Injury Claims Against Illinois Government Entities: The One-Year Deadline

Last Updated: October 24, 2026

If you were injured by an Illinois city, county, school district, park district, or other local government entity, you do not file a “notice of claim.” You file a lawsuit, and you must file it within one year. The old written-notice statute was repealed in 1986. Claims against the State of Illinois follow different rules in the Court of Claims.

The One-Year Rule for Injury Claims Against Illinois Local Governments

An ordinary Illinois personal injury claim carries a two-year statute of limitations under 735 ILCS 5/13-202. Claims against local government entities are different. Under 745 ILCS 10/8-101(a), part of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, no civil action may be commenced against a local entity or any of its employees “unless it is commenced within one year from the date that the injury was received or the cause of action accrued.”

That is the trap. The one-year period is the deadline for filing the lawsuit, and it is half the ordinary two-year period against a private defendant. Courts enforce it strictly.

The 30-, 60-, and 90-Day “Notice” Myth

You may read elsewhere that Illinois requires a written notice of claim to a municipality within 30, 60, or 90 days of an injury, or within six months, or within a year. That is not Illinois law today.

Illinois did once have a pre-suit notice statute, section 8-102 of the Tort Immunity Act. The General Assembly repealed it effective November 25, 1986 (P.A. 84-1431), and the Illinois Appellate Court has confirmed the repeal. No general written notice of claim is required before suing an Illinois municipality, county, school district, park district, or any other local public entity for personal injury. Articles describing 30-, 60-, or 90-day municipal notice deadlines are describing the law of other states, or Illinois law from before 1986.

The practical rule is simpler and harsher: the notice you give the government is the lawsuit itself, and it must be on file within one year.

Who Counts as a “Local Public Entity”

The one-year rule reaches nearly every unit of local government. Under 745 ILCS 10/1-206, “local public entity” includes counties, townships, municipalities, school districts and school boards, community college districts, park districts, forest preserve districts, fire protection districts, sanitary districts, library systems, and other local governmental bodies. It does not include the State of Illinois or its agencies, which are covered by a separate system described below.

The Patient-Care Exception

There is one major exception inside the Act itself. Under 745 ILCS 10/8-101(b), claims against a local public entity or employee arising out of patient care, for example care at a county-run hospital or public health clinic, follow a two-year limitations period measured from when the claimant knew or reasonably should have known of the injury, with an outside limit of four years from the act or omission.

Transit Agencies Have Their Own One-Year Statutes

• Chicago Transit Authority. Suits against the CTA are governed by 70 ILCS 3605/41, which requires the action to be commenced within one year. An older version of that statute imposed a separate six-month notice; the current statute is a one-year suit deadline.
• Metra and Pace. Personal injury actions against the Regional Transportation Authority service boards are governed by the one-year limitation in 70 ILCS 3615/5.03, not the general two-year statute.

Claims Against the State of Illinois Are Different

Except as the State Lawsuit Immunity Act provides, the State of Illinois shall not be made a defendant or party in any court (745 ILCS 5/1). The Court of Claims Act is one of those exceptions. 705 ILCS 505/22-1 requires a written notice filed with the Attorney General and the Clerk of the Court of Claims within one year from the injury or from accrual. A claimant who files the claim within one year of accrual does not also file that notice. In a wrongful-death claim, the representative files notice within one year of the death or of the representative’s qualification, whichever is later. If 705 ILCS 505/22-1 is not satisfied, 705 ILCS 505/22-2 dismisses the action and forever bars the person in the Court of Claims, except as the Crime Victims Compensation Act provides. That permanent bar follows a missed notice. The time for filing the claim is a separate limit. Under 705 ILCS 505/22(h), a claim that is not otherwise sooner barred must be filed within two years after it first accrues. A minor, or a person under legal disability when the claim accrues, must file within two years after the disability ceases. 705 ILCS 505/22(j) makes the Act’s time limits binding and jurisdictional, except an extension authorized by law or rule and granted on a timely motion. Notice in the first year still leaves the claim subject to that filing period. A claim filed after the first year still needs the notice section 22-1 requires.

This matters in road cases: a defect on a city street points to the city and the one-year circuit court deadline, while a defect on a state route may point to the State and the Court of Claims. Identifying the right defendant early is part of protecting the deadline.

What to Do If a Government Entity Injured You

• Mark the one-year date from the injury, and treat it as the controlling deadline.
• Photograph and document early. Governments keep maintenance logs, inspection records, and complaint histories, and early involvement of counsel helps get preservation demands out before records are routinely destroyed.
• Identify every potential defendant. City, township, county, state, and private contractors can each own a piece of the same stretch of road or sidewalk, and different deadlines can apply to each.
• Do not wait out settlement talks. Negotiating with a municipal insurer does not pause the one-year clock.

Talk to a lawyer well before the year runs. Parker & Parker handles injury claims against government entities across central Illinois. Call 309-673-0069 or schedule a free consultation.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to send a notice of claim before suing an Illinois city or county?

No. The pre-suit notice statute, 745 ILCS 10/8-102, was repealed effective November 25, 1986. What Illinois requires instead is that the lawsuit itself be filed within one year under 745 ILCS 10/8-101(a).

How long do I have to sue an Illinois municipality for a personal injury?

One year from the date the injury was received or the cause of action accrued, under 745 ILCS 10/8-101(a). That is half the standard two-year deadline that applies against private defendants, and it covers counties, cities, school districts, park districts, and most other local government bodies.

Is there a 30-day notice deadline for injury claims in Cook County?

No. No Illinois statute imposes a 30-, 60-, or 90-day notice deadline for tort claims against any Illinois municipality or county, including Cook County. The controlling deadline is the one-year lawsuit deadline.

What deadline applies to claims against the CTA, Metra, or Pace?

One year. The CTA has its own one-year statute (70 ILCS 3605/41), and Metra and Pace fall under the one-year limitation in the Regional Transportation Authority Act (70 ILCS 3615/5.03).

What if my claim is against the State of Illinois?

Except as the State Lawsuit Immunity Act provides, the State is not made a defendant in court. A personal-injury claim is brought in the Court of Claims. Within one year of the injury or accrual, file written notice with the Attorney General and the Clerk of the Court of Claims. Filing the claim itself within one year of accrual satisfies that notice requirement. A wrongful-death notice is due within one year of the death or of the representative’s qualification, whichever is later. If 705 ILCS 505/22-1 is not satisfied, 705 ILCS 505/22-2 dismisses the action and forever bars the person in the Court of Claims, except as the Crime Victims Compensation Act provides. The filing period is separate. Under 705 ILCS 505/22(h), a claim that is not otherwise sooner barred must be filed within two years after it first accrues. A minor, or a person under legal disability when the claim accrues, must file within two years after the disability ceases. Those time limits are binding and jurisdictional. Give the required notice or file within the first year. A later filing without that notice is barred.

What if the injury involved care at a public hospital or clinic?

Patient-care claims against local public entities follow 745 ILCS 10/8-101(b): two years from discovery of the injury, but never more than four years from the act or omission.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice. Deadlines depend on the facts of your case, and exceptions exist. Talk to an Illinois lawyer about your specific situation promptly.

Our personal injury team helps injury victims across Central Illinois.