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Local government in Illinois is of a type generally similar local government in the United States provided by other U.S. states.

Illinois' local governments can generally be broadly divided into five types: counties; townships; municipalities; educational districts; and special districts.

Each point in the state is within one county (United States). In addition, each point in the state has, over time, come to be part of a school district, and every county has, over time, come to be part of a community college district.

Counties do not overlap; townships do not overlap; municipalities do not overlap regardless of whether they are different types; and districts of the same type do not overlap.

Municipalities
Each municipality in Illinois is one of three types: a city, an incorporated town, and a village. Cities and villages may be created under the general laws of Illinois; incorporated towns were created only by special state acts before 1872.

Educational districts
Three general types of educational districts exist in Illinois: the traditional school district, the region of education, and the community college district.

School district
Each school district provides for the public education of children in its district. Each district is controlled by a board of education elected by the general population of the district. The board of education, in turn, votes for a district superintendent who acts as the chief executive officer of the district.

School district in Illinois is usually one of three classes:
 * A grade school district, which provides only primary education: Illinois statute uses the term "elementary district" for this in some places. This includes common elementary school districts, consolidated elementary school districts, community consolidated school districts, combined elementary districts, and charter elementary districts.
 * A high school district, which provides only secondary education
 * A unit district, which provides both primary and secondary education

There also exists provisions for a "non-high school district", which consists of all parts of a county not in a high school district, and exists primarily to pay its high schoolers' tuition to nearby high schools.

Other types of school district combinations are allowed by newer statutes.

Grade school districts overlap high school districts, and each type of district may have different borders that do no coincide; but neither overlaps unit districts.

Each school district in a county is given a unique number. The school district may have a single school or multiple schools across one or multiple buildings or campuses.

Large numbers of consolidations (mergers) of Illinois school districts occurred in the 1940s and 1950s, and have occurred again from the 1990s on.

A grade school district may exist in a place without a high school district; in which case,

Region of education
A regional superintendent of schools is a public official that oversees certain school services across an entire county or group of counties. It is a separate office from that of the school districts' superintendents.

Originally, these superintendents each oversaw one county, and were each called the county superintendent of schools. In less-populated parts of the state, this position now oversees groups of multiple counties instead, and so the office's jurisdiction is now called a region of education and given a region number, whether it consists of a single county or multiple counties. The regional superintendent is publicly elected by the general population of the region, separately from any school district.

Community college districts
The vast majority of Illinois is now within a community college district. An exception is the former State Community College of East Saint Louis.

Each community college district is governed by a board of trustees, who hires a college president.

Chicago and Cook County
By state statute, certain units of government are different in Cook County and its city of Chicago. Often these provision are written as applying only to cities or counties above a specific population, effectively limiting the state legislation to Chicago or Cook County. Examples:


 * Chicago Public Schools, the school district of the city of Chicago, has both its Board of Education and its CEO appointed directly by the mayor of Chicago rather than elected by the public.
 * The City Colleges of Chicago, the community college district of the city of Chicago, has its board appointed by the mayor of Chicago rather than elected by the public.