In a landmark decision for Illinois fire protection districts, the Illinois Supreme Court in an opinion filed on March 24, 2005 upheld the authority of fire protection districts to adopt fire prevention codes and standards which differ from, and may be stricter than, those imposed by counties in unincorporated areas under fire protection district jurisdiction. The case arose out of the construction of a golf course clubhouse located in the Wauconda Fire Protection District in unincorporated Lake County. The District, pursuant to the authority of Section 11 of the Fire Protection District Act (70 ILCS 705/11), had adopted an ordinance which required the clubhouse to be sprinklered. Under Lake County's building code, sprinklering was not required. In a case of first impression, the Court ruled that counties are not considered to be "municipalities" under the language of Section 11 and that a code adopted by a district with more stringent requirements than a county's code applicable to the same structure is not superseded by the county 's enactment. In effect, both codes can apply with the more stringent setting the standard for the structure in question. With this ruling, fire protection districts now have clear authority to adopt fire prevention codes which the districts determine to be necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. The Wauconda Fire Protection District, Appellee, v. Stonewall Orchards, LLP et al. (Lake County, Illinois, Appellant). Docket No. 97317.

The Wauconda Fire Protection District was ably and successfully represented by Mary M. LaSata Spiegel of the Law Offices of David Gervais. The Illinois Association of Fire Protection Districts and the Northern Illinois Alliance of Fire Protection Districts filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the District's position which was written by Shawn Flaherty of Ottosen, Trevarthen, Britz, Kelly, and Cooper, Ltd. The IAFPD congratulates both of these attorneys for their fine work on behalf of the fire protection districts of Illinois.

The full opinion of the Supreme Court is available on the Court's website which may be linked here. Wauconda Fire Protection District - Full Opinion of the Supreme Court Docket 97317

(Non-attorney readers may want to go directly to part II of the Court's Analysis on page 9 of the opinion after reading the first four pages of the opinion for background.)