Guides: U.S. Government Research Guide: Illinois & Chicago

Illinois - Getting Started

Illinois Blue Book
Official register of Illinois state government, including biographies of all state legislators and elected officials.
Illinois Handbook of Government
Illinois State and Local Government Websites
Illinos Executive Branch

Open States - Illinois This link opens in a new window
Find your legislators, review their votes, search upcoming legislation, track bill progress, find data.
Access note: Freely available to the public.

Open City Apps This link opens in a new window
Find out who lobbies Chicago, which streets are cleaned, how Cook County spends its money....
Access note: Freely available to the public.

Office of the Chicago City Clerk
Chicago City Council information, videos, legislation, mayoral executive orders, and municipal code.
Municipal Code of Chicago
Chicago's Zoning Ordinance and Land Use Ordinance; Building Code
Chicago Municipal Reference Collection
City of Chicago documents published since the mid 1800's.
Cook County Government

Illinois Administrative Code
Joint Committee on Administrative Rules
Municipal Codes for Illinois Communities and Counties
Lists Cook County but omits other surrounding counties. Published by Municode.com

Illinois Legislative Overview
Access Illinois General Assembly, bills and resolutions, compiled statutes, public acts, lobbyist information, and representative information.
Lexis Nexis Academic: Illinois Compiled Statutes Annotated
Includes all laws of a general and permanent nature, as enacted by the Illinois Legislature. One month time lag for posting.
HeinOnline: Subject Compilations of State Laws Online
Compares state laws on hundreds of subjects, 1960-present.
HeinOnline: Session Laws Library - Illinois
Legislation enacted by the Illinois General Assembly. Coverage: 1st Assembly (1809-present); Also the Territory of Illinois (1809-1818)

National Survey of State Laws This link opens in a new window
Curious how Illinois laws compare to those of other states? Use this quick, state-by-state comparison of current state laws -- how they differ and how they're similar -- for a range of relevant subjects from abortion to employment discrimination, child custody to interest rates. 5th edition (2005).

Illinois Courts
Access to Supreme, Appellate, and Circuit Court opinions since 1996

Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Provides cases from the U.S. Supreme Court, Federal and State courts including U.S. Courts of Appeals, U.S. District Courts, and Federal Military Courts.