Government of Illinois


The Government of Illinois, under the state’s constitution, has three branches of government: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. The State's executive branch is split into several statewide elected offices, with the Governor as chief executive and head of state, and has numerous departments, agencies, boards and commissions. Legislative functions are granted to the General Assembly, a bicameral body consisting of the 118-member House of Representatives and the 59-member Senate. The judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court of Illinois and lower courts.

Executive

The executive branch is composed of six elected officers and their offices as well as numerous other departments. Illinois is one of 26 states that elect their governor on the same ticket as their lieutenant governor. The six elected officers are:

Departments

The government of Illinois has numerous departments, agencies, boards and commissions, but the code departments, so called because they're established by the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois, provide most of the state's services:
Regulations are codified in the Illinois Administrative Code. The Illinois Register is the weekly publication containing proposed and adopted rules.

Legislature

The Illinois General Assembly is the state legislature, composed of the 118-member Illinois House of Representatives and the 59-member Illinois Senate. The members of the General Assembly are elected at the beginning of each even-numbered year. Representatives elect from their chamber a Speaker and Speaker pro tempore, and senators elect from the chamber a President of the Senate.
The Governor has different types of veto like a full veto, reduction veto, and amendatory veto, but the General Assembly has the power to override gubernatorial vetoes through a three-fifths majority vote of each chamber. The General Assembly's session laws are published in the official Laws of Illinois. The Illinois Compiled Statutes are the codified statutes of a general and permanent nature.

Judiciary

The Supreme Court has limited original jurisdiction and has final appellate jurisdiction. It has mandatory jurisdiction in capital cases and cases where the constitutionality of laws has been called into question, and has discretionary jurisdiction from the Appellate Court. The Appellate Court is the court of first appeal for civil and criminal cases rising in the Illinois circuit courts.
The circuit courts are trial courts of original jurisdiction. There are 24 judicial circuits in the state, each comprising one or more of Illinois' 102 counties. The circuit court has general jurisdiction and can decide, with few exceptions, any kind of case.

Capital city

is designated as the Illinois capital. Many State of Illinois bureaucrats work in offices in Springfield, and it is the regular meeting place of the Illinois General Assembly. All persons elected in a statewide manner in Illinois are required to have at least one residence in Springfield, and the state government funds these residences.
none of the major constitutional officers in Illinois designated Springfield as their primary residence. Most cabinet officers and all major constitutional officers conduct most of their business in Chicago. A former director of the Southern Illinois University Paul Simon Institute for Public Affairs, Mike Lawrence, stated that many of the elected officials in Illinois "spend so little time in Springfield". In 2012 St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Pat Gauen argued that "in the reality of Illinois politics, shares de facto capital status with Chicago." Gauen noted that then-Governor Pat Quinn was a Chicago resident who spent only 68 days and 40 nights in Springfield from March 2011 to March 2012, per his official schedule. Gauen added that state attorney general Lisa Madigan, state House speaker Michael Madigan, House minority leader Tom Cross, state Senate president John Cullerton, Senate minority leader Christine Radogno, state Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, and state Treasurer Dan Rutherford, all lived in the Chicago metropolitan area and worked in the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago. According to Gauen, "Everybody who's anybody in Illinois government has an office in Chicago." University of Illinois researcher and former member of the Illinois legislature Jim Nowlan stated "It’s almost like Chicago is becoming the shadow capital of Illinois" and that "Springfield is almost become a hinterland outpost." Lawrence criticized the fact that state officials spent little time in Springfield since it estranged them from and devalued Illinois state employees based in that city.
In 2007 Illinois state representative Raymond Poe criticized Illinois agency heads who commute to Springfield with state financing while maintaining their primary residences in the Chicago area. He sponsored House Bill 1959, which proposed ending state financing for travel to Springfield.
According to Gauen, "Illinois seems rather unlikely to move its official capital to Chicago".

Local government

The administrative divisions of Illinois are counties, townships, precincts, cities, towns, villages, and special-purpose districts. Illinois has more units of local government than any other state—over 8,000 in all. The basic subdivision of Illinois are the 102 counties. 85 of the 102 counties are in turn divided into townships and precincts. Municipal governments are the cities, villages, and incorporated towns. Localities possess "home rule", which allows them to govern themselves to a certain extent. Illinois counties, townships, cities, and villages may promulgate local ordinances. Illinois also has several types of school districts and additional units of government that oversee many other functions.