Public Act 0374 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB0124 Enrolled LRB101 02891 RJF 47899 b

Public Act 101-0374

AN ACT concerning government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The State Police Act is amended by changing Section 9 as follows:

(20 ILCS 2610/9) (from Ch. 121, par. 307.9)

Sec. 9. Appointment; qualifications.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this Section, the appointment of Department of State Police officers shall be made from those applicants who have been certified by the Board as being qualified for appointment. All persons so appointed shall, at the time of their appointment, be not less than 21 years of age, or 20 years of age and have successfully completed an associate's degree or 60 credit hours 2 years of law enforcement studies at an accredited college or university. Any person appointed subsequent to successful completion of an associate's degree or 60 credit hours at an accredited college or university 2 years of such law enforcement studies shall not have power of arrest, nor shall he or she be permitted to carry firearms, until he or she reaches 21 years of age. In addition, all persons so certified for appointment shall be of sound mind and body, be of good moral character, be citizens of the United States, have no criminal records, possess such prerequisites of training, education, and experience as the Board may from time to time prescribe so long as persons who have an associate's degree or 60 credit hours at an accredited college or university are not disqualified, and shall be required to pass successfully such mental and physical tests and examinations as may be prescribed by the Board. All Notwithstanding any Board rule to the contrary, all persons who meet one of the following requirements are deemed to have met the collegiate educational requirements:

(i) have been honorably discharged and who have been awarded a Southwest Asia Service Medal, Kosovo Campaign Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, or Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal by the United States Armed Forces;

(ii) are active members of the Illinois National Guard or a reserve component of the United States Armed Forces and who have been awarded a Southwest Asia Service Medal, Kosovo Campaign Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, or Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal as a result of honorable service during deployment on active duty;

(iii) have been honorably discharged who served in a combat mission by proof of hostile fire pay or imminent danger pay during deployment on active duty; or

(iv) have at least 3 years of full active and continuous military duty and received an honorable discharge before hiring.

Preference shall be given in such appointments to persons who have honorably served in the military or naval services of the United States. All appointees shall serve a probationary period of 12 months from the date of appointment and during that period may be discharged at the will of the Director. However, the Director may in his or her sole discretion extend the probationary period of an officer up to an additional 6 months when to do so is deemed in the best interest of the Department. Nothing in this subsection (a) limits the Board's ability to prescribe education prerequisites or requirements to certify Department of State Police officers for promotion as provided in Section 10 of this Act.

(b) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Act, after July 1, 1977 and before July 1, 1980, the Director of State Police may appoint and promote not more than 20 persons having special qualifications as special agents as he or she deems necessary to carry out the Department's objectives. Any such appointment or promotion shall be ratified by the Board.

(c) During the 90 days following the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1995, the Director of State Police may appoint up to 25 persons as State Police officers. These appointments shall be made in accordance with the requirements of this subsection (c) and any additional criteria that may be established by the Director, but are not subject to any other requirements of this Act. The Director may specify the initial rank for each person appointed under this subsection.

All appointments under this subsection (c) shall be made from personnel certified by the Board. A person certified by the Board and appointed by the Director under this subsection must have been employed by the Illinois Commerce Commission on November 30, 1994 in a job title subject to the Personnel Code and in a position for which the person was eligible to earn "eligible creditable service" as a "noncovered employee", as those terms are defined in Article 14 of the Illinois Pension Code.

Persons appointed under this subsection (c) shall thereafter be subject to the same requirements and procedures as other State police officers. A person appointed under this subsection must serve a probationary period of 12 months from the date of appointment, during which he or she may be discharged at the will of the Director.

This subsection (c) does not affect or limit the Director's authority to appoint other State Police officers under subsection (a) of this Section.

(Source: P.A. 100-11, eff. 7-1-17.)