2-209.Act submitting to jurisdiction - Process.
Article II. Civil Practice · Part 2. Process · Last amended 2025 · Last verified July 20, 2026
Full Text of 735 ILCS 5/2-209
Plain-English Summary
Subsection (a) is Illinois's long-arm list: it enumerates specific acts, done in person or through an agent, that submit a person to Illinois jurisdiction for a cause of action arising from that act. The list runs from transacting business and committing a tortious act within Illinois, to owning or using Illinois real estate, insuring persons or property located here, several family-law-related acts, breaching a fiduciary duty here, and acting as a director, officer, or fiduciary connected to Illinois, among the other items enumerated.
Subsection (b) addresses general jurisdiction, reachable for claims arising within or outside Illinois, over categories such as a person served while present in the State, an Illinois domiciliary or resident when the claim arose or suit was filed or served, an Illinois-organized or Illinois-headquartered corporation, a person or corporation doing business here, and certain foreign corporations that consented to general jurisdiction under the Business Corporation Act of 1983 in specified toxic-exposure cases. Subsection (b-5) addresses jurisdiction over a person who obtained a foreign, outside-the-United-States, defamation judgment against an Illinois resident or Illinois-headquartered entity, for declaratory relief tied to that judgment, subject to the publication and asset or compliance conditions the subsection describes.
Subsection (c) preserves any other constitutionally permitted basis for jurisdiction, and subsection (f) limits claims based on subsection (a) to those arising from the enumerated acts themselves. Subsections (d) and (e) address how process is served on someone reached under this Section, including, for certain non-U.S. product-liability defendants, service on the Secretary of State combined with a mailing and filed affidavit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kinds of acts does subsection (a) say will subject a nonresident to Illinois jurisdiction for a related claim?
A list including transacting business in Illinois, committing a tortious act here, owning or using Illinois real estate, insuring persons or property located here, and several family-law and fiduciary-related acts, among the items enumerated in (1) through (14).
What does "general jurisdiction" under subsection (b) cover, and who is subject to it?
Jurisdiction reachable for claims arising within or outside Illinois, over people such as an individual served while present in the State, an Illinois domiciliary or resident when the claim arose or suit was filed, a corporation organized under or headquartered in Illinois, or a person or corporation doing business here, plus certain foreign corporations that consented to general jurisdiction under the Business Corporation Act of 1983 in the toxic-exposure circumstances the subsection describes.
What does subsection (b-5) address?
Personal jurisdiction over someone who obtained a defamation judgment outside the United States against an Illinois resident or Illinois-headquartered entity, for declaratory relief on liability for that judgment or on its recognition under this Code, subject to constitutional limits and the publication and asset or compliance conditions described.
Can a claim based only on the specific acts in subsection (a) cover unrelated conduct too?
No. Subsection (f) limits jurisdiction based on subsection (a) to causes of action arising from the enumerated acts themselves.
How can process be served on someone reached under this section, including someone abroad in a product-liability case?
Generally by personal service outside Illinois with the same effect as in-state service, under subsection (d), and for certain non-U.S. product-liability defendants, by serving the Secretary of State along with a mailing and filed affidavit as described in subsection (e).
Amendment History
(Source: P.A. 104-352, eff. 8-15-25.)