CJS 208 - Criminal Law

Reading Statute Citations

• Illinois Statutes are published in a document called, "Illinois Compiled Statutes," (shortened to ILCS).
• This list organizes statutes by topic, called a chapter.
  • Each chapter is made of different acts, which specify subtopics of the chapter.
  • Each act is broken down into different sections containing individual statutes.

Example:

the statute 750 ILCS 5/212 can be read as:

• Chapter 750 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes, which discusses issues regarding families
• Act 5, which discusses the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act.
• Section 212, which deals with Prohibited Marriages.

Below is a visual example of how to read statutes: