093_HB1514eng
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1 AN ACT concerning conservation districts.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Conservation District Act is amended by
5 changing Sections 5 and 6 as follows:
6 (70 ILCS 410/5) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 7105)
7 Sec. 5. Board of trustees.
8 (a) The affairs of a conservation district shall be
9 managed by a board consisting which shall consist of 5
10 trustees, except as otherwise provided in this Section. If
11 the boundaries of the district are coextensive with the
12 boundaries of one county, the trustees shall be residents of
13 that county. If the district embraces 2 counties, 3 trustees
14 shall be residents of the county with the larger population
15 and 2 trustees shall be residents of the other county. If the
16 district embraces 3 counties, one trustee shall be a resident
17 of the county with the smallest population and each of the
18 other counties shall have 2 resident trustees. If the
19 district embraces 4 counties, 2 trustees shall be residents
20 of the county with the largest population and each of the
21 other counties shall have one resident trustee. If the
22 district embraces 5 counties, each county shall have one
23 resident trustee.
24 (b) A district that is entirely within a county of under
25 300,000 inhabitants and contiguous to a county of more than
26 2,000,000 inhabitants and that is authorized by referendum as
27 provided in subsection (d) of Section 15 to incur
28 indebtedness over 0.575% but not to exceed 1.725% shall have
29 a board consisting of 7 trustees, all of whom shall be
30 residents of the county. The additional 2 trustees shall be
31 appointed by the chairman of the county board, with the
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1 consent of the county board, and shall hold office for terms
2 expiring on June 30 as follows: one trustee after 4 years
3 and one trustee after 5 years from the date of the
4 referendum. Successor trustees shall be appointed in the
5 same manner no later than June 1 before the commencement of
6 the term of the trustee.
7 (c) Trustees shall be qualified voters of the such
8 district who do not hold any other public office and are not
9 officers of any political party. Trustees, if nominated by
10 the county board chairman as hereinafter provided, shall be
11 selected on the basis of their demonstrated interest in the
12 purpose of conservation districts.
13 (d) If the trustees are appointed, the chairman of the
14 county board for the county of which the trustee is a
15 resident shall, with the consent of the county board of that
16 county, appoint the first trustees who shall hold office for
17 terms expiring on June 30 after one, 2, 3, 4, and 5 year
18 periods respectively as determined and fixed by lot.
19 Thereafter, successor appointed trustees shall be appointed
20 for a term of 5-years in the same manner no later than June 1
21 prior to the commencement of term of the trustee. If the term
22 of office of any appointed trustee expires before the first
23 election of trustees under subsection (i) after referendum
24 approval of elected trustees, the chairman of the county
25 board who appointed that trustee under this subsection shall
26 appoint a successor to serve until a successor is elected and
27 has qualified.
28 (e) When a vacancy occurs in the office of trustee,
29 whether by death, resignation, refusal to qualify, no longer
30 being a qualified voter of the district, or for any other
31 reason, the board of trustees shall declare that a vacancy
32 exists. The vacancy shall be filled within 60 days. Each
33 successor trustee shall serve for a term of 5 years. A
34 vacancy occurring otherwise than by expiration of term, for
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1 appointed trustees, shall be filled for the unexpired term by
2 appointment of a trustee by the county board chairman of the
3 county of which the trustee shall be a resident, with the
4 approval of the county board of that county. An appointed A
5 trustee who has served a full term of 5 years is ineligible
6 to serve as a trustee for a period of one year following the
7 expiration of his or her term. In the case of an elected
8 trustee, appointment of an eligible person shall be by the
9 president of the board of trustees with the advice and
10 consent of the other trustees. The appointee shall serve the
11 remainder of the unexpired term. If, however, more than 28
12 months remain in the term of the elected trustee and the
13 vacancy occurs at least 182 days before the next general
14 election, the appointment shall be until the next general
15 election, at which time the vacated office of the elected
16 trustee shall be filled by election for the remainder of the
17 term.
18 If a vacancy occurs in the office of president of the
19 board of trustees, the remaining trustees shall select one of
20 their number to serve as president for the balance of the
21 unexpired term of the president in whose office the vacancy
22 occurred.
23 When any trustee during his or her term of office shall
24 cease to be a bona fide resident of the district, or shall
25 move from one township or congressional township in the
26 district to another so that the township residency
27 requirements of this Section are no longer met, then he or
28 she is disqualified as a trustee and the his office becomes
29 vacant. If the district has decided to elect or appoint
30 trustees from single member subdistricts under subsection
31 (i), then when any trustee during his or her term of office
32 shall cease to be a bona fide resident of the subdistrict he
33 or she is disqualified as a trustee and the office becomes
34 vacant.
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1 (f) Trustees shall serve without compensation, but may
2 be paid their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the
3 performance of their official duties.
4 (g) An appointed A trustee may be removed for cause by
5 the county board chairman for the county of which the trustee
6 is a resident, with the approval of the county board of that
7 county, but every such removal shall be by a written order
8 and, which shall be filed with the county clerk.
9 (h) A conservation district with 5 trustees may
10 determine by majority vote of the board to increase the size
11 of the board to 7 trustees. With respect to a 7-member
12 board, no more than 3 members may be residents of any
13 township in a county under township organization or of any
14 congressional township in a county not under township
15 organization. In the case of a 7-member board representing a
16 district that embraces 2 counties, 4 trustees shall be
17 residents of the county with the larger population and 3
18 trustees shall be residents of the other county. If the
19 district embraces 3 counties, 2 trustees shall be residents
20 of each of the 2 counties with the smallest population and
21 the largest county shall have 3 resident trustees. If the
22 district embraces 4 counties, one trustee shall be a resident
23 of the county with the smallest population and each of the
24 other counties shall have 2 resident trustees. If the
25 district embraces 5 counties, the 2 counties with the largest
26 population shall each have 2 resident trustees and each of
27 the other counties shall have one resident trustee. The
28 pertinent appointing authorities shall appoint the additional
29 2 trustees to initial terms as equally staggered as possible
30 from the terms of the trustees already appointed from that
31 township or county so that 2 trustees representing the same
32 area shall not be succeeded in the same year.
33 (i) a conservation district may determine by referendum
34 (i) to have an elected or appointed board of trustees, (ii)
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1 to have a board of trustees with 5 or 7 members, and (iii) to
2 have trustees chosen at large or from single-member
3 subdistricts. A referendum may be placed on the ballot in
4 the following manner:
5 (1) If the boundaries of the district are
6 coextensive with the boundaries of a single county, the
7 county board may determine by the ordinance to hold the
8 referendum; or
9 (2) If the boundaries of the district are embraced
10 by more than one county, then the county board of each
11 county in the district, jointly, may determine by
12 ordinance to hold the referendum; or
13 (3) A petition signed by not less than 5% of the
14 electors of the entire district may be submitted to the
15 board of trustees requiring the district to hold the
16 referendum.
17 The secretary of the board of trustees shall certify the
18 proposition to the appropriate election authorities who shall
19 submit the proposition at a consolidated or general election
20 according to the Election Code. The Election Code shall
21 apply to and govern the election. The proposition shall be in
22 substantially the following form:
23 Shall the (insert name) Conservation District have
24 an (insert "elected" or "appointed") board of trustees
25 with (insert "5" or "7") trustees chosen (insert "at
26 large" or "from single member subdistricts")?
27 The votes shall be recorded as "Yes" or "No".
28 If a majority of the votes cast on the proposition are in
29 the affirmative, the trustees of the district shall
30 thereafter be chosen as provided in this paragraph. At the
31 next consolidated election, a district that has decided by
32 referendum to have its trustees elected rather than appointed
33 shall elect 5 or 7 trustees as provided in the ordinance or
34 petition and in the proposition. The trustees shall be
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1 elected on a nonpartisan basis. The provisions of the general
2 election law shall apply to and govern the nomination and
3 election of the trustees.
4 (1) If the district has decided to elect or appoint
5 at large trustees, then with respect to a 5-member board,
6 the residency of members shall be the same as prescribed
7 in subsection (a).
8 With respect to a 7-member board, no more than 3
9 members may be residents of the same township in a county
10 under township organization or of the same congressional
11 township in a county not under township organization. In
12 the case of a 7-member board representing a district that
13 embraces 2 counties, 4 trustees shall be residents of the
14 county with the larger population and 3 trustees shall be
15 residents of the other county. If the district embraces
16 3 counties, 2 trustees shall be residents of each of the
17 2 counties with the smallest population and the largest
18 county shall have 3 resident trustees. If the district
19 embraces 4 counties, one trustee shall be a resident of
20 the county with the smallest population and each of the
21 other counties shall have 2 resident trustees. If the
22 district embraces 5 counties, the 2 counties with the
23 largest population shall each have 2 resident trustees
24 and each of the other counties shall have one resident
25 trustee.
26 (2) If the district has decided to elect or appoint
27 trustees from single member subdistricts, then with
28 respect to a 5-member board of a district embracing a
29 single county, the county board shall apportion the
30 district into 5 subdistricts. One trustee shall be a
31 resident of and elected or appointed from each of the 5
32 subdistricts. In the case of a 5-member board of a
33 district embracing more than one county, the members of
34 each county board shall, jointly, apportion the district
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1 into 5 subdistricts. One trustee shall be a resident of
2 and elected or appointed from each of the 5 subdistricts.
3 The initial subdistricts shall be apportioned within 90
4 days after the referendum is approved, and the
5 subdistricts shall be reapportioned after each decennial
6 census.
7 With respect to a 7-member board of a district
8 embracing a single county, the county board shall
9 apportion the district into 7 subdistricts. One trustee
10 shall be a resident of and elected or appointed from each
11 of the 7 subdistricts. In the case of a 7-member board
12 of a district embracing more than one county, the members
13 of each county board shall, jointly, apportion the
14 district into 7 subdistricts. One trustee shall be a
15 resident of and elected or appointed from each of the 7
16 subdistricts. The initial subdistricts shall be
17 apportioned within 90 days after the referendum is
18 approved, and the subdistricts shall be reapportioned
19 after each decennial census.
20 (j) When a conservation district determines to elect or
21 appoint trustees as provided in subsection (i), the terms of
22 these trustees shall commence on the first Monday of December
23 following the election. The terms of all trustees previously
24 appointed or elected under this Section shall expire on the
25 first Monday of December following the first election.
26 (1) If the district has decided to elect or appoint
27 at large trustees, then the initial elected board of
28 trustees shall, no later than 45 days after taking
29 office, divide themselves publicly by lot as equally as
30 possible into 2 groups. Trustees or their successors
31 from the larger group shall serve for terms of 4 years,
32 the initial elected trustees from the second group shall
33 serve for terms of 2 years, and their successors shall be
34 elected for terms of 4 years.
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1 (2) If the district has decided to elect or appoint
2 trustees from single member subdistricts, then the
3 members of the initial elected board of trustees and each
4 subsequent board elected prior to the first decennial
5 census following the initial apportionment shall be
6 elected to a term of 2 years. In the year following the
7 first decennial census occurring after the initial
8 apportionment and in the year following each subsequent
9 decennial census, the 5 or 7 subdistricts shall be
10 reapportioned to reflect the results of the census. The
11 board of trustees elected in the first election following
12 a decennial census shall, no later than 45 days after
13 taking office, divide themselves publicly by lot as
14 equally as possible into 3 groups. Trustees or their
15 successors from one group shall be elected to terms of 4
16 years, 4 years, and 2 years. Trustees or their
17 successors from the second group shall be elected to
18 terms of 4 years, 2 years, and 4 years. The trustee or
19 successors from the third group shall be elected to terms
20 of 2 years, 4 years, and 4 years.
21 (Source: P.A. 90-195, eff. 7-24-97; 91-629, eff. 8-19-99.)
22 (70 ILCS 410/6) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 7106)
23 Sec. 6. Officers and employees. As soon as possible
24 after the initial election or the initial appointments, as
25 the case may be Within 60 days after their selection, the
26 trustees shall organize by selecting from their members a
27 president, secretary, treasurer, and such other officers as
28 are deemed necessary, who shall hold office for 2 years in
29 the case of an elected board, or the fiscal year in which
30 elected in the case of an appointed board, and until their
31 successors are selected and qualify. Three trustees shall
32 constitute a quorum of the board for the transaction of
33 business if the district has 5 trustees. If the district has
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1 7 trustees, 4 trustees shall constitute a quorum of the board
2 for the transaction of business. The board shall hold
3 regular monthly meetings. Special meetings may be called by
4 the president and shall be called on the request of a
5 majority of members, as may be required.
6 The board shall provide for the proper and safe keeping
7 of its permanent records and for the recording of the
8 corporate action of the district. It shall keep a proper
9 system of accounts showing a true and accurate record of its
10 receipts and disbursements, and it shall cause an annual
11 audit to be made of its books, records, and accounts.
12 The records of the district shall be subject to public
13 inspection at all reasonable hours and under such regulations
14 as the board may prescribe.
15 The district shall annually make a full and complete
16 report to the county board of each county within the district
17 and to the Department of Natural Resources of its
18 transactions and operations for the preceding year. The Such
19 report shall contain a full statement of its receipts,
20 disbursements, and the program of work for the period
21 covered, and may include such recommendations as may be
22 deemed advisable.
23 Executive or ministerial duties may be delegated to one
24 or more trustees or to an authorized officer, employee,
25 agent, attorney, or other representative of the district.
26 All officers and employees authorized to receive or
27 retain the custody of money or to sign vouchers, checks,
28 warrants, or evidences of indebtedness binding upon the
29 district shall furnish surety bond for the faithful
30 performance of their duties and the faithful accounting for
31 all moneys that may come into their hands in an amount to be
32 fixed and in a form to be approved by the board.
33 All contracts for supplies, material, or work involving
34 an expenditure in excess of $10,000 shall be let to the
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1 lowest responsible bidder, after due advertisement, excepting
2 work requiring personal confidence or necessary supplies
3 under the control of monopolies, where competitive bidding is
4 impossible. All contracts for supplies, material, or work
5 shall be signed by the president of the board and by any such
6 other officer as the board in its discretion may designate.
7 (Source: P.A. 89-445, eff. 2-7-96.)
8 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
9 becoming law.