If drivers don’t stay under 25 miles per hour on non-posted streets, they will break the law if the Dekalb City Council approves an upcoming ordinance.

“Illinois law states if there is no posting of speed limit, the limit is 30 mph. This proposed ordinance would lower that to 25 mph,” said DeKalb City Clerk Donna Johnson.

At the city council workshop last Monday, the council tried to determine if there was enough support to warrant drafting a proposed ordinance.

A majority of the council said they were in favor of the ordinance so it should reach the council’s agenda sometime in February, at which time council members have no obligation to vote for or against the measure, Johnson said.

A group of citizens residing in the Kensington Point subdivision gave 5th Ward Alderman Pat Conboy a petition to lower the speed limit to 25 mph in their area.

City Manager Mark Biernacki questioned whether or not a passed ordinance would be prosecutable given the state law.

Without the benefit of a speed study justifying the change, we are concerned judges may not be able to enforce it, Biernacki said.

The amount of home-rule a city commands differs depending on the location, said LeRoy Pernell, dean at the College of Law.

Without the benefit of a speed study justifying the change, we are concerned judges may not be able to enforce it, Biernacki said.

The amount of home-rule a city commands differs depending on the location, said LeRoy Pernell, professor and dean at the College of Law at NIU.

Home-rule gives power to the local government. Contrarily, Dillon’s rule gives power to the state government.

Problems may come not only from enforcement but also with informing the public of the change.

“The bigger question is the issue of notice,” Pernell said. “Drivers might say that they did not have sufficient notice.”

DeKalb probably would post signs at the edge of town to inform drivers not from DeKalb of the reduced speed limit, Johnson said.

There is no word yet on how the city would try to inform internal DeKalb drivers of the limit change in non-posted areas.

“DeKalb gets two to three citizen calls a week frustrated with speeders,” said DeKalb Police Chief Bill Feithen. “I’m concerned we may get more calls for speed enforcement.”

The DeKalb Police Department does not think there will be an enforcement issue but may have trouble giving sufficient attention to an upsurge in citizen complaints.