republic-os/legislation/us/states/il/93rd/hb-138.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "CTY BD-ADVISORY REFERENDA"
description: "Amends the Election Code and the Counties Code. Authorizes advisory referenda concerning (i) the number of members of the county board to be elected, (ii) whether the board members should be elected from single-member districts, multi-member districts, or at-large, (iii) whether voters will have cumulative voting rights in the election of county board members, or (iv) any combination of the preceding 3 questions. Provides that the advisory referenda may be initiated by an ordinance of the county board or by a petition containing the signatures of 3% of the registered voters of the county. Removes this type of advisory referendum from the general limit of 3 public questions per ballot. Provides that voters may have cumulative voting rights in the election of county board members in multi-member districts or at-large elections. Provides that questions concerning whether the board members should be elected from single-member districts, multi-member districts, or at-large, including whether voters have cumulative voting rights, may be decided by a referendum or by ordinance (now, only by ordinance). Provides that, if the method is determined by referendum, the referendum requires the signatures of at least 3% of the registered voters and it cannot be changed by ordinance for 12 years. Provides that, if a county board determines that members shall be elected by districts, the county board shall specify whether voters will have cumulative voting. Effective immediately."
jurisdiction: "us/states/il"
legislature: "Illinois General Assembly"
session: "93rd"
identifier: "HB 138"
citation: "Illinois HB 138 (93rd)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 3
action_count: 36
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2003-01-10"
last_action: "2003-07-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/9be2a029-6fea-4a6a-b2b3-0e6990263e2d"
source_url: "http://ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=138&GAID=3&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=353&SessionID=3&GA=93"
source_hash: "a85e0b3a7394c6e3f7fbc42f58b5594d9381a6a6b58facf9479d6a8b9c85d9d8"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-il"]
---

# Illinois HB 138 (93rd) — CTY BD-ADVISORY REFERENDA

Amends the Election Code and the Counties Code. Authorizes advisory referenda concerning (i) the number of members of the county board to be elected, (ii) whether the board members should be elected from single-member districts, multi-member districts, or at-large, (iii) whether voters will have cumulative voting rights in the election of county board members, or (iv) any combination of the preceding 3 questions. Provides that the advisory referenda may be initiated by an ordinance of the county board or by a petition containing the signatures of 3% of the registered voters of the county. Removes this type of advisory referendum from the general limit of 3 public questions per ballot. Provides that voters may have cumulative voting rights in the election of county board members in multi-member districts or at-large elections. Provides that questions concerning whether the board members should be elected from single-member districts, multi-member districts, or at-large, including whether voters have cumulative voting rights, may be decided by a referendum or by ordinance (now, only by ordinance). Provides that, if the method is determined by referendum, the referendum requires the signatures of at least 3% of the registered voters and it cannot be changed by ordinance for 12 years. Provides that, if a county board determines that members shall be elected by districts, the county board shall specify whether voters will have cumulative voting. Effective immediately.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09300HB0138&GA=93&SessionId=3&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=353&DocNum=138&GAID=3&Session=&print=true)
2. **Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09300HB0138eng&GA=93&SessionId=3&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=353&DocNum=138&GAID=3&Session=&print=true)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](http://ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09300HB0138enr&GA=93&SessionId=3&DocTypeId=HB&LegID=353&DocNum=138&GAID=3&Session=&print=true)

## Votes

- Third Reading — **73–40** (pass) · lower
- Third Reading — **30–26** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Denny Jacobs — cosponsor (person)
- Jack D. Franks — primary (person)
- Richard J. Winkel, Jr. — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2003-01-10** Filed with the Clerk by Rep. Jack D. Franks `filing`
- **2003-01-16** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2003-01-16** Referred to Rules Committee `referral-committee`
- **2003-01-23** Assigned to Elections and Campaign Reform Committee `referral-committee`
- **2003-01-30** Motion Do Pass - Lost Elections and Campaign Reform Committee; 004-005-000 `committee-failure`
- **2003-01-30** Remains in Elections and Campaign Reform Committee
- **2003-01-30** Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Mike Boland
- **2003-02-05** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Filed with Clerk by Elections and Campaign Reform Committee `amendment-introduction`
- **2003-02-05** House Committee Amendment No. 1 Adopted in Elections and Campaign Reform Committee; 009-000-000 `amendment-passage`
- **2003-02-05** Do Pass as Amended / Short Debate Elections and Campaign Reform Committee; 008-000-001 `committee-passage`
- **2003-02-05** Placed on Calendar 2nd Reading - Short Debate
- **2003-02-05** Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Karen May
- **2003-02-06** Second Reading - Short Debate `reading-2`
- **2003-02-06** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading - Short Debate
- **2003-02-06** Added Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Paul D. Froehlich
- **2003-02-20** Third Reading - Short Debate - Passed 073-040-001 `reading-3, passage`
- **2003-02-26** Arrive in Senate `introduction`
- **2003-02-26** Placed on Calendar Order of First Reading `reading-1`
- **2003-02-26** Chief Senate Sponsor Sen. Terry Link
- **2003-02-26** First Reading `reading-1`
- **2003-02-26** Referred to Rules `referral-committee`
- **2003-02-28** Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Richard J. Winkel, Jr.
- **2003-04-16** Assigned to Local Government `referral-committee`
- **2003-04-30** Do Pass Local Government; 006-004-000 `committee-passage`
- **2003-04-30** Placed on Calendar Order of 2nd Reading May 1, 2003
- **2003-05-01** Added as Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Sen. Lawrence M. Walsh
- **2003-05-01** Added as Alternate Co-Sponsor Sen. Denny Jacobs
- **2003-05-06** Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2003-05-06** Placed on Calendar Order of 3rd Reading May 7, 2003
- **2003-05-09** Verified
- **2003-05-09** Third Reading - Passed; 030-026-000 `reading-3, passage`
- **2003-05-09** Passed Both Houses
- **2003-06-06** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2003-07-23** Governor Approved `executive-signature`
- **2003-07-23** Effective Date July 23, 2003
- **2003-07-23** Public Act . . . . . . . . . 93-0308 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/9be2a029-6fea-4a6a-b2b3-0e6990263e2d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Illinois legislature records).