LOL--you could have gotten this done very quickly in Crook County. You just need to contact and retain one of the local attorney alderman. They can very quickly eliminate all the red tape.
Well, the state took their time, and even made me submit revisions and clarifications, which took additional time. I'm not sure how or why IL decided to do this additional layer of scrutiny vs. every other state which follows ARBO's advice -- (ie, if a CE provider is vetted by ARBO, and courses are COPE-approved, then that should be good enough. If every state required this, small CE providers like us couldn't manage, as it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars just to get vetted in each state.)
Regardless, we are now in the Illinois system so credits earned through us should be considered kosher unless some other obstacle comes up!