APPENDIX NO. 2. LIST OF ILLINOIS COUNTIES, WITH AREAS, POPU- APPENDIX NO. 3. CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS... 1062 .1064 ...1064 1. Illinois constitution, Article X, Counties.. 2. Maryland constitution, Article XIA, Local legislation. 1066 3. Michigan constitution, Article VIII, Local government. 1070 4. Minnesota constitution, Article XI, Counties and townships ....1073 5. Ohio constitution, Article X, County and township or ganization 6. Proposed Ohio county home rule amendment. .1074 .1075 I. SUMMARY. This bulletin presents a general survey of local government in the state of Illinois, and a brief comparison of conditions in other states, with special reference to suggestions for changes in the provisions of the state constitution relating to this subject. Some parts of the general subject have been considered in more or less detail in other bulletins of this series. Bulletin No. 6 deals with the problem of municipal home rule for cities and villages. Bulletin No. 11 deals with the problems of Chicago and Cook County, and sets forth in detail the complexity of local areas in Cook County outside of Chicago, which is much of the same character as that in other parts of the state. Bulletin No. 4, on state and local finance includes a discussion of local taxation and local debt; and Bulletin No. 10 on the judicial department includes a discussion of county, municipal and other local courts. These special topics, covered more thoroughly in other bulletins, are therefore only referred to briefly in this pamphlet; and the main attention in this bulletin is given to county and township government and the numerous series of overlapping special local districts. The constitutions of Illinois have dealt with the subject of county government in increasing detail. A considerable number of county officers are provided for each county, and there are detailed provisions as to the compensation of these officers. There are also provisions for three types of county organization: (1) a board of county commissioners, the main features of which are prescribed in the constitution; (2) an optional township system, the details of which are regulated by the general assembly; and (3) a special organization definitely provided by the constitution for Cook County. With the detailed constitutional provisions, both as to county. areas and county government, there is little discretion left, either to the general assembly or to the local communities; and this situation has prevented the adaptation of county government to the needs of different types of counties in the state. Counties in Illinois vary from small agricultural counties of less than 10,000 population to Cook County, with a population 2,500,000; and the present constitutional provisions on county government do not adequately meet the varying needs of the widely different types of counties. An optional system of township government is provided for in the constitution; but the township system is regulated mainly by statute. Township government, however, is now of little and declining importance. Besides counties and townships, there are about a thousand cities and villages; and superimposed on these older local government units are a numerous series of overlapping special districts. Such special districts have been created for many new functions of local government, and also for functions already within the powers of previously existing authorities; and the state is now overlaid with an intricate network of local districts and authorities, having little or no official relations to each other. Added to the local government districts are election and judicial areas, which further complicate the situation. No attempt has been made to organize a correlated system of local governing bodies to exercise the numerous functions of the existing overlapping authorities; nor has any effort been made to plan election. and judicial districts so that they will correspond with each other or include the same groups of local government districts. The only legislation which indicates an element of unity among the numerous local authorities is the Juul law, which attempts to provide a maximum for the aggregate of all local tax rates. But this law has been so frequently amended, so as to exempt one class of local authorities after another from the provisions for scaling down taxes when the aggregate local taxes exceed the maximum, that the law now affects only a small number of taxes. Constitutional provisions as to uniformity of taxation and limitation of municipal debts have had a good deal to do with the multiplication of local districts. Where previously existing local authorities have incurred debt substantially to the constitutional limit, it has become customary to create new districts, with somewhat varying boundaries for the performance of certain functions. These new districts can incur an entirely new debt within the constitutional limitation. As a result, the present debt limitations have not restricted the amount of local debt which may be incurred for a given area; but have simply led to the creation of new districts for the purpose of incurring larger debts. Some of the present difficulties in connection with local government in Illinois have resulted from the detailed character of constitutional provisions. Any series of detailed provisions will cause difficulties on account of changing conditions; and the problem for the constitutional convention of 1920 with respect to local government will be to examine the present constitutional provisions, with a view of modifying or eliminating those which have prevented needed legislation or have led to legislation adding to the complexity of local government, rather than to devise and place in the constitution a complete system of local government. Many American states now have detailed provisions on local government in their constitutions, although few have as much detail as that of Illinois. Several states, however, have comparatively brief and general provisions; and a number of others (which have not had a general revision of their constitutions since 1860) have very few constitutional provisions on local government. Thirteen states now have constitutional provisions for municipal home rule. Two states. (California and Maryland) provide for county home rule charters; and a proposed amendment for this purpose has also been presented in Ohio. II. DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN Local government in Illinois has attracted more than local attention, on account of the geographical location of the state, as the meeting point of different systems, which resulted in the adoption of optional methods in different parts of the state. At the same time the development in this state has followed the same general tendencies as in other states towards detailed legislative control, with a greatly decentralized administration, a complicated series of overlapping local districts, and an unorganized group of local officials; and in recent years some tendencies toward state administrative supervision. A sketch of the main lines of this development will serve to explain some of the features of the present arrangements. Under French and British rule. The local government of the early French settlements on the bottom lands of the Mississippi was comparatively simple and unimportant. The principal officials were appointed after 1732 by the French governor of Louisiana, but there were also some village officers for the local affairs of the several settlements. During the Seven Years War (1756-1763), the control of the superior officials was relaxed; and by the treaty of Paris (1763) the Illinois country was ceded to Great Britain. During the period of British occupation, the Illinois settlements were under the supervision of the military commander of the district. Some steps were taken towards the introduction of English law. But on the outbreak of the American Revolution, the British troops were withdrawn; and the French settlements were captured by Captain George Rogers Clark in the name of Virginia in 1778. The territorial period. In December, 1778, the Virginia assembly passed an act organizing the county of Illinois; and the Virginia county system was introduced. A county lieutenant was appointed, who selected the sheriff and militia officers, and established local courts with elected justices of the peace. But difficulties with the inhabitants soon arose; and after 1782 there was a period of confusion and disorder, as American settlers began to arrive. The Illinois region was included in the Northwest Territory by the Ordinance of 1787; and under this Ordinance, Governor St. Clair |