The Illinois Attorney General's Office reports it generated more than $1.1 billion in state revenue through litigation and collection efforts last year.
More than half of that amount is a result of collections litigation, including funds from child support, damage to state property, unpaid educational loans, fines and penalties. The rest was split between tobacco litigation and estate tax revenues.
The total was the largest annual amount collected in nearly a decade, according to the AG's office. The sum doesn't include millions of dollars the office recovered through mediation and litigation, funds that are usually given as restitution to the parties involved.
Officials estimate they generated more than $36 for every tax dollar they spent in 2012.
