Illinois Statutes Chapter 65. Municipalities § 5/1-2.2-20. Instituting code hearing proceedings

§ 1-2.2-20. Instituting code hearing proceedings. When a police officer or other individual authorized to issue a code violation finds a code violation to exist, he or she shall note the violation on a multiple copy violation notice and report form that indicates (i) the name and address of the defendant, (ii) the type and nature of the violation, (iii) the date and time the violation was observed, and (iv) the names of witnesses to the violation.

The violation report form shall be forwarded to the code hearing department where a docket number shall be stamped on all copies of the report and a hearing date shall be noted in the blank spaces provided for that purpose on the form. The hearing date shall not be less than 30 nor more than 40 days after the violation is reported. However, if the code violation involves a municipal ordinance regulating truants, the hearing date shall not be less than 7 nor more than 40 days after the violation is reported.

One copy of the violation report form shall be maintained in the files of the code hearing department and shall be part of the record of hearing, one copy of the report form shall be returned to the individual representing the municipality in the case so that he or she may prepare evidence of the code violation for presentation at the hearing on the date indicated, and one copy of the report form shall be served by first class mail to the defendant along with a summons commanding the defendant to appear at the hearing. In municipalities with a population under 3,000,000, if the violation report form requires the respondent to answer within a certain amount of time, the municipality must reply to the answer within the same amount of time afforded to the respondent.