thestate legislature, composed of the 118-memberIllinois House of Representatives and the 59-memberIllinois Senate. Representatives elect from their chamber aSpeaker and Speaker pro tempore, and senators elect from the chamber aPresident of the Senate.
The Governor has different types ofvetoes, such as a full veto, reduction veto, and an amendatory veto, but the General Assembly has the power to override gubernatorial vetoes through a three-fifths majority vote of each chamber. The General Assembly'ssession laws are published in the officialLaws of Illinois.[5][6] TheIllinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) are thecodified statutes of a general and permanent nature.[4][6]
TheSupreme Court has limitedoriginal jurisdiction and has finalappellate jurisdiction. It has mandatory jurisdiction incapital cases and cases where theconstitutionality of laws has been called into question, and hasdiscretionary jurisdiction from the Appellate Court. TheAppellate Court is the court of first appeal forcivil andcriminal cases rising in the Illinois circuit courts.
Thecircuit courts aretrial courts oforiginal jurisdiction. There are 25 judicial circuits in the state (24 numbered circuits and one forCook County), each comprising one or more of Illinois' 102 counties.[7] The circuit court hasgeneral jurisdiction and can decide, with few exceptions, any kind of case.
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Springfield is the state capital. Many state offices are in Springfield, and it is the regular meeting place of theIllinois General Assembly.[8] All officers chosen in statewide elections are required to have at least one residence in Springfield, funded by the state government.[9]
Cabinet officers and constitutional officers conduct much of their business at state offices in Chicago. In 2012,St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Pat Gauen argued that "in the reality of Illinois politics, [Springfield] sharesde facto capital status with Chicago."[8] According to Gauen, "Everybody who's anybody in Illinois government has an office in Chicago."[8]University of Illinois researcher and former member of the Illinois legislatureJim Nowlan stated "It’s almost like Chicago is becoming the shadow capital of Illinois" and that "Springfield is almost become a hinterland outpost."[9] A former director of theSouthern Illinois University Paul Simon Institute for Public Affairs, Mike Lawrence, criticized state officials for spending so little time in Springfield since it estranged them from and devalued Illinois state employees in that city.[9]
In 2007, Illinois state representativeRaymond Poe sponsored House Bill 1959, which proposed ending state financing for officers' travel to Springfield. "The state capital is Springfield, and that should be their work location," said Poe.[10]
Theadministrative divisions of Illinois are the counties, townships, precincts, cities, towns, villages, and special-purpose districts.[11] Illinois has more units oflocal government than any other state—over 8,000 in all. The basic subdivision of Illinois are the 102 counties,[12] of which 85 are in turn divided into 1,432 townships.[12] Municipal governments are the cities, villages, and incorporated towns.[12] Some localities possess "home rule", which allows them to govern themselves to a certain extent.[13] Illinois counties, townships, cities, and villages may promulgatelocal ordinances.[14] Illinois also has several types ofschool districts (including theChicago Public Schools and theIllinois Community College System) and additional units of government that oversee many other functions.
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