Illinois Compiled Statutes

735 ILCS 5/2-101 (2026)

Generally

✓ current as of May 2026
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(735 ILCS 5/2-101) (from Ch. 110, par. 2-101)
    Sec. 2-101. Generally. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, every action must be commenced (1) in the county of residence of any defendant who is joined in good faith and with probable cause for the purpose of obtaining a judgment against him or her and not solely for the purpose of fixing venue in that county, or (2) in the county in which the transaction or some part thereof occurred out of which the cause of action arose.
    If a check, draft, money order, or other instrument for the payment of child support payable to or delivered to the State Disbursement Unit established under Section 10-26 of the Illinois Public Aid Code is returned by the bank or depository for any reason, venue for the enforcement of any criminal proceedings or civil cause of action for recovery and attorney fees shall be in the county where the principal office of the State Disbursement Unit is located.
    If all defendants are nonresidents of the State, an action may be commenced in any county.
    If the corporate limits of a city, village or town extend into more than one county, then the venue of an action or proceeding instituted by that municipality to enforce any fine, imprisonment, penalty or forfeiture for violation of any ordinance of that municipality, regardless of the county in which the violation was committed or occurred, may be in the appropriate court (i) in the county wherein the office of the clerk of the municipality is located or (ii) in any county in which at least 35% of the territory within the municipality's corporate limits is located.
(Source: P.A. 91-212, eff. 7-20-99.)

    
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 116 cases (31 in the last 5 years), 1995–2026 · leading case: Tabirta v. Cummings, 2020 IL 124798 (Ill. 2020).
Tabirta v. Cummings, 2020 IL 124798 (Ill. 2020). · cites it 3× “See 735 ILCS 5/2-101 (West 2016) (providing that venue is proper either (1) in the county of residence of any defendant or (2) in the county where the transaction occurred).”
Boxdorfer v. DaimlerChrysler Corp., 790 N.E.2d 391 (Ill. App. Ct. 2003). · cites it 4× “It provides: "Except as otherwise provided in this Act, every action must be commenced (1) in the county of residence of any defendant who is joined in good faith and with probable cause for the purpose of obtaining a judgment against him or her and not solely for the purpose of…”
King v. Find-A-Way Shipping, LLC, 2020 IL App (1st) 191307 (Ill. App. Ct. 2020). · cites it 2× “735 ILCS 5/2-101 West 2018). ¶ 24 Defendant makes no substantive argument that the circuit court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over disputes concerning property damage.”
Langenhorst v. Norfolk S. Ry. Co., 848 N.E.2d 927 (Ill. 2006). “) 735 ILCS 5/2-101 (West 2000). This court has recognized that "[t]he Illinois venue statute is designed to insure that the action will be brought either in a location convenient to the defendant, by providing for venue in the county of residence, or convenient to potential…”
Storino, Ramello & Durkin v. Rackow, 2015 IL App (1st) 142961 (Ill. App. Ct. 2016). “¶ 25 Motion to Transfer Venue ¶ 26 The trial court denied the Rackows’ motion to transfer venue, in which they requested the matter be transferred to the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, Du Page County, the venue for the underlying action in which SRD represented the Rackows against…”
Kerry No. 5 v. Barbella Grp., 2012 IL App (1st) 102641 (Ill. App. Ct. 2012). · cites it 10× “5, LLC, raises the following issues on appeal: (1) whether venue was proper under section 2-101 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-101 (West 2008)); and (2) whether the circuit court abused its discretion in declining jurisdiction under the doctrine of…”
Brandt v. Shekar, 2020 IL App (5th) 190137 (Ill. App. Ct. 2020). · cites it 2× “Clair County was considered a proper forum under section 2-101 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2-101 (West 2016) (“Except as otherwise provided in this Act, every action must be commenced (1) in the county of residence of any defendant who is joined in good faith and…”
First Nat. Bank v. Guerine, 764 N.E.2d 54 (Ill. 2002). “ANALYSIS Section 2-101 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides: "every action must be commenced (1) in the county of residence of any defendant who is joined in good faith and with probable cause for the purpose of obtaining a judgment against him or her and not solely for the…”
Madison Two Assocs. v. Pappas, 884 N.E.2d 142 (Ill. 2008). “While the Board's rules and regulations apply to proceedings before that body, the procedures followed in circuit court on tax objection complaints are governed by the Property Tax Code itself and, where it is silent, by article II of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS…”
Outsource Int'l, Inc. v. George Barton & Barton's Staffing Solutions, Inc., 192 F.3d 662 (7th Cir. 1999). · cites it 2× “For suppose that under the Illinois venue rules, see 735 ILCS 5/2-101 et seq., Outsource could sue Barton in state court in either district.”
Evans v. Patel, 2020 IL App (1st) 200528 (Ill. App. Ct. 2020). “” 735 ILCS 5/2-101 (West 2018). The doctrine of forum non conveniens assumes that there is more than one forum with the power to hear the case.”
Braun v. Aspide Med., 2020 IL App (1st) 200131 (Ill. App. Ct. 2020). · cites it 2× “Section 2-101 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-101 (West 2018)) provides the general venue rule in Illinois: “Except as otherwise provided in this Act, every action must be commenced (1) in the county of residence of any defendant who is joined in good faith…”
— 735 ILCS 5/2-101(1) — 1 case
Toles v. Mead Johnson & Co., LLC., 2025 IL App (5th) 231205 (Ill. App. Ct. 2025).
— 735 ILCS 5/2-101(2) — 2 cases
Rensing v. Merck & Co., Inc., 857 N.E.2d 702 (Ill. App. Ct. 2006).
Rensing v. Merck & Co., Inc. (Ill. App. Ct. 2006).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.