The class will focus on introducing you to the Illinois regulatory process, as well as how to research agency information in Illinois.
Similar to its federal counterpart, the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act (IAPA), 5 ILCS 100/, prescribes the process that all of the state's departments and agencies (hereinafter "agencies") must follow when establishing administrative regulations (also called "rules"). Regulations in Illinois are promulgated for the purpose of interpreting or implementing provisions of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS). While regulations can be helpful when trying to determine the application of a code provision, regulations should not be interpreted to expand or limit the scope of a statute.
In addition to formal regulations, Illinois agencies provide a variety of resources in other ways. Agencies may issue informal interpretive guidance, produce publications such as fact sheets and handbooks, or provide information via the agency website.
Illinois agency websites can be one of best resources when doing Illinois administrative law research. The web presence of each agency may vary greatly. You will find that some agencies will publish more content or have a more navigable site. In addition, each agency may name its content areas and publications differently. This can make it more difficult to search, so it is important for researchers to think critically about what kind of information may be available and all they various terms or phrases that apply to that information.
The Illinois.gov's Search Agencies page links the homepage for Illinois state departments, agencies, boards, and commissions. From there, you can locate an agency and go to its website directly. Unfortunately, the Search Agencies page does not list the 93 state executive entities in any particular order.
Many agency sites have information about the statutes that empower the agency, details about what the agency does, links to agency regulations, the text of agency adjudicatory decisions, and forms, publications, and contact information intended for public use.
In addition, agency websites may supply other related information, as well as informal guidance via factsheets, press releases, and other agency-produced content. While only the agency's promulgated regulations have the force of law, these additional secondary materials may prove to be useful during your research process.
Illinois.gov's listing of Illinois departments, agencies, boards, and commissions.
Provides a description of the structure of state government and has extensive background and contact information for the executive branch, including state agencies.
The Office of the Governor: The Governor of Illinois can issue orders that have the effect of law. Executive Orders and Administrative Orders issued by governors, for 1999-present, are available on Illinois.gov's Executive & Administrative Orders webpage. They can be browsed in full text, but cannot be searched electronically
Illinois Attorney General: The Illinois Attorney General (AG) is vested with some executive authority. The AG is a constitutionally established officer, and serves as the lawyer for the state. While AG opinions do not carry the force of law, they can be viewed as a highly authoritative source of guidance. Often they are issued on questions of law that have not yet been settled by the courts or by statute. Both agencies and courts often look to AG opinions, though they are not binding. Official AG opinions, for 1971-present, are available from the AG's website. The AG also issues informal opinion letters, but they are not published and can be more difficult to find.
Illinois Freedom of Information Act (Illinois FOIA) (5 ILCS 140/): State agencies are subject to Illinois FOIA. Thus, Illinois FOIA may be an avenue for gathering information. In addition, Illinois FOIA can be used to locate historical versions of publications which are not otherwise readily available. Informal AG opinions are also subject to Illnois FOIA.
The two sources for Illinois regulations are the Illinois Register and the Illinois Administrative Code (IAC). The core webpage for Illinois administrative and regulatory activity is that of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR).
The Illinois Register is the official, weekly compilation of Illinois administrative law documents, usually published on Friday, and is available in PDF for Volume 26 (2002) through Volume 43 (2019) via the CyberdriveIllinois.com website.
The Illinois Register is published by the Illinois Secretary of State, and includes notices of proposed rulemaking, emergency rules, notices of comment periods, hearings on proposed rulemaking, and other information about rulemaking that is in-progress. Final rules are published in the Illinois Register with the date they will become effective.
Print issues of the Illinois Register issues may be found in the Law Library, in the Illinois Alcove for Volumes 34-43 (2010-2019) and in the first-floor compact stacks for Volumes 1-33 (1977-2009), at KFI 1234.5 .I44, as well as in many other university and public libraries in Illinois.
The Illinois Administrative Code (IAC) is published by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR), and has not been published in print since 1996. The IAC is the official codification of final rules published in the Illinois Register, and, similar to the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS), is organized by titles (subject), parts, and sections.
The current IAC is available in HTML through the ilga.gov website, where it is keyword searchable. Older IAC versions in print, covering 1985 through 1996, are available in the Law Library, in the first-floor compact stacks, at KFI 1234.5 .I45.
Both the Illinois Register and the IAC are available in regularly-updated commercial sources such as Westlaw Edge, Lexis Advance, and Bloomberg Law.
The Office of the Illinois Secretary of State has a number of tools that index administrative activities in Illinois for the current calendar year, at its Administrative Code and Codification Indexes page.
Importantly, administrative activities in Illinois are detailed in The Flinn Report, usually released on Friday along with the corresponding Illinois Register issue. The Flinn Report is available on the JCAR website for the previous six months.
The Flinn Report includes details on:
Description and details on JCAR activities, links to the Illinois Register, Illinois Administrative Code, The Flinn Report (for the previous six months), and a Second Notices list for regulations currently under JCAR review that were amended pursuant to the First Notice public comment period
Official state document for publishing public notice of rulemaking activity by Illinois state governmental agencies. Weekly update of the Illinois Administrative Code. Free access from the Illinois Secretary of State's CyberdriveIllinois.com website.
Rules/regulations of Illinois state agencies. Free access from the Illinois General Assembly's website (ilga.gov).
Call Number: KFI1234.A2 I43
Location:
2010-Present: Illinois Alcove
1977-2009: Compact Stacks
Official Illinois state document for publishing public notice of rulemaking activity by governmental agencies. Weekly update of the Illinois Administrative Code.
