(A) The truant officers of any county school district or of the Calhoun, Greene, Jersey and Jersey Regional Office of Education, the Sheriff and Deputy Sheriffs of the county, and any other law enforcement officer of any city, village or political subdivision within the county, together with any other law enforcement officer lawfully exercising jurisdiction within the county, are hereby empowered to enforce this chapter by the issuance of tickets, specifying the date and time of violation, and the County School District or enrollment of the truant county student, and are hereby given discretion to determine whether the violation shall be dealt with by the issuance or a written or verbal warning or by the issuance of a ticket, and whether such ticket may be disposed of by the payment of the minimum required fine to the Circuit Clerk of the county, or whether a court appearance will be required.
(B) All tickets issued hereunder shall be delivered by the issuing officer to the County Circuit Clerk, who shall assign to the same a case number for each ticket and shall notify both the State’s Attorney, the issuer and the offender of all court dates for each ticket.
(C) Upon the, issuance of a ticket hereunder, a violation of this chapter shall be prosecuted by the State’s Attorney as a petty offense, pursuant to the Illinois Code of Criminal Procedure. All tickets issued hereunder must be prosecuted within 12 months of issuance.
(D) The Sheriff and Deputy Sheriffs of the county may, upon request of parent or legal guardian, detain said truant and return him or her to the appropriate school grounds or to a location specified by said parent or legal guardian. Detention may only last for a reasonable amount of time for said Sheriff or Deputy to ascertain the proper location of transport for said truant.
(Ord. passed 1-14-2011)