Municipal Trust and Savings Bank v. Moriarty, 2021 IL 126290

Municipal Trust & Savings Bank filed a mortgage foreclosure in Kankakee County; summons issued from Kankakee.
On Dec. 28, 2016, Ryan Leggott, a registered employee of a private detective agency, served the defendant in Cook County (at Rush Hospital) without a special appointment by the court.
Defendant did not answer; the circuit court entered a default judgment of foreclosure (Jan. 30, 2017), followed by a sheriff’s sale and confirmation.
Defendant later appeared (July 17, 2017) and then filed a section 2-1401 petition arguing the default judgment was void because service in Cook County required special appointment under 735 ILCS 5/2-202.
The trial court and the appellate court rejected the challenge; the Illinois Supreme Court reversed, holding service was defective because private detectives serving in Cook County must be specially appointed.
The Court remanded for further proceedings (including factual issues about any bona fide third-party purchaser) and noted defendant’s July 17 appearance validated the court’s jurisdiction only prospectively, not retroactively.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a licensed/registered private detective may serve process in Cook County without special appointment when the summons was issued from another county	Summons issued from Kankakee controls; subsection (b) allows service "wherever they may be found," so a licensed private detective may serve statewide without special appointment	Section 2-202(a) limits who may serve in Cook County; private detectives must be specially appointed to serve process in Cook County	Reversed: subsection (a) governs who is authorized to serve in a given county; private detectives must be specially appointed to serve in Cook County, so service here was defective
Whether defendant’s later appearance cured earlier void orders	Later appearance and participation cured any jurisdictional defect	Appearance only validates jurisdiction prospectively and cannot retroactively validate prior void orders	Held for defendant: later appearance did not retroactively validate the prior void default judgment

Schorsch v. Fireside Chrysler-Plymouth, Mazda, Inc., 172 Ill. App. 3d 993 (1988) (interpreting §2-202; private detectives must be appointed to serve in Cook County)
Sarkissian v. Chicago Board of Education, 201 Ill. 2d 95 (2002) (§2-1401 is the remedy for collateral attack on final judgments)
State Bank of Lake Zurich v. Thill, 113 Ill. 2d 294 (1986) (judgment is void if rendered without statutory service even with actual notice)
Comprehensive Community Solutions, Inc. v. Rockford School District No. 205, 216 Ill. 2d 455 (2005) (plain language controls statutory construction)
BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP v. Mitchell, 2014 IL 116311 (2014) (voluntary submission to jurisdiction is prospective and does not validate earlier void orders)
C. T. A. S. S. & U. Federal Credit Union v. Johnson, 383 Ill. App. 3d 909 (2008) (reinforcing that private detectives serving in Cook County must be appointed)