735 ILCS 5/2-1001.5
2021 Illinois Compiled Statutes|Chapter 735 - CIVIL PROCEDURE|735 ILCS 5/ - Code of Civil Procedure.|Article II - Civil Practice

 (from Ch. 110, par. 2-1001.5)Sec. 2-1001.5.     Change of venue.(a) A change of venue in any civil action may be had when the court  determines that any party may not receive a fair trial in the court in  which the action is pending because the inhabitants of the county are  prejudiced against the party, or his or her attorney, or the adverse party  has an undue influence over the minds of the inhabitants.(b) Every application for a change of venue by a party or his or her  attorney shall be by petition, verified by the affidavit of the applicant.  The  petition shall set forth the facts upon which the petitioner bases his or her  belief of prejudice of the inhabitants of the county or the undue influence of  the adverse party over their minds, and must be supported by the affidavits of  at least 2 other reputable persons residing in the county. The adverse party  may controvert the petition by counter affidavits, and the court may grant or  deny the petition as shall appear to be according to the right of the case.(c) A petition for change of venue shall not be granted unless it is  presented before trial or hearing begins and before the judge to whom it is  presented has ruled on any substantial issue in the case, but if any ground  for change of venue occurs thereafter, a petition for change of venue  may be presented based upon that ground.(d) The application may be made to the court in which the case is pending,  reasonable notice thereof having been given to the adverse party or his or her  attorney.(e) When a change of venue is granted, it shall be to some other  convenient county to which there is no valid objection.(f) The order for a change of venue may be made subject to such equitable  terms and conditions as safety to the rights of the parties may seem to  require, and the court in its discretion may prescribe.(g) The expenses attending a change of venue shall be taxed by the clerk  of the court from which the case is certified according to the rates  established by law for like services, and shall be paid by the petitioner and  not allowed as part of the costs in the action.(h) The order shall be void unless the party obtaining a change of venue  shall, within 15 days, or such shorter time as the court may prescribe,  pay to the clerk the expenses attending the change.(i) Where the venue is changed without the application of either party,  the costs of such change shall abide the event of the action.(j) In all cases of change of venue, the clerk of the court from which  the change is granted shall immediately prepare a full transcript of the  record and proceedings in the case, and of the petition, affidavits and  order for the change of venue, and transmit the same, together with all  the papers filed in the case, to the proper court, but when the venue is  changed, on behalf of a part of the defendants in a condemnation proceeding,  it shall not be necessary to transmit the original papers in the case, and  it shall be sufficient to transmit certified copies of so much thereof as  pertains to the case so changed. Such transcript and papers or copies may  be transmitted by mail, or in such other ways as the court may direct.(k) The clerk of the court to which the change of venue is granted shall  file the transcript and papers transmitted and docket the cause, and such  cause shall be proceeded in and determined before and after judgment, as  if it had originated in such court.(l) All questions concerning the regularity of the proceedings in a change  of venue, and the right of the court to which the change is made to try  the cause and enforce the judgment, shall be considered as waived after  trial and verdict.(m) Upon the entry of judgment of any civil cause in which the venue has  been changed, it shall be lawful for the party in whose favor judgment is  entered, to file in the office of the clerk of the court where the action  was instituted a transcript of such judgment, and the clerk shall file the same  of record, and enforcement may be had thereon, and the same shall, from  the time of filing such transcript, have the same operation and effect as  if originally recovered in such court.    (Source: P.A. 87-949.)