Township Officials of Illinois: Duties, Pay, and Vacancies

Illinois township officials are the five categories of locally elected officers who run each township’s day-to-day operations: a supervisor, a clerk, an assessor, a highway commissioner, and a four-member board of trustees. All are chosen at the consolidated election held the first Tuesday in April of odd-numbered years, and each serves a four-year term.¹

What Each Township Official Does

Supervisor

The supervisor is the township’s chief executive and its chief financial officer. The supervisor receives and disburses township funds, prepares the budget, and files an annual financial statement with the clerk covering all revenues, expenditures, and outstanding debts.¹ That statement has to be ready at least 30 days before the annual town meeting so residents can review it.

The supervisor also administers the township’s general assistance program, which helps residents cover basic needs like rent, utilities, and food. Each township sets its own eligibility rules and benefit levels, so the program’s scope varies from one community to the next. In addition, the supervisor presides over trustee meetings and represents the township in legal matters.

Clerk

The clerk is the custodian of all township records, books, and papers, and files the certificates, oaths, and other documents that state law requires.² The clerk records the minutes of every township meeting, enters the orders and rules adopted by the electors, calls the annual town meeting to order, and may administer oaths and take affidavits when the law requires.

Practically speaking, the clerk’s office is where residents go for meeting minutes, ordinances, and financial disclosures. Those records have to comply with both the Local Records Act and the Freedom of Information Act.

Assessor

The assessor sets the value of all taxable property in the township for property-tax purposes, which in turn drives homeowners’ tax bills and funds for schools, park districts, and other local services. This is one of the few township offices with formal professional prerequisites. To run, a candidate must have completed an introductory assessment-practices course approved by the Illinois Department of Revenue, or hold one of the qualifying professional credentials listed in the Property Tax Code.³ Some townships share a multi-township assessor rather than electing their own.

Highway Commissioner

The highway commissioner has general charge of all roads inside the township’s road district. That means constructing, maintaining, and repairing roads, letting contracts, hiring labor, purchasing materials and equipment, and sheltering district-owned machinery when it’s not in use.⁴ The commissioner can also lay out, widen, alter, or vacate township roads, and may enter cooperative agreements with neighboring road districts or municipalities.

Even though the highway commissioner is a township officer, the authority for the job comes primarily from the Illinois Highway Code rather than the Township Code. The commissioner prepares a separate road-district budget and has independent spending power within the limits that code sets, which occasionally puts the office at odds with the board of trustees on large projects.

Board of Trustees

Four trustees are elected alongside the other officers and act as the township’s legislative body. The board examines and audits all claims and charges against the township, approves the annual budget, adopts ordinances, and fills vacancies in other township offices when they arise. The board also sets compensation for township officials, subject to the timing rules described below.

Getting on the Ballot

Every candidate for a township office must be a registered voter residing within the township. From there, the path onto the April ballot runs through either a partisan primary or an independent nominating petition.

Political parties that pulled more than five percent of the statewide vote at the most recent general election for state and county officers nominate their township candidates through the primary process.⁵ Independents and candidates of smaller parties use nominating petitions under the Election Code. A person who circulates or certifies a petition for one party’s candidate can’t also circulate for another party or an independent candidate in the same election cycle.

When a Seat Opens Mid-Term

If a township office goes vacant through resignation, death, failure to qualify, or criminal conviction, the board of trustees fills the seat by appointment. The appointee serves the rest of the unexpired term with the same powers as an officer elected to a full term.⁶

Two exceptions matter. If the vacancy is on the board of trustees itself and the remaining members fail to fill it within 60 days, a special township meeting has to be called so the electors can pick someone directly. And a vacancy in the assessor’s office is filled only under the procedures in the Property Tax Code, not by the trustees.⁶

For vacancy purposes, a conviction for an infamous crime counts from the date of a guilty plea, guilty verdict, or court finding of guilt.⁶

How Township Officials Get Paid

Township boards set salaries for elected officials by ordinance, but a new pay level cannot take effect until the next term of office begins. In Cook County the rule is spelled out directly: a supervisor’s compensation cannot be increased during the current term, and any ordinance changing pay applies uniformly to supervisors whose terms start after enactment. The same principle prevents a township from cutting a newly elected supervisor’s pay while leaving an incumbent’s salary alone. Similar rules apply in other counties, so officials can’t vote themselves a raise they’ll personally collect mid-term.

Actual salary levels vary widely. A supervisor in a small rural township may earn a modest stipend, while supervisors in large suburban townships draw full-time salaries. Within the timing rules above, the board has discretion to set pay at whatever level it considers appropriate.

Pension Coverage Through IMRF

Most township employees and eligible elected officials participate in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, a defined-benefit pension plan established under the Illinois Pension Code and protected by the state constitution. About 3,000 local employers and more than 175,000 members participate. For a position to qualify, it must be expected to require at least 1,000 hours of work in a 12-month period, or 600 hours if the governing body chose the lower threshold when it joined.⁷ Elected officials whose compensated positions meet the hourly standard have the option to participate.

The pension formula depends on when the member first enrolled. Tier 1 members need at least eight years of service credit and must be at least 55 to draw a pension. Tier 2, which covers members who first participated on or after January 1, 2011, requires at least ten years of service and a minimum age of 62.⁷ A member has to resign from all IMRF-qualified positions to begin collecting benefits.

How an Official Can Lose the Seat

Illinois law allows for the removal of township officials who engage in misconduct, neglect their duties, or become unable to perform them. Removal requires formal charges and a hearing, which shields officials from politically driven ouster attempts. A criminal conviction for an infamous crime also creates a vacancy on the date of the guilty plea, verdict, or court finding.⁶

Separately, every township official must file an annual statement of economic interests disclosing financial holdings and potential conflicts. Missing the deadline triggers a $15 late fee, then a $100-per-day penalty, and ultimately forfeiture of office if the statement is not filed by the final deadline.⁸ Failure to file by May 31, or June 30 for officials who recently took office, results in automatic forfeiture. That forfeiture happens by operation of law rather than through a hearing, which makes it the single fastest way for a township official to lose the seat, often through a missed paperwork deadline rather than any deliberate wrongdoing. Willfully filing a false or incomplete statement is a Class A misdemeanor, though good-faith reliance on guidance from the Secretary of State or the official’s ethics officer is a defense against the willfulness charge. It does not, however, excuse the late-filing penalties.

The Annual Town Meeting

One feature that separates Illinois townships from most other local governments is the annual town meeting, where any registered voter in the township can speak and vote on township business. The meeting must be held no earlier than 6 p.m. The clerk calls it to order, and the electors choose one of their own to serve as moderator.⁹

The supervisor’s financial statement is presented for public review at the meeting, and electors can adopt rules and regulations, set certain tax-levy amounts, and direct township actions on a range of local issues. If the meeting hall is too small for the crowd, the moderator has to recess and reconvene at a larger location. Voter eligibility is checked against registration lists updated to within 28 days of the meeting.⁹ Attendance at these meetings is often low, which means a small group of engaged residents can carry outsized influence over township decisions.

1
Justia. 2024 Illinois Compiled Statutes Chapter 60 Act 60 ILCS 1 Article 70 Township Supervisor
2
Illinois General Assembly. 60 ILCS 1 Township Code – Article 75 Township Clerk
3
Illinois General Assembly. 35 ILCS 200 Property Tax Code – Township Assessor Qualifications
4
Illinois General Assembly. 605 ILCS 5 Illinois Highway Code – Article 6
5
Justia. 2025 Illinois Compiled Statutes Chapter 10 Elections 10 ILCS 5 Article 7 The Making of Nominations by Political Parties
6
Illinois General Assembly. 60 ILCS 1/60-5 Vacancies
7
Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF). Is Your Unit of Government Thinking About Joining IMRF?
8
Illinois General Assembly. 5 ILCS 420 Illinois Governmental Ethics Act
9
Justia. 2024 Illinois Compiled Statutes Chapter 60 Act 60 ILCS 1 Article 40 Conduct of Township Meetings