Section 65 ILCS 5/7-1-2 - Initiating proceedings(a) A written petition signed by a majority of the owners of record of land in the territory and also by a majority of the electors, if any, residing in the territory shall be filed with the circuit court clerk of the county in which the territory is located, or the corporate authorities of a municipality may initiate the proceedings by enacting an ordinance expressing their desire to annex the described territory. A person owning land underlying a highway shall not be considered an owner of record for purposes of this petition unless that person owns some land not underlying a highway proposed to be annexed in the petition for annexation. No tract of land in excess of 10 acres in area may be included in the ordinances of a municipality initiating the proceedings, however, without the express consent of the owner of the tract unless the tract (i) is subdivided into lots or blocks or (ii) is bounded on at least 3 sides by lands subdivided into lots or blocks. A tract of land shall be deemed so bounded if it is actually separated from the subdivision only by the right-of-way of a railroad or other public utility or at a public highway. The petition or ordinance, as the case may be, shall request the annexation of the territory to a specified municipality and also shall request that the circuit court of the specified county submit the question of the annexation to the corporate authorities of the annexing municipality or to the electors of the unincorporated territory, as the case may be. The circuit court shall enter an order fixing the time for the hearing upon the petition, and the day for the hearing shall be not less than 20 nor more than 30 days after the filing of the petition or ordinance, as the case may be.(b) The petitioners or corporate authorities, as the case may be, shall give notice of the annexation petition or ordinance, as the case may be, not more than 30 nor less than 15 days before the date fixed for the hearing. This notice shall state that a petition for annexation or ordinance, as the case may be, has been filed and shall give the substance of the petition, including a description of the territory to be annexed, the name of the annexing municipality, and the date fixed for the hearing. This notice shall be given by publishing a notice at least once in one or more newspapers published in the annexing municipality or, if no newspaper is published in the annexing municipality, in one or more newspapers with a general circulation within the annexing municipality and territory. A copy of this notice shall be filed with the clerk of the annexing municipality and the municipal clerk shall send, by registered mail, an additional copy to the highway commissioner of each road district within which the territory proposed to be annexed is situated. If a municipal clerk fails to send the notice to a highway commissioner as required by this subsection, the municipality shall reimburse the road district served by that highway commissioner for any loss or liability caused by that failure. Any notice required by this Section need not include a metes and bounds legal description of the territory to be annexed, provided that the notice includes: (i) the common street address or addresses and (ii) the property index number ("PIN") or numbers of all the parcels of real property contained in the territory to be annexed.(c) The petitioners or corporate authorities, as the case may be, shall pay to the clerk of the circuit court $10 as a filing and service fee, and no petition or ordinance, as the case may be, shall be filed until this fee is paid.(d) No petitioner may withdraw from this petition except by consent of the majority of the other petitioners, or where it is shown to the satisfaction of the court that the signature of the petitioner was obtained by fraud or misrepresentation.(e) If a State charitable institution is situated upon a tract or tracts of land that lie partly within and partly without the corporate limits of any municipality, the corporate authorities of the municipality may by resolution without any petition or proceedings required by this Article but with the written consent of the Director of the State Department having jurisdiction of the institution, annex any part or all of the tracts lying without the corporate limits.(f) If real estate owned by the State of Illinois or any board, agency, or commission of the State is situated in unincorporated territory adjacent to a municipality, the corporate authorities of the municipality may annex any part or all of the real estate only with the written consent of the Governor or the governing authority of the board, agency, or commission, without any petition or proceedings required by this Article by resolution of the corporate authorities. This requirement does not apply, however, to State highways located within territory to be annexed under this Article.Amended by P.A. 097-0336,§ 5, eff. 8/12/2011.