§ 11-123-9

When any city or village and the owner or claimant have agreed upon a boundary line as provided in Section 11-123-8, the city or village shall commence a civil action in the circuit court of the county in which the land is situated, praying that the boundary line be established and confirmed by judgment of the court. All persons interested in the land as owners or otherwise, who appear of record, if known, or if not known, upon stating the fact, shall be made parties defendant. Interested persons whose names are unknown may be made parties defendant by the description of unknown owners, but in all cases an affidavit shall be filed by or on behalf of the municipality, setting forth that the names of these persons are unknown. The municipality shall publish notice of the commencement of the action once a week for 3 consecutive weeks, in one or more newspapers published in the municipality, or, if no newspaper is published therein, then in one or more newspapers with a general circulation within the municipality. In municipalities with less than 500 population in which no newspaper is published, publication may instead be made by posting a notice in 3 prominent places within the municipality. The notices shall contain the title of the action and the return day at which the defendants are to appear, and the last of the notices shall be published not less than 10 nor more than 20 days before the return day. The defendants who do not enter their appearances shall be served with process and the proceedings in the action shall be conducted in the same manner as provided by the Civil Practice Law, as heretofore and hereafter amended and the Supreme Court Rules, now or hereafter adopted, in relation to that Law, except as otherwise provided in this Division 123. If upon a hearing the court finds that the rights and interests of the public have been duly conserved by the agreement, the court shall confirm the agreement and establish the boundary line. Otherwise the court, in its discretion, shall dismiss the suit. If the boundary line agreed upon is so established and confirmed by a court judgment, it shall be the permanent boundary line thereafter and shall not be affected either by accretion or erosion. The establishment of such a boundary line operates as a conveyance and release to the municipality of all the right, title, and interest of owners to all land, property, and property rights, including riparian rights, lying upon the outer or water side of the boundary line. The municipality is hereby granted by the State of Illinois the title to all land, property, and property rights, including riparian rights, lying upon the outer or water side of the boundary line when so established. The owners of the shore land are hereby granted by the State of Illinois the title to the adjacent, adjoining, submerged, or other land, whether of natural or artificial formation, as specifically and particularly described in the court judgment, lying upon the inner or land side of the boundary line when so established. These owners may fill in, improve, protect, and use, sell, and convey this land lying upon the inner or land side of the boundary line free from any adverse claim in any way arising out of any question as to where the shore line was at any time in the past, or as to the title to any existing accretions.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 82-783.)