## Facts

- William C. Yarger and Orval J. Yarger owned an off-campus bookstore near Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois.
- The Board of Regents voted to lease campus space to Follett’s Illinois Book and Supply Store, Inc. to operate an on-campus bookstore.
- The Yargers sought to stop the lease, relying on a 1967 Illinois statute that purportedly prohibited state universities from operating or allowing retail stores that compete with local private merchants.
- The Board and Follett asserted the 1967 statute was void because the House and Senate did not pass identical versions of the bill, as reflected in the legislative journals.
- The dispute turned on whether courts could consult legislative journals under the 1970 Illinois Constitution or whether the signed “enrolled bill” was conclusive.

## Issues

1. Whether article IV, section 8 of the 1970 Illinois Constitution converted Illinois to an enrolled-bill state, barring judicial examination of legislative journals to test a statute’s validity.
2. If Illinois remains a journal-entry state, whether the journals show the 1967 statute was not constitutionally enacted because both houses did not pass the same bill.

## Decision

- The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed dismissal of the Yargers’ complaint.
- The court held Illinois remains a journal-entry state; courts may examine legislative journals to determine whether constitutional enactment procedures were followed.
- Based on the journals, the court concluded the 1967 statute was not passed in identical form by both houses and therefore was unconstitutional and void.
- Because the Yargers’ request for injunctive relief depended entirely on that statute, the complaint failed as a matter of law.

## Legal Principles

- Illinois courts may consult legislative journals to decide whether mandatory constitutional requirements for passage of legislation were satisfied.
- Article IV, section 8(d) of the 1970 Illinois Constitution (including presiding officers’ certification/signatures) does not make an enrolled bill conclusive or preclude review of journals.
- A statute is void if the journals show the House and Senate did not pass the same bill; an act not constitutionally enacted “never became law” and is unenforceable.

## Conclusion

The court reaffirmed that Illinois follows the journal-entry rule and held the challenged 1967 statute void because legislative journals showed the two chambers did not pass identical versions; without a valid statute, the plaintiffs could not enjoin the university’s on-campus bookstore lease.


Yarger v. Bd. of Regents of Regency Univs., 98 Ill. 2d 259, 456 N.E.2d 39 (Ill. 1983)