Section 1650.1010  Petitions

a)         All petitions shall be in the form adopted by the System.  Petition forms may be obtained from the System's website (trsil.org) beginning November 1 immediately preceding the election date.

b)         A valid petition nominating a candidate for a vacant teacher position or a vacant annuitant position on the System's Board of Trustees must bear the requisite number of signatures of individuals eligible to nominate the candidate pursuant to Section 1650.1000(a) or (b).

c)         Petitions shall be filed with the System during the following time periods:

1)         For a regular election, not less than 90 nor more than 120 days prior to the election day.

2)         For a special election as provided in Section 1650.1090, beginning with the Board's secretary's announcement that a special election will be held and no later than 45 days prior to the election day.

3)         Petitions filed after the prescribed petition-filing period will not be accepted.

4)         Petitions filed before the prescribed petition-filing period will be returned to the party submitting the petition for filing but may be refiled within the prescribed petition-filing period.

d)         The System shall determine the validity of petitions for regular elections not less than 75 days prior to the election day, and for special elections not less than 20 days prior to the election day. (See Section 16-165(d) of the Code.)

e)         Any individual may, upon reasonable notice to the System, examine the petitions that have been filed with the System with respect to the election to take place; provided, however, in order to protect the signing teachers' and annuitants' privacy and confidentiality, the examination shall only take place subject to the following limitations:

1)         Petitions may only be examined at the System's offices after the validity of the petitions has been verified by the System as provided in subsection (d);

2)         Petitions shall not be transferred, copied, or duplicated by any means; and

3)         Petitions, including any information in the petition, shall not be subject to production or disclosure under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) [5 ILCS 140].

(Source:  Amended at 47 Ill. Reg. 9473, effective June 22, 2023)