DoL’s headcount and inflation-adjusted budget have both declined slightly over time since 2011.
DoL’s 2027 budget proposal adds three positions in the Assistant Corporation Counsel I title, and one additional Assistant Corporation Counsel Supervisor position. As of September 2026, two budgeted Assistant Corporation Counsel Supervisor positions have been vacant since at least January 2026, as well as one Assistant Corporation Counsel I position.
Outside contracting through the professional and technical services appropriation is down just over $100,000 at DoL, a -7.1% reduction from the previous year.
Historical Context
From 2011-2026, DoL budget grew at an average rate of 2.1% annually, working out to less than a -0.1% decline when adjusted for inflation through 2025, compared to a citywide average rate of 5.5% (inflation-adjusted 3.2%). The current proposal would increase the department’s appropriations by 5.7% from the previous year.
Department of Law Appropriations and Inflation-adjusted Appropriations (2025 dollars)
Values in nominal dollars.
Values in 2025 dollars. No supplied inflation factors for 2026, 2027; those years remain gaps.
City budgets do not break out “fringe” pension and benefit costs for non-grant positions by department, instead grouping them together as citywide expenses under the Finance General section of the budget. To better reflect the real cost of service for departmental operations, BGA Policy has included an estimate of pension and benefit costs for the years 2018-2026, using Department of Finance fringe memos from each relevant year. An estimated fringe cost for the 2027 proposal uses the average annual rate of increase for each of the inputs into the fringe formulae.
Based on the city’s fringe formulae, the DoL fringe cost for nongrant employees averaged 44.2% from 2018-2026, compared to a citywide average of 26.8%.
Department of Law Appropriations with Estimated Fringe Cost of Pensions and Benefits for Budgeted Non-grant Positions, 2018–2027 (proposed)
Over the past four complete budget years for which local fund actuals/encumbrances data is available, DoL spent on average 88% of its locally funded budget, compared to the citywide average 86.6% local fund spend.
Staffing levels remained fairly consistent for most of DoL’s recent history, with cuts in 2020 and 2024 only partially offset by subsequent year-over-year increases. Overall, the department’s budgeted headcount from 2011-2025 declined at an average rate of -0.2% annually, compared to a citywide average annual change of -0.1%.. The current proposal would increase budgeted headcount by four from the previous year, a 1% increase.
Department of Law Budgeted Workforce, 2011–2027 (proposed)
From January through September of 2026, the months for which full-time position vacancy data is currently available, DoL averaged a 13.1% vacancy rate, compared to the citywide average of 11.2%.
Department of Law Full-time Vacancies, Jan-Sept 2026
22 of the department’s budgeted full-time positions were persistent vacancies (defined as the number of positions within the same combination of title, subsection, section, division, department, and fund codes that remained vacant in all nine months of available data):
Department of Law Persistent Full-time Vacancies, Jan-Sept 2026
DoL’s 2027 budget proposal adds three positions in the Assistant Corporation Counsel I title, and one additional Assistant Corporation Counsel Supervisor position. As of September 2026, two budgeted Assistant Corporation Counsel Supervisor positions have been vacant since at least January 2026, as well as one Assistant Corporation Counsel I position.
Department of Law Net and Percent Position/FTE Changes, 2026 to 2027 (Proposed) Budgets
DoL is more than 99% locally-funded in this year’s budget proposal, with the bulk of that funding coming from the city’s general-purpose corporate fund.
As with most departments, personnel costs make up the bulk of DoL’s appropriations, with salaries and wages on payroll by far the largest expense category.
Department of Law Top 10 Largest Appropriations, 2027 proposed
In 2025, the most recent complete budget year for which local fund actuals and encumbrances data is available, DoL spent 97% of its locally-funded budget.
The department spent just over $1 million on court judgments and settlements, which had not been included in DoL’s 2026 budget. (Legal judgements and settlements other than for police and fire department cases are typically lumped together in a Finance General appropriation, rather than broken out by department.)
Geoffrey Cubbage analyzes policy and budgets at the Better Government Association, covering state lawmakers and Chicago City Council. He joined BGA in 2022 after directing policy and economic development for Chicago’s 40th Ward.
