Village Services | Village Clerk

The Village Clerk is appointed by the Mayor and Board of Trustees, and is a full-time position. The duties of the Clerk are found in the Illinois Compiled Statutes, as well as the Village of New Lenox Municipal Code.

Residents may reach Village Clerk, Marcia Englert, or Deputy Clerk Laura Ruhl or Deputy Clerk Bonnie Motyka at:

The Village Clerk's office is open 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday to serve the public.

The following services are offered to Village residents
through the Village Clerk's Office:

• Voter's Registration
• In-Person Absentee Voting
• Liquor License Applications
• Carnival Permit Applications
• Business Registration Applications
• Coin Operated Amusement Applications

Village residents may also inspect ordinances, resolutions, and copies of minutes of the Village Board of Trustees meetings through the Clerk's office. Should you wish to review these documents, please call the Clerk's Office at (485) 6452 prior to coming in, so that the documents can be made readily available. The Village Code may also be accessed on-line.

Voter's Registration

Village residents may register to vote at the Village Hall weekdays between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. To be eligible to register to vote, a person must:

• Be a U.S. Citizen
• Be 18 years of age by the date of the next election
• Reside in the precinct 30 days prior to the next election
• Show two forms of identification

One form of identification must show your name and current address. The second form must show your name. These forms of identification shall include, but not be limited to:

Under election law, voter registration closes 28 days before an election and opens again two days after the election. This allows time for the voter files to be prepared for the election.

If you are currently registered to vote in Will County and have moved within Will County, you may either change your voter registration by completing the back side of your current voter registration card and mailing it to the County Clerk's Office at 302 North Chicago Street, Joliet, IL 60432; or you may come into the Village Hall and complete a change of address form to be mailed to the County Clerk. If you have changed your name, you must re-register to vote.
(...more on Voter Registration)

In-Person Absentee Voting

The New Lenox Village Hall is the polling place for Village residents who need to vote absentee. To absentee vote at the Village Hall, you must be a Village resident. In-Person absentee voting typically begins 21 days prior to the election.

You may vote absentee for one of the following reasons:

• You expect to be absent from the county on election day
• You are physically incapable of going to the polling place
• You are observing a religious holiday on election day
• You are going to be serving as a judge of election outside of your precinct
• You are going to be serving as a sequestered juror

The Will County Clerk's Office provides for absentee voting through the mail. To learn more about this process, please visit her website at www.willclrk.com.

Liquor License Applications

Liquor License Application Form (46 KB).

Liquor License Applications may be obtained from the Village Office weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. At the time of application, you will also be given a copy of the portion of the Municipal Code which explains each of the liquor license categories, the hours of operations, cost of each license, etc. This code may also be accessed on the internet by visiting the Municipal Code Corporation Website on-line.

Upon application for a liquor license, the owner and/or manager will be contacted by the Police Department to make an appointment for fingerprinting to begin a full background check through the State of Illinois. Because this background check is conducted by the State of Illinois, each applicant is responsible for payment in advance of any charges the State may charge the Village for this service. Currently the charge is $38.00 per background check.

Following successful completion of a background check, the request to create the liquor license will be placed upon a Village Board of Trustees agenda. Should the Board concur with the request, an ordinance is drafted and must go through first and second reads before the Board. Upon adoption of the ordinance creating the license, the applicant is responsible for the placement of a certificate of insurance indicating the coverage of liquor liability, a $1,000 license and permit bond, and the payment of the fee required for that category of license.

Liquor licenses renew annually in December of each year. They are effective from January 1 through December 31 of each year.

Recent legislation adopted by the Board requires holders of Class A, C, D, F, or G licenses to provide for their managers and employees to complete a BASSETT program in order to maintain their liquor license. Anyone wishing to inquire as to how to access this process, should contact Commander Robert Pawlisz of the New Lenox Police Department at (815) 462-6100.

Clubs wishing to hold one night dances or benefits, may obtain a Class E liquor license which allows for the sale of liquor for 24 hours, by submitted a completed application for Class E liquor license, along with a certificate of insurance indicating the coverage of liquor liability for that event, as well as a $25.00 fee. This application can be obtained through the Village Hall during regular office hours.

Carnival Permit Applications

Carnival Permit Application Form (31 KB).

Civic groups or other organizations wishing to host a carnival within the Village of New Lenox must first obtain a carnival permit through the Village Hall. Applications for this permit may be obtained through the Village Clerk's office from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays.

Upon completion of the application, it must be submitted through the Village Clerk's office along with a certificate of insurance providing minimum coverage in the amount of $100,000 for bodily injury for one individual, $300,000 coverage for any one occurrence, and property damage in the amount of $25,000. This certificate must name the Village of New Lenox as an additional insured on the policy. A fee of $50.00 must also be submitted with the application.

Anyone having questions regarding this carnival permit can contact the Village Clerk at (815) 485-6452.

Coin Operated Amusement Applications

Coin-Operated Amusement License Application Form (191 KB).

As defined in the New Lenox Municipal Code, a coin operated amusement device means any mechanical or electronic amusement machine or device, the operation of which is governed or controlled by the deposit or payment of a coin or token, including without being limited thereto any such coin controlled machine or device capable of producing or reproducing any vocal or instrumental sounds for the purpose of amusement or skill and for the playing of which a fee is charged. The term does not include vending machines in which are not incorporated gambling or amusement features, nor does the term include any coin-operated mechanical musical devices, or billiard or pool tables. In other words, this ordinance basically controls video and arcade type games that people place money in to play.

The ordinance limits the number of machines to one machine for every 500 square feet of gross floor area, with a limit of 12 machines regardless of the amount of floor area.

Applications for coin operated amusement permits may be obtained through the Village Clerk's office weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Upon completion of the application, the licensee must make the place of business where the machines will be placed available to the Police Department and/or Building Department to investigate and determine that the proposed operation of the machine or device complies with all of the terms of the Village ordinance.

The fee for the permit is $100.00 per machine, and is renewed annually in December.

For questions on this permit, please call the Village Hall at (815) 485-6452 during regular working hours.

Business Registration Applications

Business License Application Form (78 KB).

Any person who either owns, manages or operates a commercial establishment in the Village of New Lenox is required to register in writing with the Village Clerk prior to beginning or taking over the operation of such establishment. The fee for this registration is $10.00 and is due when the application for the registration is filed.

Information obtained through this registration process is shared with the New Lenox Police Department, as well as the New Lenox Fire Protection District, for their use in contacting emergency contacts should a problem arise during hours that the business is not in operation.

Business registrations are renewed annually on June 30th of each year.