2-103.Public corporations - Local actions - Libel - Insurance companies.
Article II. Civil Practice · Part 1. Venue · Last amended 2003 · Last verified July 20, 2026
In one sentenceSets separate venue rules for suits against public and municipal bodies, real-estate and title actions, actions a statute makes "local," newspaper or magazine libel suits, and suits against insurance companies, including special handling for claims tied to a local government airport.
(a)Actions must be brought against a public, municipal,
governmental or quasi-municipal corporation in the county in which its principal office is located or in the county in which the transaction or some part thereof occurred out of which the cause of action arose. Except as otherwise provided in Section 7-102 of this Code, if the cause of action is related to an airport owned by a unit of local government or the property or aircraft operations thereof, however, including an action challenging the constitutionality of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly, the action must be brought in the county in which the unit of local government's principal office is located. Actions to recover damage to real estate which may be overflowed or otherwise damaged by reason of any act of the corporation may be brought in the county where the real estate or some part of it is situated, or in the county where the corporation is located, at the option of the party claiming to be injured. Except as otherwise provided in Section 7-102 of this Code, any cause of action that is related to an airport owned by a unit of local government, and that is pending on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly in a county other than the county in which the unit of local government's principal office is located, shall be transferred, upon motion of any party under Section 2-106 of this Code, to the county in which the unit of local government's principal office is located.
(b)Any action to quiet title to real estate, or to partition or recover possession thereof or to foreclose a mortgage or other lien thereon, must be brought in the county in which the real estate or some part of it is situated.
(c)Any action which is made local by any statute must be brought in the county designated in the statute.
(d)Every action against any owner, publisher, editor, author or printer of a newspaper or magazine of general circulation for libel contained in that newspaper or magazine may be commenced only in the county in which the defendant resides or has his, her or its principal office or in which the article was composed or printed, except when the defendant resides or the article was printed without this State, in either of which cases the action may be commenced in any county in which the libel was circulated or published.
(e)Actions against any insurance company incorporated under the law of this State or doing business in this State may also be brought in any county in which the plaintiff or one of the plaintiffs may reside.
Plain-English Summary
This section gathers several venue rules for particular kinds of defendants and claims. Under subsection (a), a suit against a public, municipal, governmental, or quasi-municipal corporation belongs in the county of its principal office or the county where the underlying transaction occurred; a claim tied to an airport owned by a unit of local government generally belongs in the county of that unit's principal office, subject to an exception noted in Section 7-102 of this Code, and the subsection sets a transfer mechanism for pending airport-related cases filed in the wrong county. Subsection (a) also lets a party injured by real estate being overflowed or otherwise damaged by an act of the corporation sue in the county where the real estate, or part of it, is located, or in the county where the corporation is located, at that party's option.
Subsection (b) sends real-estate actions, quiet title, partition, possession, and mortgage foreclosure, to the county where the property, or part of it, is located. Subsection (c) sends any action a statute makes "local" to the county the statute names.
Subsection (d) sets venue for libel suits against a newspaper or magazine, generally the defendant's county of residence or principal office, or the county where the article was composed or printed, with a broader option if the defendant or the article was outside Illinois. Subsection (e) lets a plaintiff sue an insurance company in the plaintiff's own county of residence, on top of whatever other venue would otherwise apply.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where must an action against a public, municipal, or quasi-municipal corporation be brought?
In the county of its principal office, or in the county where the underlying transaction, or part of it, occurred, under subsection (a); a claim tied to a local government airport generally follows the county of that unit's principal office instead, subject to the exception noted in Section 7-102.
Where can someone sue over real estate that was overflowed or otherwise damaged by an act of a public or municipal corporation?
Under subsection (a), in the county where the real estate, or part of it, is situated, or in the county where the corporation is located, at the option of the party claiming to be injured.
Where must someone sue to quiet title, partition, recover possession of, or foreclose a mortgage on real estate?
In the county where the real estate, or part of it, is situated, under subsection (b).
Where can a libel action against a newspaper or magazine be filed?
Generally where the defendant resides or has its principal office, or where the article was composed or printed; if the defendant or the article was outside Illinois, in any county where the libel circulated, under subsection (d).
Where can someone sue an insurance company under this section?
In any county where the plaintiff, or one of the plaintiffs, resides, under subsection (e).
Amendment History
(Source: P.A. 93-450, eff. 8-6-03.)
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Illinois Compiled Statutes, published by the
Illinois Compiled Statutes, Illinois General Assembly / Legislative Reference Bureau. Last verified July 20, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as:venue against a municipality Illinoislibel venue against a newspaper Illinoisinsurance company venue Illinoisquiet title venue Illinoisairport lawsuit venue against local government