STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
* The State of Illinois in a Federal System
• The United States possesses a federal system of government, where power is
divided between the state and national government.
• Illinois is one of the 50 states in the United States of America. Each state has
sovereignty within their borders, under federal law and the Constitution of the
United States.
• Illinois also works with the other states in terms of economic plans in shared
major urban areas, and law enforcement areas, such as extradition which is the
legal process by which a fugitive from justice in one state can be returned to
that state. According to the Constitution and federal law, each state must
extradite criminals within their borders wanted in another state.
• The federal officers for the State of Illinois are the members of Congress, our
representatives to the House of Representatives and our members of the
Senate. Illinois is divided into 18 Congressional districts for purposes of electing
representatives, and like all other states has two Senators elected from it state
wide.
• Marshall, Illinois is currently in the 15th Congressional District along with
Danville, part of Champaign-Urbana, and south to Kentucky along the Indiana
border.
Representative John Shimkus (R)
15th Congressional District of Illinois
Illinois
United States
Senators
Illinois’ Senior Senator
Senate Majority Whip
Richard Durbin (D)
Illinois’ Junior Senator
Mark Kirk (R)
* The State of Illinois Constitution
• Illinois state constitution is under the federal constitution, as a result of the
fourteenth amendment’s incorporation doctrine.
• Illinois became a state in 1818. Since that time Illinois has had four
constitutions. The latest one that currently governs the state was adopted in
1971 and is made up of fourteen different articles.
• For the most part, it greatly resembles the federal government’s founding
documents of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. For
example, elements of both are included in the preamble to the Illinois
Constitution;
“We, the People of the State of Illinois - grateful to Almighty God for
the civil, political and religious liberty which He has permitted us to
enjoy and seeking His blessing upon our endeavors - in order to
provide for the health, safety and welfare of the people; maintain a
representative and orderly government; eliminate poverty and
inequality; assure legal, social and economic justice; provide
opportunity for the fullest development of the individual; insure
domestic tranquility; provide for the common defense; and secure
the blessings of freedom and liberty to ourselves and our posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the State of Illinois.“
* The State of Illinois Constitution
• Article One of the Illinois State Constitution is a Bill of Rights. Among the
rights guaranteed to the citizens of Illinois are:
• The right to enjoy inherent and inalienable natural rights, such as life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
• Due process and equal protection under the law
• The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship,
without discrimination
• Freedom of Speech
• Right to Assemble and Petition
• Protection against unreasonable searches and seizures
• The guarantee that no person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense
unless on indictment of a grand jury
• The right of persons accused of crimes to appear and defend themselves in
court in person, to have an attorney represent them, confront witnesses
against them, and be able to compel witnesses to testify on their behalf,
and to have a speedy public trial by jury, in the county in which the offense
was alleged to have been committed.
• The right to reasonable bail, unless the crime was a capital offense, or one
that would lead to life imprisonment, or may lead to potential harm to
others, and the right to habeas corpus (from the Latin, “State of the body,”
for people to know where a prisoner is located) unless in the cases of
invasion and rebellion.
* The State of Illinois Constitution
• Article One of the Illinois State Constitution is a Bill of Rights. Among the
rights guaranteed to the citizens of Illinois are:
• The right to not incriminate oneself, and protection from double jeopardy
• Not to serve your sentence outside of Illinois, and the right to have any
penalty assessed be with the purpose of restoring you to useful citizenship,
and to not be culpable for corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate
• The right to remedy of the law for all injuries and wrongs
• The right to trial by jury in civil cases
• Protection from imprisonment for debt
• The right to just compensation in instance of eminent domain
• No ex post facto laws
• No discrimination in employment and the sale or rental of property based
on race, color, creed, national ancestry and gender.
• No discrimination in any instance based on gender
• No discrimination based on mental or physical handicap
• Protection against the quartering of soldiers
• The right to arms
• The right to rights not enumerated in the State Constitution
* The State of Illinois Constitution
• Article One of the Illinois State Constitution is a Bill of Rights. Among the
rights guaranteed to the citizens of Illinois are:
• Some rights listed are not found in the U.S. Constitution, such as;
• Crime Victim’s Rights; to be treated with fairness and respect for
dignity, be notified of court proceedings, communicate with
prosecution, make a statement to the court upon sentencing, the
right to information about the conviction, sentence, imprisonment
and release of the accused, to be protected from the accused, and to
be present at the trial and all other court proceedings on the same
basis as the accused.
• The right to individual dignity so that any communications that
portray criminality, depravity, or lack of virtue in, or that incite
violence, hatred, abuse or hostility toward a person or group of
persons by reason or reference to religious, racial, ethnic, national or
regional affiliation are condemned.
* The State of Illinois Constitution
• Article Two creates three equal branches in the State of Illinois government, an
executive, a legislative and a judicial
• Article Three sets up voting requirements, qualifications and guidelines. It also
includes guidelines on how to conduct a recall election of the governor.
• Article IV establishes the legislative branch of the government of Illinois. Our
state legislature is known as the General Assembly.
• The General Assembly is a bicameral legislature consisting of a House of
Representatives and a Senate. The Constitution of the State of Illinois
establishes that the state be divided into 59 Legislative Districts for the election
of State Senators, and 118 Representative Districts for members of the House
of Representatives to be elected from.
• Marshall is in the 55th Legislative District and the 109th Representative District.
• State Senators serve a term of four years while state representatives serve a
term of two years.
• The General Assembly has pretty much the same role, organization, and is
modeled very closely on the United States Congress.
* The State of Illinois Constitution
• How a bill becomes a law in Illinois is also very similar, with some notable
exceptions regarding the executive veto.
• Every bill passed by the General Assembly must be given to the chief
executive of the state within 30 days.
• If the chief executive vetoes the bill, he does so by stating his objections in
writing and returning it to the chamber in which the bill originated.
• If it is not returned by the chief executive, and not signed, then after 60
days it becomes law.
• A 3/5th’s majority is needed in each chamber in order to overturn a veto.
• The chief executive also has the ability, in appropriations bills, of utilizing a
line item veto to reduce or reject any set amount of an appropriation
measure.
Illinois State Senator
55th Legislative District
Deputy Minority Leader
Dale A. Righter (R)
Illinois Representative
109th Representative District
Brad E. Halbrook (R)
* The State of Illinois Constitution
• The chairperson of the Illinois State Senate serves the role of
the Senate Majority Leader in Congress. The current Illinois
State Senate President is Senator John J. Cullerton (D) of the
6th Legislative District in Chicago.
• The chairperson of the Illinois State House of
Representatives is Michael J. Madigan (D) of the 22nd
Representative District in Chicago
* The State of Illinois Constitution
• Article Five creates the executive branch of the government of the State of
Illinois. Unlike the executive branch of the United States, all of the executive
powers of the State of Illinois government are not held by just one person,
rather they are divided amongst several offices. The term of the six executive
officers is four years.
• The Chief Executive of the State of Illinois is the Governor. Should the Governor
be removed from office or die, then the Lieutenant Governor would become
Governor. These two offices run for election on a joint ticket, much like the
President and Vice President of the United States. However, unlike these, the
Governor does not select their Lieutenant Governor candidate, as they are
elected separately in each party’s primary.
• Illinois’ current Governor is Patrick Quinn (D) and the Lieutenant Governor is
Sheila Simon (D)
Governor Patrick Quinn (D)
Lt. Governor Sheila Simon (D)
* The State of Illinois Constitution
• In order of succession to the Governor are the elected officers of the executive
branch of Illinois government, beginning with the Secretary of State, Jesse White (D).
Unlike the United States Secretary of State, the Secretary of State for the State of
Illinois handles all of the record keeping for the state, including the drivers license
and vehicle registration records of citizens of the state.
• The Attorney General of the State of Illinois, Lisa Madigan (D) (she is the daughter of
the Speaker of the Illinois House) is responsible for providing legal counsel for the
various state agencies including the Governor of Illinois and Illinois General
Assembly, and conducting all legal affairs pertaining to the state.
• The Comptroller of the State of Illinois is Judy Baar Topinka (R). The Comptroller is
responsible for maintaining the State's accounts, and for ordering payments into and
out of them.
• The Treasurer of the State of Illinois is Dan Rutherford (R). The Treasurer is
responsible for the safekeeping and investment of the monies and securities
deposited in the public funds of Illinois. The Treasurer is not the state's chief financial
officer, a post reserved for a separate elected official, the Illinois Comptroller.
Secretary of State
Jesse White
Attorney General
Lisa Madigan
State Comptroller
Judy Baar Topinka
State Treasurer
Dan Rutherford
* The State of Illinois Constitution
• Article Six establishes the State of Illinois Judicial System and the judicial branch
of the state’s government.
• The State of Illinois judiciary contains three levels. The trial court of the State of
Illinois, and the court of original jurisdiction in most cases is the Circuit Court.
There are currently 23 circuits in the State of Illinois, and the Cook County
Judicial Circuit, provided for separately in the Illinois State Constitution. Each
county is either a circuit unto itself, or part of a circuit with one or more
contiguous counties. Clark County is part of the 5th Judicial Circuit with Coles,
Cumberland, Edgar and Vermilion Counties.
• The appeals court, with appellate jurisdiction in Illinois is just that, The
Appellate Court. The Appellate Court in Illinois is divided into five districts, with
Chicago and Cook County specifically listed as one of those districts in the State
of Illinois Constitution. The remaining four are organized by the General
Assembly. Clark County is part of the Fourth Court of Appeals District.
• The highest court in Illinois is the Illinois State Supreme Court.
• Unlike the federal judiciary where judges are appointed and hold their offices
for good behavior, in Illinois all judges, except for associate judges in the Circuit
Court are elected.
* The State of Illinois Constitution
• Circuit Court Judges are elected by the citizens within their circuit and serve a
term of six years. Once elected, to assist them in the fulfillment of their docket,
they may appoint Associate Judges, who will serve a term of four years.
• Appellate Court Judges and Supreme Court Judges are elected by the people
within their district and serve a term of ten years. Once their term is up, if they
wish to continue, the ballot merely asks voters if they would like for this person
to continue in his or her position.
• Each Circuit Court has a Clerk of the Circuit Court for each county within the
circuit, and who is elected by the citizens within that circuit. Clark County’s
Circuit Court Clerk is Kathy Roan Ramsey.
• Each county also has an attorney that represents the state’s interests before the
court, serving as prosecutor. These offices are known as the State’s Attorney.
The State’s Attorney is responsible for the prosecution of violators of state and
local laws. They are elected by the people of each county and serve a term of
four years. Clark County’s States Attorney is Dennis Simonton.
* The State of Illinois Constitution
• Article VII of the State of Illinois Constitution deals with the local governmental
units of the State of Illinois. In terms of local government, the basic subdivisions
of the State of Illinois are known as counties. Marshall is located in Clark
County. Within the counties, there are three smaller subdivisions of
government, home rule units such as cities and towns, townships, and school
districts.
• Each county is governed by a county board. Each member of the county board
elects an executive officer, the chairman, to serve as its head during their term.
The Chairman of the Clark County Board is John Hammond (R) of Martinsville.
• The county seat of Clark County is Marshall. Marshall is defined as a home rule
unit, or an area that has the right to govern within its boundaries, outside of the
county government. Marshall’s form of town government is known as a mayorcity council form of government. The chief executive of Marshall, the Mayor, is
elected by the residents of Marshall for a term of four years. The current Mayor
of Marshall is Camie Sanders
* The State of Illinois Constitution
• The City of Marshall is divided into four wards for the purposes of electing
members of the City Council, known as Aldermen. Each ward elects two
aldermen to the City Council. These aldermen serve terms of four years. The
city council serves as the legislative branch within city government.
• There are 1,432 townships in Illinois, and 15 in Clark County. The physical City
of Marshall lies within the borders of the Marshall Township. However,
students attending Marshall schools can reside in any one of 9 different
townships from Anderson, part of Auburn, Darwin, Dolson, Douglas, Marshall,
Melrose, Wabash and York.
• A township government usually includes a supervisor, a clerk, a highway
commissioner, trustees, an assessor and managers. Township Government is the
oldest form of government in our country. It has specific statutory
responsibilities of property tax assessment and general assistance for those in
need. The township form of government was formed in 1860 to bring
government closer to the people they served, and is divided into districts with
36-square–mile boundaries.
* The State of Illinois Constitution
• A public school district is a smaller unit of local government whose specific role
is to provide free, quality, public education to the children who live within their
district boundaries. These school districts provide this service through the
means of property tax assessments. Over the past 30 years, however, these
assessments have not been enough to cover the costs of running most school
districts, and they have relied more and more on additional state and federal
aid.
• Marshall’s schools are located in District #C-2, or the second school district of
Clark County. The District is governed by an elected school board, led by a
chairman selected from amongst the elected members of the board. Each
board selects and hires an administrator to run the day to day operations of the
school district. That administrator is known as the Superintendent, and all of
the Principals of the district answer to him. Marshall District #C-2 Schools
Superintendent is Kevin Ross. David Macke is the Chairman of the School
Board.
* The State of Illinois Constitution
• Article VIII of the State of Illinois Constitution has to do with creating a budget
and disbursing monies. It is the Governor’s responsibility to submit a budget
that must be approved by the General Assembly.
• Article IX of the State of Illinois Constitution has to do with revenue, or taxes.
The only governing body in Illinois that has the exclusive power to tax is the
General Assembly.
• Article X deals with the State of Illinois’ commitment to the educational
development of its citizens, and to that end providing for a system of free public
education through high school that the state has the primary responsibility of
financing.
• Article XI details the state’s commitment to “provide and maintain a healthful
environment for the benefit of this and future generations,” and that the
General Assembly can make laws to enforce this ideal as it sees fit.
• Article XII allows for the establishment of a state militia that consists of “all ablebodied persons residing in the State except those exempted by law.”
• Article XIII covers general areas not covered in any other article, such as oaths
and the fact that Illinois has abolished its sovereign immunity, pension and
retirement rights of state and local government employees, etc.
* The State of Illinois Constitution
• Article XIV, the last article of the State of Illinois Constitution, has to deal with the
procedure to amend that constitution.
• The need to call a State Constitutional Convention must be determined by a 3/5th’s
vote of each chamber of the General Assembly. If such a convention is not called at
least once every 20 years, then the Secretary of State will require each state ballot
to ask the question if one is needed by the people of the state, that must be
approved by 3/5th’s of those voting to succeed.
• Amendments may also be initiated in either chamber of the General Assembly. If
3/5th’s of the members of each chamber vote to pass it, then it will go to the
people to vote on.
• Only a Constitutional Convention or the General Assembly may propose
amendments to the State of Illinois State Constitution.
• All changes to the Illinois State Constitution can only be approved by the people of
the State of Illinois through marking on the ballot during an election. If 3/5th’s of
those voting on the question approve it, or if a majority of all voters approve it,
then the constitution stands amended.