About the Department Index

When Illinois first became a state in 1818, state government was comparatively small and insignificant. In 1873 the Department of Index under the Secretary of State was created. The Department's duties were to "make and keep proper indexes to the executive records and all public acts, resolutions, papers and documents" filed with the Secretary of State (Rev. Stat. 1874, p. 986).

Today, the Index Department performs more than 100 statutory duties. The department commissions notaries public, registers lobbyists and records their expenditures, maintains Statements of Economic Interest, issues apostilles and certificates of incorporation for municipalities, certifies special municipal censuses and the federal census and issues certificates of election for judges, all elected state and county officials and is the keeper of the Great Seal of Illinois.

In addition, the Index Department maintains all state agency rules and publishes the Administrative Code and quarterly updates of the Illinois Register, serving as a state clearinghouse and central repository for the daily business of state government. The department houses libraries of information including a complete collection of state agency rules and regulations both past and present, official transcripts of floor debate for both houses of the Illinois General Assembly, and maintains hundreds of miscellaneous public documents vital to the interests of the State of Illinois and its citizenry.

The Index Department derives its mission directly from the Illinois State Constitution, which states: "The Secretary of State shall maintain the official records of the acts of the General Assembly and such records of the Executive Branch as provided by law.

Administrative Division

The division is responsible for the overall management and direction of the various divisions within the department. Duties include the development and administration of the department's budget, the hiring, supervision and evaluation of its personnel and the operation of its data processing needs.

Administrative Code Division

A prime responsibility of the Secretary of State is to serve as the filing agency for all state agency rules and regulations. The Administrative Code Division maintains a complete library of all such rules, both rescinded and current, dating back to the 1930's.

Department publications include:

If you have inquires about rules or ordering a Part, please contact:
Department of Index
Administrative Code Division
111 E. Monroe St.
Springfield, Illinois 62756
217-782-7017

Lobbyist Division

This division is responsible for processing the registration and expenditure report filings for Illinois lobbyists and businesses that employ lobbyists. There are approximately 2,137 lobbyists and 1,689 lobbying entities registered with the Index Department as of December 2006. As of January 2006, lobbyist registration has been performed electronically, while the second phase of the project, electronic filing of lobbyist expenditure reports, begins in January 2007. In addition, since Secretary White took office in January 1999, this web site has been updated to include the Lobbyist Registration Act, the Annual Registration Guide, Expenditure Report Filing Guide, corresponding rules, daily update of the searchable database and the registered lobbyist list. Visit Lobbyist Activities

Notary Public Division

The active notaries public in Illinois have been appointed and commissioned by the Index Department. In addition are the controlling authority for specialty notarization, Certificates of Authority, Certificates of Incumbency and Apostilles. Visit Notary Services

Public Documents Division

The Public Documents division is made up ofo two sections: Governmental Ethics and Public Documents.