In force Jan.[January] 14 1836.
AN ACT to apportion the Representation of the several Counties in this State.
1Ratio of representation.
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That until the next census, as provided by the constitution shall have been taken2
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and an apportionment made thereon, the following shall be the ratio of representation
for this State, viz: that each seven thousand white inhabitants shall be entitled to one senator,
and each three thousand white inhabitants shall be entitled to one representative,
to be apportioned and divided as follows, to-wit: The counties of Alexander and Union, one representative each, and the two together one senator; the counties of Johnson and Pope, one representative each, and the together one senator; the county of Gallatin, three representatives and one senator; the counties of Hamilton and Jefferson, one representative each, and the two together one senator; the county of Franklin, two representatives, the county of Jackson, one representative and the two together one senator; the counties of Washington and Perry, one representative each, and the two together one senator; the county of White, two representatives and one senator, the counties of Edwards, Wayne and Wabash, one representative each, and the three together one senator; the county of Lawrence shall, at the next general election, elect two representatives, and at the succeeding
biennial election one representative; and at the said first general election, the
counties of Crawford and Jasper shall elect one representative, and at the succeeding biennial election two representatives
together, and so on alternately thereafter, until another apportionment shall be made,
and the three counties together one senator; the county of Edgar, two representatives, and one senator; the county of Coles, two representatives, the county of Clark, one representative, and the two together one senator; the county of Vermillion three representatives, the county of Champaign, one representative, and the two together one senator; the county of Madison, three representatives and one senator; the county of St. Clair, three representatives and one senator; the county of Monroe, one representative, and the three last mentioned counties together one senator;
the county of Randolph, two representative and one senator; the counties of Clinton and Marion, one representative each, and the two together one senator; the counties of Bond and Montgomery, one representative each, and the two together one senator; the counties of Fayette and Effingham, together, two representatives, the county of Clay, one representative, and the three together one senator,3 the county of Shelby, one representative and one senator; the county of Greene, three representatives and one senator; the counties of Calhoun and Greene, one representative and one senator together; the county of Macoupin one representative and one senator; the county of Morgan, six representatives and three senators; the county of Sangamon, seven representatives
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and two senators; the county of Tazewell, two representatives and one senator; the county of McLean, two representatives, the county of Macon one representative, and the two together one senator; the county of Adams, two representatives and one senator; the county of Pike, two representatives and one senator; the county of Schuyler, two representatives and one senator; the county of Fulton, two representatives and one senator; the counties of McDonough and Hancock, one representative each, and the two together one senator; the counties of Warren, Knox and Henry, the three together one representative and one senator; the county of Cook, three representatives and one senator; the county of La Salle, one representative and one senator; the county of Iroquois shall vote for the senator to be elected in La Salle county, and elect one representative alone, the counties of Putnam and Peoria, one representative each, and the two together one senator; the counties of Jo Daviess, Mercer and Rock Island, together, two representatives and one senator.
Counties joined together made districts.
Sec. 2. Whenever, in the preceding section, two or more counties are joined together for the
purpose of electing representatives or senator, they shall form, and are hereby constituted,
districts for that purpose.
Clerks duty.
Sec. 3. At all future elections for senator or representatives the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of the counties of Alexander and Union, shall meet at the seat of justice of Union county, to compare the returns of election for senator in said district; the district composed
of the counties of Johnson and Pope, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties, shall meet at the seat of justice of Pope county, to compare the returns of election for senator for said district; the district composed
of the counties of Jefferson and Hamilton, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties, shall meet at the seat of justice of Jefferson county, to compare the election returns for senator in said district; the district composed
of the counties of Franklin and Jackson, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties, shall meet at the seat of justice of Franklin county, to compare the election returns for senator in said district; the district composed
of the counties of Washington and Perry, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties, shall meet at the seat of justice of Washington county, to compare the election returns for senator in said district; the district composed
of the counties of Edwards, Wayne, and Wabash, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties shall meet at the seat of justice of Edwards county, to compare the election returns for senator in said district: the
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representative district composed of the counties of Crawford and Jasper, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties, shall meet at the seat of justice of Crawford county to compare the election returns for representatives in said district; the
senatorial district composed of the counties of Lawrence, Crawford, and Jasper, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties shall meet at the seat of justice of Crawford county, to compare the election returns for senator in said district; the district composed
of the counties of Coles and Clark, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties shall meet at the seat of justice of Coles county to compare the election returns for senator in said district; the district composed
of the counties of Vermillion and Champaign, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties shall meet at the seat of justice of Vermillion county, to compare the election returns for senator in said district; the district composed
of the counties of Madison, St. Clair and Monroe, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties, shall meet at the seat of justice of St. Clair county, to compare the election returns for senator in said district; the district composed
of the counties of Clinton and Marion, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties shall meet at the seat of justice of Clinton county, to compare the election returns for senator in said district; the district composed
of the counties of Bond and Montgomery, the clerks off the county commissioners’ courts of said counties, shall meet at the seat of justice of Montgomery county, to compare the election returns for senator in said district; the senatorial district,
composed of the counties of Fayette, Effingham and Clay, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties, shall meet at the seat of justice of Effingham county, to compare the election returns for senator in said district; the representative
district composed of the counties of Fayette and Effingham, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties, shall meet at the seat of justice of Effingham county to
compare the election returns for representatives in said district; the district composed
of the counties of Green and Calhoun, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties, shall meet at the seat of justice of Greene county, to compare the election returns for senator and representatives in said district;
the district composed of the counties of McLean and Macon, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties shall meet at the seat of justice of McLean county, to compare the election returns for senator in said district; the district composed
of the counties of McDonough and Hancock, the clerks of the
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county commissioners’ courts of said counties shall meet at the seat of justice of McDonough county, to compare the election returns for senator in said district; the district composed
of the counties of Warren, Knox and Henry, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties, shall meet at the seat of justice of Knox county, to compare the election returns for senator and representatives in said district;
the district composed of the counties of La Salle and Iroquois, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties shall meet at the seat of justice of La Salle county, to compare the election returns for senator in said district; the district composed
of the counties of Putnam and Peoria, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties shall meet at the seat of justice of Peoria county to compare the election returns for senator in said district; the district composed
of the counties of Jo Daviess, Mercer, and Rock Island, the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of said counties, shall meet at the seat of justice of Jo Daviess county to compare the election returns for senator and representatives of said district.
Clerks to meet.
Sec. 4. The clerks of the county commissioners’ courts above named, shall meet at the several places before mentioned, within fifteen days
next after any election for senator or representatives, in any of thesaid districts, for the purpose of comparing the votes given at such election.
Senators to be classed.
Sec. 5. Within the first thirty days of the session of the senate, the additional senator
to be elected from Morgan county, and the senator to be elected from Cook county, and the senator to be elected from Pike county, and the senator to be elected from Macoupin county, and the senator to be elected from Fulton county, and the senators to be elected from the districts composed of the counties of La Salle and Iroquois, McLean, Macon, Calhoun, Greene, Putnam, Peoria, Madison, St. Clair, Monroe, Hancock, McDonough, Warren, Knox, Henry, Coles, Clark, Washington, and Perry, shall proceed to divide by lot their said number into two classes, the first class
of which shall serve until the expiration of two years from the first Monday in August,
eighteen hundred and thirty-six, and the second class shall serve four years from
the first Monday in August, eighteen hundred and thirty-six; and in case of any vacancy
occurring in any of the aforesaid offices, the same shall be filled in the manner
prescribed by law for filling vacancies in the General Assembly.
Approved, Jan. 14, 1836.
1Responding to the annual message of Governor Joseph Duncan, Newton Cloud of a select committee introduced HB 55 in the House of Representatives on December 22, 1835. On December 26, the House referred the bill to a committee
of the Whole House, which reported back the bill with an amendment on the same day.
The House referred the bill and amendment to the original select committee that drafted
the bill, adding one additional member from each of the six judicial circuits. The
select committee reported back the bill on December 29 with several amendments, in
which the House concurred. On December 30, the House rejected an amendment that would have changed the number of representatives for Randolph County, passing the bill without further amendment. On January 7, the Senate approved amendments that modified the representation for Randolph, Fayette, Clay, and Effingham counties. The Senate passed the bill as amended 14 to 10. On January 9, the House
rejected the Senate amendments. On January 11, the Senate refused to recede from
its appointments and appointed a committee of conference to resolve the disagreement.
The House appointed its own committee of conference on the same day. The committee
of conference reported back the bill on January 12 with an amendment in which the Senate would recede from its second amendment to the bill, with the House concurring in the Senate’s first amendment. The Senate and House concurred in this amendment. On January 14, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal . 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 130-31, 134-35, 156, 157, 162, 181, 258-59, 261, 281,
284, 286, 288-89, 318, 334; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 133, 178, 195, 209, 219, 225, 238, 248; An Act Dividing the State into Judicial Circuits.
2The Illinois constitution required the state to conduct a census of every white male
inhabitant starting in 1820 and every five years thereafter.
Ill. Const. (1818), art. 2, §31.
3On January 7, 1836, the Senate approved amendments modifying the representation for Randolph, Fayette, Effingham, and Clay counties. The House rejected these amendments, and a committee of conference offered
an amendment in which the Senate would recede from its second amendment and the House would accede to the Senate’s first amendment.
Illinois House Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 281, 284, 286, 288-89; Illinois Senate Journal. 1835. 9th G. A., 2nd sess., 181, 195, 209, 219.
Printed Document, 5 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at their Second Session (Vandalia, IL:
J. Y. Sawyer, 1836), 268-72, GA Session: 9-2,