In the absence of a permanent or preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order of a court, the bringing or pendency of any action alone, heretofore, or hereafter brought, to defeat or enjoin the disbursement by public officers of public funds to the persons, uses, or purposes for which they are appropriated or set apart, including the payment of the salaries and wages of all officers and employees of the State, or of any county, city, village, town or other municipality of the State, shall in no way change the liability of any public officer in the disbursement of public funds on account of any notice of matters contained in the pleadings in any action, but such liability shall remain the same, insofar as the bringing or pendency of any such action alone is concerned, as if no such action had been brought.
2-1903.Lis Pendens - Limitation as to Public Officers.
Article II. Civil Practice · Part 19. Lis Pendens · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified July 20, 2026
In one sentenceSection 2-1903 says a lawsuit challenging a public officer's disbursement of public funds doesn't, by itself, change that officer's liability for making the payment, unless a court has entered an injunction or restraining order.
Full Text of 735 ILCS 5/2-1903
Plain-English Summary
Section 2-1903 protects public officers who disburse public funds — including salaries and wages of state, county, city, village, town, or other municipal officers and employees — from a particular kind of exposure. If someone brings a lawsuit to defeat or enjoin that disbursement, the mere bringing or pendency of that lawsuit doesn't, on its own, change the officer's liability for making the payment to the people or purposes for which the funds were appropriated.
That protection has one clear limit built into the opening clause: it applies only in the absence of a permanent or preliminary injunction or a temporary restraining order. Once a court enters one of those orders, the officer's situation is governed by that order, not by this section's default rule.
Short of an injunction or restraining order, the officer's liability stays exactly what it would have been if no lawsuit had ever been filed, no matter what notice the officer might have gotten from the pleadings in the pending action. This carves public officers out of the ordinary notice effect a pending lawsuit can otherwise carry.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Section 2-1903 protect public officers from?
It protects a public officer who disburses public funds from having that liability changed because a lawsuit is pending seeking to defeat or enjoin the disbursement — as long as no injunction or restraining order has been entered.
Does filing a lawsuit automatically stop payment of public funds?
No. The lawsuit's mere existence doesn't change the officer's liability or stop the disbursement. Only an actual permanent or preliminary injunction, or a temporary restraining order, changes the picture.
What would change a public officer's liability under this section?
A court entering a permanent or preliminary injunction, or a temporary restraining order, against the disbursement. Short of one of those orders, the section keeps the officer's liability the same as if no action had been filed.
Does this section cover salaries and wages of government employees?
Yes. The section expressly includes the payment of salaries and wages of officers and employees of the State, or of a county, city, village, town, or other municipality, within the disbursements it protects.
Why does this section treat public officers differently from ordinary lis pendens rules?
Ordinary lis pendens notice can bind later parties based on the pendency of a case affecting property. Section 2-1903 keeps a public officer's payment liability unaffected by a pending suit alone, so government payroll and appropriated disbursements aren't disrupted absent a court order specifically restraining them.
Amendment History
(Source: P.A. 84-1308.)
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: illinois public funds disbursement lawsuitpublic officer liability lis pendens illinoisenjoining disbursement of public funds illinoisrestraining order public officer illinois