Frequently Asked Questions About Patrol & Traffic

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The Farmer City Police Department’s jurisdiction includes 3 miles of Interstate 74. In addition, the Farmer City Police Department has intergovernmental agreements with the Illinois State Police Troop #5, and the Dewitt County Sheriff’s office to cover the areas of Interstate 74 between the Mclean County and Piatt County lines including the East and West Farmland Rest areas.

The Farmer City Police Department also assists the Illinois State Police Troop #7, Mclean County Sheriff, Piatt County Sheriff, Leroy Police Department, Illinois Department of Conservation, and Mansfield Police Department with back up and emergency calls for service.  Our agreements exist with our surrounding agencies because, like most rural policing, our coverage includes a large area with only a few officers that have to travel a great distance. Both of the State Police Troops and 3 Sheriff Departments’ primary stations are well over 30 minutes away and we often arrive on scene before the primary agencies. 

The Farmer City Police Department also often travels to other jurisdictions for, but not limited to, attending court, training, picking up and dropping off evidence at the crime lab, follow up investigations, meetings etc.  

 Yes, The Farmer City Police Department’s jurisdiction includes 3 miles of Interstate 74. While the Farmer City Police Department’s primary focus is protecting the citizens and visitors of Farmer City, we are often called to Interstate 74 to assist with accidents, high risk traffic stops, vehicle fires, motorist assists, reckless driving calls, intoxicated drivers, domestics, road hazards, ect. Unfortunately, some of those accidents have resulted in fatalities of numerous civilians and Illinois State Trooper Ryan Albin. If you travel through the area you may have seen the numerous wooden crosses or Trooper Albin’s memorial signs in the 5 miles of Interstate 74 that the Farmer City Police Department Covers. 

The Farmer City Police Department enforces traffic laws both in town and on interstate 74 to keep our citizens and visitors safe by focusing on the fatal four causes of traffic crashes which are speeding, driving while intoxicated, distracted driving, and failure to wear belts. We mainly focus on Speeding on I-74. If you have never been stuck on I-74 trying to stay safe while directing traffic, removing a road hazard, or standing by with a stranded motorist you may not understand why enforcing the speed limit is so important to everybody traveling the roadway. 

Our speeding enforcement efforts on I-74 result in the reduction of traffic crashes, the arrest of unlicensed drivers, impoundment of unlicensed driver’s motor vehicles, the arrests of wanted individuals, recovery of stolen vehicles, recovery of illegal weapons, impounding of vehicles operating with suspended registration, drug arrests etc. The Farmer City Police Department would rather occasionally enforce traffic laws on Interstate 74 then spending hours on the interstate working any type of accident. Farmer City residents also travel Interstate 74 every single day, and by doing what we can to enforce laws on the interstate we’re further keeping our residents safe, including your family and our families. 

All traffic tickets must be paid through the Dewitt County Circuit Clerk. 

 https://www.courtmoney.com/payments/info/form/dewitt_county_illinois_fines  

  See the rules listed on the Richland College. http://dewittcountyill.com/forms/Circuit%20Clerk/2019/DeWitt%20County%20FILLABLE%20E-Plea%20Traffic%20Safety%20Registration%201119.pdf 

 You should have received a card that explains the steps to obtain the report. If you did not receive a card go to https://policereports.lexisnexis.com and follow the instructions.  

 The drivers' exchange is free and used to be the orange copy given to drivers on scene and can be accessed at https://policereports.lexisnexis.com. The cost to purchase the report is $15.00 

 The department uses Lexis Nexis for the following reasons: it doesn’t require on site storage, the reports are directly reported to the Illinois Department of Transportation, easy access for all parties, and saves times as the company process the records requests. 

 The police department collects $5.00 for each report which is the maximum amount allowed by Illinois Law.  

 You can F.O.I.A. an accident report however you will receive the same information that is on the driver’s license exchange, but will not receive the full report. You must pay the $15.00 fee through Lexis Nexis to receive the full report.  

Code Enforcement, when done effectively, is vital for local government. Code Enforcement helps to ensure that our community is a safe place that provides healthy living conditions for residents, business, and visitors to the city. 

The properties are chosen for enforcement either by receiving a complaint regarding the property or by an officer being proactive and choosing to write up the property. 

 The pictures of the violation must be taken from a public right-of-way unless the officer has been given permission by the property owner or adjacent property owner. 

If you receive a code letter, please contact the department to discuss the matter if you need more time to come into compliance.  

 While receiving a letter in the mail instead of an in-person visit can seem cold or uncaring it is done that way to keep the process uniform and moving forward. Note that code enforcement efforts can slow down or interfere with officers’ investigation of criminal cases and proactive policing.

If you receive a city code citation, please contact the department to discuss the matter if you need more time to pay the fine. 

1. Do not ignore the letter or citation. 

2. Do not refuse to take any action or discuss the matter. 

3. Do not be rude or yell when calling or coming to talk about receiving a letter. 

4. Don’t point out other people’s code violations to deflect the situation. Odds are that the violations are already on the list or will be dealt with in the near  future. 

Most important The Judge does not care about your neighbor’s property conditions and will deal only with the case being presented. 

 The code enforcement process is the same for each violation and starts with a warning letter with time to correct the issue, followed by a citation with time to correct the violation and pay the fine if the issue was not resolved. If the fine is not paid or the issue has not been resolved the matter will be referred to the Dewitt County Circuit Clerk for further action. Please note that the state of Illinois does not provide counsel for city code violation and that if found guilty that court costs are more than often higher than the fine imposed.

 The open burning of landscape shall be allowed upon the premises where it is produced between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the months of January, February, March, April, May, June, September, October, November and December.  

This ordiinance and all others can be found by clicking here or you can view the Code of Ordinances in full by navigating to the "City of Farmer City" menu at the top of this page and selecting "Code of Ordinances" from the drop down menu.