735 ILCS 5/2-202 — Illinois Code / Chapter 735 / Act 5 / Section 2-202
Section 2-202
Status: in_force

(735 ILCS 5/2-202) (from Ch. 110, par. 2-202) Sec. 2-202. Persons authorized to serve process; place of service; failure to make return. (a) Process shall be served by a sheriff, or if the sheriff is disqualified, by a coroner of some county of the State. In matters where the county or State is an interested party, process may be served by a special investigator appointed by the State's Attorney of the county, as defined in Section 3-9005 of the Counties Code. A sheriff of a county with a population of less than 2,000,000 may employ civilian personnel to serve process. Process in any county may be served without special appointment by a person who is licensed or registered as a private detective under the Private Detective, Private Alarm, Private Security, Fingerprint Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004 or by a registered employee of a private detective agency certified under that Act. A private detective or licensed employee must supply the sheriff of any county in which he serves process with a copy of his license or certificate; however, the failure of a person to supply the copy shall not in any way impair the validity of process served by the person. The court may, in its discretion upon motion, order service to be made by a private person over 18 years of age and not a party to the action. It is not necessary that service be made by a sheriff or coroner of the county in which service is made. If served or sought to be served by a sheriff or coroner, he or she shall endorse his or her return thereon, and if by a private person the return shall be by affidavit. (a-3) In a county of 3,000,000 or more, any person who is licensed or registered as a private detective under the Private Detective, Private Alarm, Private Security, Fingerprint Vendor, and Locksmith Act of 2004 or by a registered employee of a private detective agency certified under that Act and hired to serve any summons originating in such county in the State shall pay $5 of each service fee, as established under Section 4-12001 of the Counties Code, to be remitted to the county sheriff. Payment of the $5 fee shall be made to the clerk of the court by the plaintiff at the time of filing the summons and complaint or when an alias summons issues. A private detective or registered employee of a private detective agency that is hired to serve summons or alias summons shall deduct $5 from the bill tendered to the party who paid the $5 fee to the clerk of the court on behalf of the private detective or registered employee of a private detective agency. If the party seeking to serve a summons or alias summons utilizes the county sheriff, the county sheriff shall deduct $5 from the total cost of service charged to the party. Any fees paid to the clerk of the court under this subsection shall be remitted to the county sheriff. (a-5) A private detective or private detective agency shall send, one time only, a copy of his, her, or its individual private detective license or private detective agency certificate to the county sheriff in each county in which the detective or detective agency or his, her, or its employees serve process, regardless of the size of the population of the county. As long as the license or certificate is valid and meets the requirements of the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, a new copy of the current license or certificate need not be sent to the sheriff. A private detective agency shall maintain a list of its registered employees. Registered employees shall consist of: (1) an employee who works for the agency holding a valid Permanent Employee Registration