Bettis v. Marsaglia

Summary

The Illinois Appellate Court, Fourth District, affirmed dismissal of Carolyn Bettis’s petition for judicial review of an electoral board decision concerning a proposed school-district working cash bond proposition. Although the appeal was moot because the specified election had occurred, the court reached the issue under the public-interest exception. It held that section 10-10.1(a) of the Illinois Election Code requires service of the review petition on the electoral board as a separate legal entity, and that failure to do so deprived the circuit court of subject-matter jurisdiction.

Holdings

1. The appeal was moot because the April 9, 2013, election had occurred, but the court reached the merits under the public-interest exception because the issue was of public concern, authoritative resolution was desirable to guide public officers, and the issue was likely to recur.
2. Section 10-10.1(a) requires a petitioner seeking judicial review of an electoral board decision to serve the petition on the electoral board as a separate legal entity; service only on the board members does not satisfy the statute.
3. Naming the electoral board and its members in the caption, identifying their roles, attaching or quoting the board's decision, and filing a summons were not independent jurisdictional requirements under section 10-10.1(a).

Questions Presented

1. Whether the appeal was moot after the election specified in Bettis's petition had occurred and, if so, whether the public-interest exception applied.
2. Whether section 10-10.1(a) of the Illinois Election Code requires service of a petition for judicial review on the electoral board as a separate legal entity.
3. Whether failure to serve the electoral board as a separate legal entity deprived the circuit court of subject-matter jurisdiction.

Disposition

affirmed