§ 5-1182 — Charitable organizations; solicitation

(a) No county may prohibit a charitable organization, as defined in Section 2 of the Charitable Games Act, from soliciting for charitable purposes, including solicitations taking place on public roadways from passing motorists, if all of the following requirements are met: (1) The persons to be engaged in the solicitation are law enforcement personnel, firefighters, or other persons employed to protect the public safety of a local agency, and those persons are soliciting solely in an area that is within the service area of that local agency. (2) The charitable organization files an application with the county having jurisdiction over the location or locations where the solicitation is to occur. The application shall be filed not later than 10 business days before the date that the solicitation is to begin and shall include all of the following: (A) The date or dates and times of day when the solicitation is to occur. (B) The location or locations where the solicitation is to occur along with a list of 3 alternate locations listed in order of preference. (C) The manner and conditions under which the solicitation is to occur. (D) Proof of a valid liability insurance policy in the amount of at least $1,000,000 insuring the charity or local agency against bodily injury and property damage arising out of or in connection with the solicitation. The county shall approve the application within 5 business days after the filing date of the application, but may impose reasonable conditions in writing that are consistent with the intent of this Section and are based on articulated public safety concerns. If the county determines that the applicant's location cannot be permitted due to significant safety concerns, such as high traffic volumes, poor geometrics, construction, maintenance operations, or past crash history, then the county may deny the application for that location and must approve one of the 3 alternate locations following the order of preference submitted by the applicant on the alternate location list. By acting under this Section, a local agency does not waive or limit any immunity from liability provided by any other provision of law. (b) For purposes of this Section, "local agency" means a county, special district, fire district, joint powers of authority, or other political subdivision of the State of Illinois. (c) A home rule unit may not regulate a charitable organization in a manner that is inconsistent with this Section. This Section is a limitation under subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home rule units of powers and functions exercised by the State.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 102-982, eff. 7-1-23; 103-154, eff. 6-30-23.)