ADOPTING ORDINANCE

   ORDINANCE ENACTING A CODE OF ORDINANCES FOR LAKE COUNTY REVISING, AMENDING, RESTATING, CODIFYING AND COMPILING CERTAIN EXISTING GENERAL ORDINANCES OF THE LAKE COUNTY DEALING WITH SUBJECTS EMBRACED IN SUCH CODE OF ORDINANCES.

WHEREAS, the present general and permanent ordinances of Lake County are inadequately arranged and classified and are insufficient in form and substance for the complete preservation of the public peace, health, safety and general welfare of the County and for the proper conduct of its affairs; and

WHEREAS, the Acts of the Legislature of the State of Illinois empower and authorize Lake County to revise, amend, restate, codify and compile any existing ordinances and all new ordinances not heretofore adopted or published and to incorporate such ordinances into one ordinance in book form; and

WHEREAS, the Lake County Board has authorized a general compilation, revision and codification of the ordinances of Lake County of a general and permanent nature and publication of such ordinance in book form; and

WHEREAS, it is necessary to provide for the usual daily operation of Lake County and for immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety and general welfare of the County that this ordinance take effect at an early date.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE LAKE COUNTY BOARD:

Section 1. The general ordinances of Lake County as revised, amended, restated, codified, and compiled in book form are hereby adopted as and shall constitute the Code of Ordinances for Lake County, Illinois.

Section 2. Such Code of Ordinances as adopted in Section 1 shall consist of the following Titles:

Title I: General Provisions

Title III: Administration

Title V: Public Works and Solid Waste

Title VII: Traffic Code

Title IX: General Regulations

Title XI: Business Regulations

Title XIII: General Offenses

Title XV: Land Usage

Title XVII: Health

Section 3. All prior ordinances pertaining to the subjects treated in such Code of Ordinances shall be deemed repealed from and after the effective date of this ordinance except as they are included and reordained in whole or in part in such Code; except:

   a.   Such repeal shall not affect any offense committed or penalty incurred or any right established prior to the effective date of this ordinance;

   b.   Such repeal shall not affect the provision of ordinances levying taxes, appropriating money, annexing or detaching territory, establishing franchises, or granting special rights to certain persons, authorizing public improvements, authorizing the issuance of bonds or borrowing of money, authorizing the purchase or sale of real or personal property, granting or accepting easements, plat or dedication of land to public use, vacating or setting the boundaries of streets or other public places;

   c.   Failure to include a reference to an ordinance shall not affect the substance of any ordinance;

   d.   Such repeal shall not affect any other ordinance of a temporary or special nature; and

   e.   Such repeal shall not affect any ordinance, or amendment to an ordinance, not incorporated into the Code nor pertaining to subjects not contained in or covered by the Code.

Section 4. Such Code shall be deemed published as of the day of its adoption and approval by the Lake County Board and the Clerk of Lake County is hereby authorized and ordered to file a copy of such Code of Ordinances in the Office of the Clerk.

Section 5. Such Code shall be in full force and effect as provided in Section 6, and such Code shall be presumptive evidence in all courts and places of the ordinance and all provisions, sections, penalties and regulations therein contained and of the date of passage, and that the same is properly signed, attested, recorded, and approved and that any notices thereof as required by law have been given.

Section 6. This ordinance is declared necessary for the immediate preservation of the peace, health, safety and general welfare of the people of Lake County and shall take effect in 30 days.

PASSED AND ADOPTED by Lake County, Illinois on this 13th day of January, 2015.

Staff Summary

•   For 70 plus years Lake County has been enacting codes and ordinances. Up to this point, these codes and ordinances have been maintained by independent departments and offices. It is common practice for governments to codify their ordinances in an effort to make them more easily viewable to the public.

•   The purpose of codification is to compile all of the codes into one document, adopt uniform formatting, provide referencing between complimentary codes, and to create a digital code book that is accessible from the website and easier for our customers to use.

•   Lake County issued an RFP and contracted with American Legal Publishing to review codes, digitize the older paper codes, and develop a draft codified ordinance. The draft code was then reviewed multiple times by each department, office or agency and also by the State's Attorney's Office.

•   This action compiles existing codes and does not change the law or legal content or effect of the existing code. This action accepts and approves the digital code provided by American Legal, ratifies all code changes passed by the board from May of 2014 through January of 2015, and requests American Legal codify those codes and incorporate them into the final code to be published on the website.

•   Here forward ordinances and amendments to ordinances will be incorporated into the digital code within days of passage and will be incorporated into the four printed copies a few times per year.

•   The codified ordinance can be viewed online at: <http ://www.amlegal.com/library/il/lakecounty.shtml>