1. (a) A territory that (1) is located within the boundaries and upon the border of a sanitary district organized under this Act, (2) is contiguous, and
2. (3) has no registered voters residing within it, may be disconnected from the district by agreement in accordance with this Section. A referendum is not required for disconnection by agreement in accordance with this Section.
3. (b) The owners of territory that is eligible for disconnection by agreement under this Section may enter into a disconnection agreement with the board of trustees of the district. The agreement must contain a definite description of the boundaries of the territory to be disconnected. The agreement may provide for payment to the district by the owners of the territory of a reasonable amount to compensate the district for the loss of future revenues from the territory and may include any other provisions or requirements deemed appropriate by the board of trustees. The agreement shall not become effective without (1) the consent of all owners of record of the territory, (2) the consent of the board of trustees of the district, and
4. (3) the approval of the circuit court as provided in subsection (c).

5. (c) Upon execution of an agreement under subsection (b), the owners of the territory may bring a petition for approval of the agreement and disconnection of the territory from the district in the circuit court for the county in which the original petition for the organization of the district was filed. The petition shall be addressed to the court and shall include a copy of the proposed disconnection agreement. The petition shall recite as a fact that as of the date the petition is filed there is no bonded indebtedness of the sanitary district outstanding and that all special assessments for local improvements that have been levied upon or assessed against the territory have been fully paid and discharged.

   Upon the filing of a petition under this Section, the court shall hold a hearing on the petition at which the district and any of the residents or landowners of the district may be heard. The court shall give notice of the hearing in the manner provided in subsection (d) of Section 1 of this Act.

   The court shall consider the boundaries of the territory to be disconnected, the terms of the disconnection agreement between the owners and the district, and the facts upon which the agreement and the petition are founded. The court may approve the agreement and order the territory disconnected from the district if it determines that the requirements of this Section have been met, that the material allegations upon which the agreement and the petition are founded are true, and that the disconnection is not unreasonable or contrary to the general interests of the residents and landowners of the district. If the court determines that the requirements of this Section have not been met, that any material allegation upon which the agreement or the petition are founded is untrue, or that the disconnection is unreasonable or contrary to the general interests of the residents and landowners of the district, it shall not then approve the agreement or order the territory disconnected from the district, but it may allow the district and the owners of the territory to amend the petition and agreement or take other action to cure the defect. The decision of the court is appealable as in other civil cases.

(Source: P.A. 89-705, eff. 1-31-97.)