Illinois Statutes Chapter 70. Special Districts § 805/14.1. Disconnection of territory; proposition

§ 14.1. (a) Territory included within the limits of any forest preserve district and exactly coterminous with the boundaries of any county with a population of 125,000 or less or any municipality or township within a county with a population of 125,000 or less may be disconnected from the district in the manner set forth in this Section.

(b) Territory disconnected pursuant to this Section shall remain liable for its proportionate share of the bonded indebtedness outstanding as of the date of disconnection, if any, of the district from which it was disconnected.

(c) Five per cent or more of the legal voters residing within the limits of the territory proposed to be disconnected may file a petition, in the court of the county where the territory which seeks to be disconnected is located, setting forth the description of the territory sought to be disconnected and the amount of any outstanding bonded indebtedness against the district in which the territory is then situated which has been incurred pursuant to this Act. The petition shall also include a prayer that the question whether the disconnection shall be made be submitted to the voters of the territory sought to be disconnected.

(d) Upon the filing of the petition, the court shall set a day for hearing, not less than 2 weeks nor more than 4 weeks from the date of filing. The court, or the circuit clerk or sheriff upon order of the court, shall give 2 weeks notice of such hearing in one or more daily or weekly newspapers of general circulation in the county or in each county wherein the district from which the territory sought to be disconnected is organized, and post at least 10 copies of the notice in conspicuous places in the district from which the territory is sought to be disconnected.

(e) All property owners in the district from which the disconnection is sought, and all interested persons, may file objections and may appear at the hearing and contest the disconnection and the matters averred in the petition. Both objectors and petitioners may offer any competent evidence in regard to the disconnection petition.

(f) If, upon hearing the petition, the court finds that the petition meets the conditions set forth in this Section, it shall certify to the proper election officials the question of whether the territory shall be disconnected, and the election officials shall submit that question at an election in the territory in accordance with the general election law. The proposition shall be in substantially the following form:

If a majority of the votes cast upon the question of making the disconnection are in favor of the disconnection, the territory shall then cease to be a part of the forest preserve district to which it has been attached. In each case in which a disconnection is effected pursuant to the provisions of this Section, the circuit clerk in whose court the disconnection proceedings have been conducted shall certify copies of all orders entered in effecting such disconnection and file or send them to the proper circuit clerk or clerks for filing.

(g) If a majority of the votes cast upon the question of making the disconnection shall be against the disconnection, the proposition shall not be submitted to a vote in the same territory for a period of 23 months.