The Indiana-Illinois Boundary Adjustment Commission met in Terre Haute on Wednesday, Oct. 22. Screenshot from livestream.

News Release

TERRE HAUTE — The Indiana-Illinois Boundary Adjustment Commission met Wednesday, Oct. 22 for the first time – manned only by Hoosier members – to consider absorbing secessionist Illinois counties.

Prairie State Gov. J.B. Pritzker has dubbed it “a stunt” that is “not going to happen.” No Illinoisans were named to the panel.

Instead, a six-member Indiana quorum conducted business in Terre Haute, taking remote – and mixed – testimony from residents of both states. The meeting was livestreamed.

Since 2020, 33 Illinois counties have passed “advisory referenda” to secede – with seven of those votes occurring in the 2024 elections.

Scott Carpenter of Downstate Illinois Secession said redrawing borders would be “freeing” Prairie State residents from “bad Illinois law.”

House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, addresses the chamber on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. His GOP priority bill could prompt multiple Illinois counties to secede and join Indiana. Photo by Casey Smith, Indiana Capital Chronicle.

He suggested absorbing 74 counties that had a higher share of support for Pres. Donald Trump during the 2020 election than Indiana – or, a smaller number of eastern counties with a higher average income than Indiana.

“Some might argue that this whole border adjustment commission is a waste of time because the government of Illinois would not agree to let these counties go,” Carpenter said. But a debt crisis could force the state’s hand, he added.

“Your commission is an opportunity to sound out and settle on a politically expedient solution that can be repackaged and presented to the public in such a time of crisis,” he said.

It’s unclear how Indiana would handle the issue of debt.