Illinois Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Illinois, with full citations and the original source on every page.
Does an Illinois state employee lose his pension if he is convicted of a felony committed against someone in his agency's custody?
Yes. Attorney General Lisa Madigan concluded that a former Department of Human Services forensic psychologist forfeited his State Employees' Retirement System pension after pleading guilty to sexual m…
Can an Illinois county like Jersey County secede from Illinois and join Missouri or another state?
No. Non-home-rule Illinois counties have only the powers granted by the Illinois Constitution and statute, and neither grants them authority to secede. The most a county board can do is put a non-bind…
Can Illinois election authorities run absentee and early-voting ballots through tabulators before 7:00 p.m. on Election Day, as long as the totals are not uploaded or combined with precinct results until after the polls close?
No. Attorney General Lisa Madigan concluded that running ballots through a tabulator is itself 'counting' under sections 19-8, 20-8, and 19A-25.5 of the Election Code, and the Code requires that those…
Does Michael Madigan keep his Illinois state pension after his federal corruption conviction?
No. Attorney General Kwame Raoul concluded that Madigan's federal convictions for bribery, wire fraud, and Travel Act offenses are tied directly to his service as Speaker of the Illinois House, so he …
Did Illinois law allow Governor Pritzker to issue back-to-back COVID-19 disaster proclamations beyond the original 30-day emergency-powers window without legislative approval?
The AG concluded that an earlier 2001 informal opinion (No. I-01-028), which had suggested 30 days was the absolute outer limit, had failed to consider critical legislative history. The General Assemb…
Can an Illinois county, municipality, or school district opt out of the Prevailing Wage Act by ordinance, resolution, or local referendum?
No. Attorney General Lisa Madigan concluded that the Illinois Supreme Court's decision in *Bernardi v. City of Highland Park* (1988) settled the question for home rule units: prevailing-wage complianc…
Can an Illinois county, city, or village pass a 'right-to-work' ordinance, or create a local right-to-work zone by referendum, in the absence of a statewide right-to-work statute?
No. Attorney General Lisa Madigan concluded that section 8(a)(3) of the National Labor Relations Act federally preempts the regulation of union security agreements wherever interstate commerce is affe…
Does former Illinois state representative Luis Arroyo lose his pension after his federal wire fraud conviction tied to sweepstakes legislation bribery?
Yes. Arroyo's wire fraud conviction grew directly out of his role as a state representative. He took $32,500 in bribes funneled through his consulting company, Spartacus, in exchange for advancing swe…
Does an Illinois Secretary of State employee who stole title and registration fees and vehicle sales tax payments lose her state pension?
Yes. Candace Wanzo's mail fraud, intentional misapplication, and theft convictions all grew out of her supervisory role at the Illinois Secretary of State's Department of Vehicle Services. She forfeit…
Can an Illinois lawyer hold a seat in the State Senate and serve as an assistant state's attorney at the same time?
No. The AG concluded the two offices are incompatible. Assistant state's attorneys, like state's attorneys, exercise executive-branch power. State senators exercise legislative power. The Illinois Con…
Did former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich lose his state pension after his federal corruption convictions?
Yes. Attorney General Lisa Madigan concluded that all 18 of Blagojevich's federal felony convictions arose out of and in connection with his service as Governor, triggering forfeiture of his pension u…
Can an Illinois county board sweep unspent money out of the coroner's special fee account into the general fund, or reduce the coroner's next-year budget by the amount of fees in that account?
Attorney General Lisa Madigan concluded the answer was no to the sweep and yes (within limits) to the budget consideration. Section 4-7001 of the Counties Code earmarks coroner fees for forensic equip…
If a vendor files a protest while an Illinois state contract is still being bid out, can the agency award the contract before resolving the protest?
No. AG Lisa Madigan concluded that the Illinois Department of Revenue improperly awarded a 10-year beverage vending and pouring rights contract to PepsiAmericas while a Nedlog Company protest of the R…
Can an Illinois state agency reserve some of its accessible parking spaces only for its own employees with disabilities?
No. AG Lisa Madigan concluded that a state agency that provides only the minimum number of accessible parking spaces required by the Illinois Accessibility Code may not designate any of those required…
Can an Illinois state representative also work part-time as a city police detective without violating the constitutional ban on dual public compensation?
Yes, with limits. Attorney General Lisa Madigan concluded that a legislator may hold a second public-employee job, but article IV, section 2(e) of the Illinois Constitution bars him from receiving any…
Can the Illinois Governor or GOMB use an executive order or budget directive to cut money the legislature already appropriated to an independent state agency like the State Police Merit Board?
Generally no. Attorney General Lisa Madigan concluded that once the General Assembly appropriates funds to the Merit Board and the bill is signed into law, the Governor and the Governor's Office of Ma…
Are Illinois public school districts subject to the local zoning ordinances of the cities and counties they sit in?
Generally yes. AG Lisa Madigan concluded that school districts must comply with municipal and county zoning ordinances unless compliance would frustrate the district's statutory objectives. If a distr…
When a city's ethics ordinance carries jail-time penalties heavier than the usual cap on municipal ordinance violations, who can prosecute the violations: the State's Attorney or the city attorney?
The city attorney. AG Lisa Madigan concluded that the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act both requires municipalities to enact ethics ordinances with penalties no less restrictive than the state…
Can an Illinois non-profit hospital refuse to hire someone because that person uses tobacco off the job?
Maybe. AG Lisa Madigan concluded that the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act generally bars employers from making hiring decisions based on off-the-job tobacco use, but section 5(b) carves…
Does a former Illinois state representative lose her General Assembly pension if she pled guilty to mail fraud over a fake-scholarship scheme she ran while in office?
Yes. Attorney General Lisa Madigan concluded that former Rep. Constance A. 'Connie' Howard forfeited her General Assembly Retirement System pension under section 2-156 of the Illinois Pension Code, be…
What does Illinois AG Opinion 11-004 say?
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ’ STATE OF ILLINOIS Lisa Madigan ATTORNEY GENERAL December 14, 2011 FILE NO. 11-004 PENSIONS: Felony Forfeiture of Pension Benefits Mr. Timothy B. Blair / Executiv…
Can an Illinois state's attorney share LEADS database information with a defense attorney to comply with Brady disclosure?
Yes, in limited circumstances. Prosecutors can disclose information they obtained from LEADS if it tends to negate the defendant's guilt or reduce punishment, but they should narrow what they hand ove…
Can multiple Illinois state agencies share a single chief internal auditor through an intergovernmental agreement instead of each appointing their own?
No. The AG concluded that the Fiscal Control and Internal Auditing Act required each designated state agency (the Department of Insurance, the Departments of Agriculture, Corrections, Labor, and other…
Does an Illinois Department of Corrections employee lose his pension if he is convicted of having sexual contact with a person in his prison's custody?
Yes. Attorney General Lisa Madigan concluded that a former Logan Correctional Center employee forfeited his State Employees' Retirement System pension under section 14-149 of the Pension Code after pl…
Can advanced practice nurses and physician assistants in Illinois dispense the abortion drug mifepristone under a physician's supervision?
Yes. The AG concluded in 2018 that recent amendments to the Medical Practice Act, Physician Assistant Practice Act, and Nurse Practice Act did not change the answer reached in 2009 opinion 09-002: a s…
Does a former Illinois state representative lose his General Assembly pension if he used his state office, state computers, and state-paid time to commit a federal child pornography felony?
Yes. Attorney General Lisa Madigan concluded that former Rep. Keith Farnham forfeited his General Assembly Retirement System pension under section 2-156 of the Illinois Pension Code, because his feder…
Does Illinois law prevent county coroners from collecting, transporting, or storing bodies during a declared public health emergency like COVID-19?
No. The AG concluded in 2020 that nothing in division 3-3 of the Counties Code blocked coroners from helping with mass-fatality response during a declared disaster. The Emergency Management Act and th…
When the Illinois Legislature overrides a Governor's amendatory veto on a bill that includes an immediate effective date, when does the law actually take effect?
On the date of the second house's override vote. AG Lisa Madigan concluded that for a bill with an immediate effective date subjected to amendatory veto and then overridden, the effective date is the …
When determining the political composition of a county board of review under Illinois Property Tax Code section 6-15, do you count the office of circuit court clerk as a county office?
No. AG Lisa Madigan concluded the office of circuit court clerk is not a 'county office' for purposes of Property Tax Code section 6-15. To determine the political balance of Bond County's Board of Re…
Could the Illinois State Board of Education stop Chicago Public Schools from taking on a line of credit or other debt in 2016?
No. AG Lisa Madigan concluded that section 1A-8 of the School Code does not require Chicago Public Schools to submit a financial plan, and the State Board therefore lacks the authority to prevent the …
Did an Illinois state employee convicted of theft and official misconduct forfeit her pension benefits?
Yes. AG Lisa Madigan concluded that Mary A. Hurst's convictions for theft, official misconduct, and wire fraud arising out of her state employment required forfeiture of her pension benefits under Pen…
Were FanDuel and DraftKings daily fantasy sports contests illegal gambling in Illinois in 2015?
Yes. AG Lisa Madigan concluded that daily fantasy sports contests run by FanDuel and DraftKings constituted illegal gambling under Illinois Criminal Code § 28-1(a), and that the 'bona fide contest' ex…
Can an Illinois trial court appoint the public defender to represent an indigent person facing civil commitment as a sexually violent person?
Yes. The 2012 AG opinion concluded that section 3-4006 of the Counties Code lets trial courts appoint the public defender to represent indigent respondents 'held in custody' under the Sexually Violent…
Did Illinois's legislative budget commission have to approve every state-employee health insurance contract, or just the decision to self-insure?
The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability had authority under § 6.2 of the State Employees Group Insurance Act to approve or disapprove the Director's recommendation that the State s…
Does an Illinois gubernatorial nomination pending less than 60 session days expire when the Senate adjourns sine die?
The AG concluded that a gubernatorial nomination pending fewer than 60 session days does not expire when the Senate adjourns sine die. The nomination carries over into the new biennial session, and th…
Can Illinois municipalities contract with private not-for-profit auxiliary police organizations for police services and let the corporations' members carry firearms and wear police uniforms?
The AG concluded that neither non-home-rule nor home rule Illinois municipalities can contract with private not-for-profit corporations, security firms, or other private business entities for the prov…
If a Mexican national walks into an Illinois notary's office holding only a Mexican consular ID card, must the notary accept it for identification, or can the notary refuse and demand a U.S. driver's license?
The notary must accept it. The AG concluded that notaries are 'State officers' under § 10 of the Consular Identification Document Act (5 ILCS 230/10), so they must accept consular IDs that satisfy the…
Can a public library district in Illinois run a raffle to raise money for a local charity, like a township food pantry?
No. The AG concluded that public library districts are 'special districts' under Article VII, Section 8 of the Illinois Constitution, with only those powers expressly granted by statute or necessarily…
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Attorney general opinions in Illinois are written by the Illinois Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.