Can I own one here
Owning one in Stephenson County.
On your own land
On land that is not a highway a kei truck needs no Illinois plate, because registration and title attach to a vehicle driven or moved upon a highway, 625 ILCS 5/3-402(A).
To confirm.
On the farm
The farm allowance of 11-1426.1(h) lets an all-terrain or recreational off-highway vehicle run county and township roads for farming operations between the home, farm, farm buildings and nearby farm land, without the equipment list of (e) and with farm, home or non-highway vehicle insurance if not on a motor vehicle policy. It names only those two classes, so it does not reach a kei truck.
No Secretary of State page, rule or opinion applying 1-130 or 3-402(A)(2) to a kei truck was found.
A 25 year truck on the road
Road use unclear, to confirm. Illinois registers only a vehicle originally manufactured for operation on highways, and the Secretary of State's own rule lets it refuse one it finds not manufactured or designed for general highway use. The Secretary of State has published nothing on kei trucks, so its Vehicle Title Division decides each truck.
A newer governed truck
Unclear. No Illinois title rule for a non-highway kei truck was found.
Roads and towns
Roads and towns in Stephenson County.
To confirm. Stephenson County has no county act that was found, German Valley opens its streets to inspected and permitted UTVs and Freeport was not read.
In town Some
- Open German Valley. Village streets are open to UTVs over 16 year old licensed drivers with insurance, an inspection and a three year village permit, under 11-1426.1. Read on the village's page, the ordinance was not read. village ordinance, number and date not read, read 28 October 2026
- To confirm Freeport. The town's code was not read in this pass.
- To confirm Lena. The town's code was not read in this pass.
- To confirm Pearl City. The town's code was not read in this pass.
County roads To confirm
No county act opening county highways to non-highway vehicles was found in this pass. The county's own site was searched where it answered, but its ordinances and board minutes were not read one by one. Township roads need each township's own act, and none was read.
State highways Closed
Closed to OHVs.
Getting one here
From Japan to Stephenson County.
The nearest ports with a sailing from Japan on record
- The Port of Savannah, Georgia Ports Authority, about 1,000 road miles.
- The JAXPORT, Jacksonville Port Authority, about 1,100 road miles.
- The Port of Everett, about 1,900 road miles.
How to import a mini truck, step by step.
Trucks travel in containers, one to a 20 foot box with room for parts or three to a 40 foot box.
Road miles are an estimate, the straight line times 1.2.
The ground
Stephenson County, counted.
Stephenson County has 998 farms and 325 cattle operations, by the 2022 Census of Agriculture. Farms in Stephenson County hold 14,006 acres of woodland. Stephenson County averages 35 inches of snow a year.
Importing a kei truck
The essentials, in short.
A truck under 25 can come in only as governed off road equipment, and only if its engine family held an EPA nonroad certificate for that model year. No kei engine family was certified for mini trucks before model year 2010, so a truck built after 30 October 2001 and before model year 2010 has no federal door until its 25th birthday.
Two lanes
A road truck must be 25 years old by its own build date. A newer truck comes in only as governed off road equipment with a certified engine.
The 25 percent duty
Every kei truck pays the 25 percent truck duty at the port, whatever its age.
The paperwork
The customs entry and the two federal declarations, DOT Form HS-7 and EPA Form 3520-1, travel with the truck to your title office.
The title
Keep every stamped paper with the truck. Your state title office asks to see them.
Contact
A question about the law in Stephenson County?
Ask about a truck, a state or the papers, and we answer with what applies to you.
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