§ 3455. Unlawful acts; petitions to Board; hearings

In a matter over which the Board has jurisdiction, a person or corporation that claims to be injured by the unlawful action or neglect of a railroad in this State may commence proceedings thereon by petition to the Board, with a copy to the Agency, therein setting forth briefly the cause of complaint. The State's Attorney of the county in which a matter arises, the Attorney General, the legislative body of a municipality, or any ten freeholders of such county by such complaint may bring before the Board any such matter wherein and whereby they claim the public safety is endangered or the charter or statutory law regulating railroads is being violated. When it has information that any railroad in this State is operating in violation of its charter or of the statutory law, the Board shall call the same to the attention of the Attorney General or the State's Attorney of the county where the matter arises. The Attorney General or the State's Attorney shall inquire into the same and, if in his or her judgment the matter should be investigated, he or she shall bring the same before the Board by proper complaint. On receipt of such complaint, the Board shall summon the person or persons complained of to appear before it and to make answer thereto. When issue is taken to the facts set out in the complaint, the Board shall appoint a time and place for hearing the same in the county where the matter arises, and shall then and there hear and determine the matter complained of. Nothing in this section shall be construed to empower the Board to award monetary damages to any person or entity, except as expressly provided by law. (Amended 1959, No. 329 (Adj. Sess.), § 39(b), eff. March 1, 1961; 1993, No. 172 (Adj. Sess.), § 42.)