When must an Illinois administrative review complaint and summons be completed?

Confirm that the decision is final and that the governing law adopts Article III review.

Establish service under the Act governing the agency’s procedure.

If that Act supplies no method, apply the Section 10-50 fallback incorporated by the July 24, 2026 amendment. Preserve the decision, party service evidence and attorney delivery evidence.

1. Confirm that the decision is final and that the governing law adopts Article III review.
2. Exclude the independently established effective service day and count 35 calendar days under Section 1.11. Do not apply ordinary court-paper mailing adjustments to establish agency decision service.
3. Check the final weekend, statutory holiday and the proper court’s actual calendar.
4. Complete complaint filing and obtain issuance of summons within the applicable Section 3-103 period. Preserve both records. A complaint file mark alone does not prove summons issuance.

Section 1.11 excludes a final Saturday, Sunday or statutory holiday and consecutive excluded days. Section 17(a) of the Promissory Note and Bank Holiday Act includes Pulaski Day, Good Friday and the general election for members of the House of Representatives. Check proclamations, the proper court’s actual calendar and clerk access separately. The bundled Illinois calendar covers 2026 and 2027.

Fictitious example

Use an independently established service date for a final decision reviewable under Article III. Both complaint filing and summons issuance matter. Do not substitute the decision’s issue date. Fictitious established event. No extension, tolling, competing deadline or special order is assumed.

Fictitious facts. The event and statutory classification are independently established. The calculator does not determine accrual, legal disability, fraudulent concealment, effective agency service or an actual court extension.

Both complaint filing and summons issuance are specified

Section 3-103 states both acts. Check each actual completion record rather than treating a drafted or merely requested summons as issued.

The governing agency Act controls its service method

Use the service method provided in the Act governing procedure before the agency. The calculator cannot infer effective service from a decision issue date.

The current fallback refers to Section 10-50

P.A. 104-639 replaces the former personal-delivery or postal-deposit fallback with service under Section 10-50 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. The decision must also be sent to the party’s attorney as that section provides.

Finality and reconsideration must be established

Section 10-50(b) requires agency orders to specify finality, Administrative Review Law review and any agency-rule reconsideration requirement. Review the actual final order and governing agency law.

A narrow municipal-party amendment is separate

Section 3-103 permits the stated later addition of a police chief or fire chief in covered discipline cases in municipalities of 500,000 or fewer. It does not replace the initial timely complaint requirement.

• This calculation does not determine whether relief is available or whether the facts satisfy the statute.
• A current statutory edition does not establish the law for every historical claim. Preserve the applicable edition and actual orders.

• Confirm that the decision is final and that the governing law adopts Article III review.
• Establish service under the Act governing the agency’s procedure.
• If that Act supplies no method, apply the Section 10-50 fallback incorporated by the July 24, 2026 amendment. Preserve the decision, party service evidence and attorney delivery evidence.
• Section 3-103 states both acts. Check each actual completion record rather than treating a drafted or merely requested summons as issued.
• Use the service method provided in the Act governing procedure before the agency. The calculator cannot infer effective service from a decision issue date.
• P.A. 104-639 replaces the former personal-delivery or postal-deposit fallback with service under Section 10-50 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. The decision must also be sent to the party’s attorney as that section provides.
• Section 10-50(b) requires agency orders to specify finality, Administrative Review Law review and any agency-rule reconsideration requirement. Review the actual final order and governing agency law.
• Section 3-103 permits the stated later addition of a police chief or fire chief in covered discipline cases in municipalities of 500,000 or fewer. It does not replace the initial timely complaint requirement.
• Complete complaint filing and obtain issuance of summons within the applicable Section 3-103 period. Preserve both records. A complaint file mark alone does not prove summons issuance. File with the proper clerk in the required format. Rule 9 ordinarily requires civil electronic filing, subject to its exceptions and exemptions. Rule 9(f) ordinarily requires submission before midnight in the court time zone unless a statute, rule or actual order specifies a different time. A submission on a closed clerk day ordinarily receives the next open-day stamp. Preserve the actual electronic file mark, receipt and any filing-relief order. Filing and service are distinct acts.