List of Illinois townships - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Not all of the 102 counties of the state of Illinois are organized in the same manner.

• The vast majority (84) are divided into townships.
• There are 17 counties (Alexander, Calhoun, Edwards, Hardin, Johnson, Massac, Menard, Monroe, Morgan, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Scott, Union, Wabash and Williamson) that have no townships; instead they are divided into precincts. (See: List of Illinois precincts)
• Cook County is partly organized into townships. In 1902, voters in the City of Chicago voted to abolish their eight townships as a unit of government,^[1] so there are no active townships in the part of Cook County that is Chicago. However, the rest of the county is still divided into townships.

Each county has the option to adopt or remove a township form of government.^[2] Each county also has the right to name or rename any of its townships; however, no two townships in the same county may have the same name.^[3] Each township is governed by an elected board, which consists of a Supervisor and four other Trustees.^[4] If an incorporated city covers the entire township or if a city covers multiple townships, special rules apply to avoid duplicate levels of government.^[5]

Townships are responsible for providing: "(A) Public safety (including law enforcement, fire protection and building code enforcement); (B) Environmental protection (including sewage disposal, sanitation and pollution abatement); (C) Public transportation (including transit systems, paratransit systems, streets and roads); (D) Health; (E) Recreation; (F) Libraries; and (G) Social services for the poor and aged".^[6]

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Reference #2: ^ "60 ILCS 1/Art. 5". Illinois General Assembly. http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?ChapAct=60%26nbsp%3BILCS%26nbsp%3B1%2F&DocName=006000010HArt.+5&ActName=Township+Code.&ChapterName=TOWNSHIPS&ActID=770&ChapterID=13&SeqStart=400000&SeqEnd=2000000&Print=True. Retrieved 2010-06-28.