ILLINOIS FIELD FILE

What Illinois law actually says, in the words people use, with the statute on every line. Free, every tool too, and no account.

114 sections56 deadlinesverified October 2026How this works

Find a page in the Illinois guide

Start with a situation

Traffic stopsGetting pulled over, documents, searches, and what happens roadside.
Being stoppedOn foot, on the street, and what you owe an officer who stops you.
Marijuana and drugsWhat the state legalized, what it did not, and where state and federal law disagree.
Impaired drivingImpaired driving stops, field tests, breath and blood tests, and implied consent.
Court and moneyDebt, eviction, work, family and records. The side of the system with no officer in it.
Your homeRenting and the landlord, and when the police may come inside.
RecordingFilming police, recording calls, and whose consent the law requires.
Carrying a firearmCarry rules, the duty to disclose, where guns are barred, and self defense.
Charges and penaltiesHow offenses are graded, jail ranges, fines, and repeat offense steps.
How you carry yourselfSilence, counsel, complying now and contesting later.

New in Illinois

Someone asked

“How long does a landlord in Illinois have to return a deposit?”

Getting the Security Deposit Back

A residential landlord may not keep any part of a security deposit for property damage unless, within 30 days after the tenant moved out or the right of possession ended, whichever is later, the landlord sends an itemized statement of the damage and the cost of repairing or replacing each item, with the paid receipts or copies.

765 ILCS 710/1

Read the whole section →

Legal information, not legal advice. Every block on this site carries the source it rests on.

Walk it through

20 situations taken one decision at a time, with what the law asks of each side written out at every step. Each opens on its own page.

Not in the Illinois guide yet?

Ask for a page

Name the topic or the situation. A person reads every request, and what people ask for decides which Illinois pages get written next.

The topicWhat you hoped to find (optional)Only if you want to hear when it is added (optional)

Leave it blank and the request stays anonymous. We do not record your IP either way.

About this guide — education built from the Illinois Compiled Statutes as the General Assembly publishes them, not a law degree in a webpage. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Illinois attorney or a legal aid office. Current as of October 2026.

This guide covers common situations in real Illinois encounters. Not the whole body of law, not a replacement for a lawyer.