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County
boards are the corporate and fiscal bodies of their counties. From 1818
to the present, they have been elected by the citizens of the county.
The Constitution of 1818 provided that three commissioners should be
elected by each county, with the authority to transact all county
business.1 This body was named the county
commissioners’ court, and the commissioners’ terms were set at two
years in 1821 and lengthened to three years in 1837.2
The Constitution of 1848 authorized counties to organize by township and
thus abandon the county commission form of government.3
For those counties which remained organized, the county court was
created, consisting of the county judge and two justices of the peace,
elected for four years on a county-wide basis.4 In
1870, the county court was replaced by the board of county
commissioners; the three commissioners were elected to three-year terms.5
For counties which organized by township, the General Assembly
passed a law in 1849 which vested the county court’s powers in the
county board of supervisors. One supervisor would be elected from each
township for a one-year term.6 In 1874,
representation of cities and towns on county boards became proportional
to their population.7 In 1969, counties
could choose to elect their board on an at-large basis or according to
one man, one vote districts.8 The
Constitution of 1970, while continuing the previous county board laws,
authorized counties to elect county chief executive officers with
executive powers over the county government, including veto powers over
the ordinances of the county board. As of 1983, only Cook County elects
a chief executive officer.9
The
primary duty of the county board has been fiscal management. As early as
1819, boards were authorized to levy property taxes and license fees.
Boards were empowered to build county buildings in 1819, as well as to
select names of citizens for petit jury duty, to appoint overseers of
the poor in every township and supervise their work, to appoint election
judges, to appoint road supervisors with responsibility for construction
and maintenance.10 In 1831, boards were
directed to audit the accounts of the county school commissioner, and in
1851 this authority was expanded to cover all county offices in
township-organized counties.11
County
boards have the authority to create new townships, to name them, and, in
non-township counties, to create and change the boundaries of road
districts.12 Boards may establish regional
planning commissions, airports, health departments, museums, dog pounds,
parks, law libraries, alcoholism clinics, senior citizen centers, and
weed control departments.
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1
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Constitution
of 1818, Schedule, section 4.
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2
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L.
1819, p. 175; L. 1821, p. 80; Rev. L. 1837, p. 103.
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3
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Constitution
of 1848, Article VII, section 6.
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4
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Constitution
of 1848, Article V, sections 17, 19; L. 1849, p. 65.
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5
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Constitution
of 1870, Article X, section 6.
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6
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L.
1849, p. 192
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7
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Rev.
Stat. 1874, p. 1075.
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8
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P.A.
76-1650, 1969.
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9
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Constitution
of 1970, Article VII, sections 4a, 6a; P.A. 77-1746, 1971.
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10
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L.
1819, pp. 175, 237, 255, 127, 90, 333.
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11
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L.
1831, p. 175; L. 1851, p. 51.
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12
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Rev.
Stat. 1979, Chapter 34, Para. 858.
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