A legislative history is the process of tracing a bill from it's introduction
in the General Assembly through the legislative process. In order to
properly trace a piece of legislation, you will need to become familiar with
the three types of law: legislative, regulatory, and case law.
The legislative component of the legislative process begins in the General
Assembly in the form of a bill or resolution. The regulatory component is
under the direction of the State's Executive agencies, such as the Department
of Natural Resources, Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, or the
Department of Aging, which issue rules and regulations based on State law.
In addition, the Governor has the power to enact legislation in the form of
executive orders. Case law, at the state level, can originate from the
following courts: State Supreme Court, State Appellate Court, state trial
courts, county courts, and municipal courts.
It is important to remember that all state laws and regulations must fall
within the framework of the State Constitution, U.S. Constitution, and
federal law. The following is a list of sources to be used in performing an
Illinois legislative history.
Constitution ||
Legislative
Administrative ||
Case Law
Constitution
Constitutional law forms the basis of all other types of law. The validity
of laws and regulations is evaluated on the basis that they do or do not fall
within the framework of the Constitution and legal precedent. The Illinois
Constitution is divided into articles and sections.
- 1. Handbook of Illinois Government.
- Location: Documents Desk
-
This handbook contains a copy of the1970 Illinois Constitution.
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Legislative
Legislation in the form of bills and resolutions is introduced into the
Illinois General Assembly. The General Assembly meets in Springfield and is
comprised of two chambers: House and Senate. There is one Senator from each
Senate district and one Representative from each Representative district.
For more information about Illinois government consult the Illinois Blue Book
at the Documents Reference desk.
- 2. House and Senate Bills of the Illinois General
Assembly.
- Location: Documents Microforms
-
Copies of bills and resolutions can be located in the microfiche set
by General Assembly number and bill number. For example, a house bill
from the 81st General Assembly will be found in the fiche drawer for bills
behind a divider for the 81st General Assembly, House bills. The bills
appear on the fiche in numerical order.
- 3. Illinois Legislative Synopsis and Digest.
- Location: Doc aisle R4
-
The Digest can be used to find actions taken on House and Senate bills and resolutions in the General Assembly. The Digest covers actions on bills and lists bills that were introduced in the General Assembly.
- 4. Laws of Illinois.
- Location: Doc aisle R4
-
The laws are compiled chronologically and are cited as Public Acts (P.A.
General Assembly# and #).
- 5. Smith-Hurd Illinois Statutes.
- Location: Doc aisle R4
-
This set compiles the laws of Illinois by subject. The subject categories
are arranged by chapter and section. The Smith-Hurd set contains annotations
in the form of notes and historical references.
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Administrative
Administrative law can often be hard to identify and follow. At the state
level, Executive Agencies and the Governor create rules, regulations, and
executive orders in accordance with state law. The rules and regulations
first appear in proposed form in the Illinois Register.
The proposed rules and regulations are open to a period of public comment,
usually at least 60 days. Following the comment period, the executive
agencies will consider the comments and may change the proposed rules and
regulations based on the comments. The rules and regulations will then
appear in their final form again in the Illinois Register. All final rules
and regulations are codified in the Illinois Administrative Code.
- 6. Illinois Register.
- Location: Doc aisle R1
-
The Register is the chronological listing of rules and regulations of state agencies. The Register includes both proposed and final rules and regulations. There is a yearly cumulative index and an index to rules on a weekly basis.
- 7. Administrative Code.
- Location: Doc aisle R1
- The Code is a subject compilation of final
rules and regulations. The Code is divided into titles and sections. There is an annual index to the Code.
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Case Law
The final step in the legislative process is case law. The courts have
the ability to decide the validity of laws and regulations. The state court
system consists of the state supreme court, appellate court, state trial
courts, district courts, and municipal courts. The lower level courts
consisting of the trial courts, district courts, and municipal courts do not
on a regular basis, publish their decisions.
Access to state level court cases is limited to digests and encyclopedias.
If you are unable to locate information on case law at the state level on
your topic, please consult a documents librarian.
- 8. Illinois Reports.
- Location: Doc aisle R3
-
These are the official reports of the Illinois Supreme Court. There is a table of cases in the front of each volume listing defendants and plaintiffs. The Reports include a syllabus of the case and the decisions of the court.
- 9. Illinois Appellate Court Reports.
- Location: Doc aisle R2
- The Appellate Court Reports contain a syllabus of the cases and opinions of the court.
- 10. West's Illinois Digest
- Location: Doc aisle R2
-
This digest serves as an index to Illinois Supreme Court and Appellate Court cases.
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