(105 ILCS 5/7-1) (from Ch. 122, par. 7-1)

Sec. 7-1. Changing boundaries by detachment or dissolution.

(a) School district boundaries may be changed by detachment, annexation, division or dissolution or any combination thereof by the regional board of school trustees or by the State Superintendent of Education as provided in subsection (l) of Section 7-6.

The petition must be filed with and decided solely by the regional board of school trustees of the region in which the regional superintendent of schools has supervision and control, as defined in Section 3-14.2 of this Code, of the detaching or dissolving school district. The petition may be filed in any office operated by the regional superintendent with supervision and control, as defined in Section 3-14.2 of this Code, of the detaching or dissolving school district.

A petition for boundary change must be filed by the school board of the detaching or dissolving district, by a majority of the legal resident voters in the dissolving district, or by two-thirds of a combination of the legal resident voters and the owners of record of any real estate with no legal resident voters in any territory proposed to be detached. If any of the territory proposed to be detached contains real estate with no legal resident voters, petitioners shall deliver the petition by certified mail, return receipt requested, to all owners of record of any real estate with no legal resident voters. Proof of such delivery must be presented as evidence at the hearing required under Section 7-6 of this Code. Any owner of record of real estate with no legal resident voters in any territory proposed to be detached may either sign the petition in person and before the circulator as described in this Section or return the petition with his or her notarized signature to be included as a petitioner. No person may sign a petition in the capacity of both a legal resident voter and owner of record. If there are no legal resident voters within the territory proposed to be detached, then the petition must be signed by all of the owners of record of the real estate of the territory. Legal resident voters shall be determined by the official voter registration lists as of the date the petition is filed. No signatures shall be added or withdrawn after the date the petition is filed. The length of time for signatures to be valid, before filing of the petition, shall not exceed 6 months. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary contained in the Election Code, the regional superintendent of schools shall make all determinations regarding the validity of the petition, including, without limitation, signatures on the petition. If the regional superintendent determines that the petition is not in proper order or not in compliance with any applicable petition requirements, the regional superintendent may not accept the petition for filing and may return the petition to the petitioners. Any party who is dissatisfied with the determination of the regional superintendent regarding the validity of the petition may appeal the regional superintendent's decision to the regional board of school trustees by motion, and the motion must be heard by the regional board of school trustees prior to any hearing on the merits of the petition.

Petitions for detachment and dissolution shall include the full prayer of the petition with a general description of the territory at the top of each page. Each signature contained therein shall match the official signature and address of the legal resident voters as recorded in the office of the county clerk or board of election commissioners, and each petitioner shall record the date of his or her signing. Except in instances of a notarized signature of an owner of record of real estate with no legal resident voters in any territory proposed to be detached, each page of the circulated petition shall be signed by a circulator stating that he or she has witnessed the signature of each petitioner on that page. Detachment petitions containing 10 or fewer signatures may be notarized in lieu of a circulator statement. Each petition shall include an accurate legal description and map of the territory proposed to be detached. If a petition proposes to dissolve an entire district, then the full name and number of the district and a map are sufficient. Each petition shall include the names of petitioners; the district to be dissolved or the district from which the territory is proposed to be detached; the district or districts to which the territory is proposed to be annexed; evidence that the detaching or dissolving territory is compact and contiguous with the annexing district or districts or otherwise meets the requirements set forth in Section 7-4 of this Code; the referendum date, if applicable; and facts that support favorable findings for the factors to be considered by the regional board of school trustees pursuant to Section 7-6 of this Code.

Where there is only one school building in an approved operating district, the building and building site may not be included in any detachment proceeding.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Code, if, pursuant to a petition filed under this subsection (a), all of the territory of a school district is to be annexed to another school district, then any action by the regional board of school trustees in granting or approving the petition and any change in school district boundaries pursuant to that action is subject to and the change in school district boundaries may not be made except upon approval, at a regular scheduled election, in the manner provided by Section 7-7.7 of this Code, of a proposition for the annexation of all of the territory of that school district to the other school district.

No petition may be filed under this Section to form a new school district under this Article; however, such a petition may be filed under this Section to form a new school district if the boundaries of such new school district lie entirely within the boundaries of a military base or installation operated and maintained by the government of the United States.

(b) Any elementary or high school district with 100 or more of its students residing upon territory located entirely within a military base or installation operated and maintained by the government of the United States, or any unit school district or any combination of the above mentioned districts with 300 or more of its students residing upon territory located entirely within a military base or installation operated and maintained by the government of the United States, shall, upon the filing with the regional board of school trustees of a petition adopted by resolution of the board of education or a petition signed by a majority of the registered voters residing upon such military base or installation, have all of the territory lying entirely within such military base or installation detached from such school district, and a new school district comprised of such territory shall be created. The petition shall be filed with and decided solely by the regional board of school trustees of the region in which the regional superintendent of schools has supervision and control, as defined by Section 3-14.2 of this Code, of the school district affected. The regional board of school trustees shall have no authority to deny the detachment and creation of a new school district requested in a proper petition filed under this subsection. This subsection shall apply only to those school districts having a population of not fewer than 1,000 and not more than 500,000 residents, as ascertained by any special or general census.

The new school district shall tuition its students to the same districts that its students were previously attending and the districts from which the new district was detached shall continue to educate the students from the new district, until the federal government provides other arrangements. The federal government shall pay for the education of such children as required by Section 6 of Public Law 81-874.

If a school district created under this subsection (b) has not elected a school board and has not become operational within 2 years after the date of detachment, then this district is automatically dissolved and the territory of this district reverts to the school district from which the territory was detached or any successor district thereto. Any school district created under this subsection (b) on or before September 1, 1996 that has not elected a school board and has not been operational since September 1, 1996 is automatically dissolved on the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1999, and on this date the territory of this district reverts to the school district from which the territory was detached. For the automatic dissolution of a school district created under this subsection (b), the regional superintendent of schools who has supervision and control, as defined by Section 3-14.2 of this Code, of the school district from which the territory was detached shall certify to the regional board of school trustees that the school district created under this subsection (b) has been automatically dissolved.

(Source: P.A. 100-374, eff. 8-25-17.)