093_HB2974
LRB093 09413 BDD 11797 b
1 AN ACT concerning local government.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Downstate Forest Preserve District Act is
5 amended by changing Section 3c as follows:
6 (70 ILCS 805/3c)
7 Sec. 3c. Elected board of commissioners in certain
8 counties. If the boundaries of a district are co-extensive
9 with the boundaries of a county having a population of more
10 than 275,000 800,000 but less than 3,000,000, all
11 commissioners of the forest preserve district shall be
12 elected from the same districts as members of the county
13 board beginning with the general election held in 2002 and
14 each succeeding general election. One commissioner shall be
15 elected from each district. At their first meeting after
16 their election in 2002 and following each subsequent
17 decennial reapportionment of the county under Division 2-3 of
18 the Counties Code, the elected commissioners shall publicly
19 by lot divide themselves into 2 groups, as equal in size as
20 possible. Commissioners from the first group shall serve for
21 terms of 2, 4, and 4 years; and commissioners from the second
22 group shall serve terms of 4, 4, and 2 years. Beginning
23 with the general election in 2002, the president of the board
24 of commissioners of the forest preserve district shall be
25 elected by the voters of the county, rather than by the
26 commissioners. The president shall be a resident of the
27 county and shall be elected throughout the county for a
28 4-year term without having been first elected as commissioner
29 of the forest preserve district. Each commissioner shall be a
30 resident of the county board district from which he or she
31 was elected not later than the date of the commencement of
-2- LRB093 09413 BDD 11797 b
1 the term of office. The term of office for the president and
2 commissioners elected under this Section shall commence on
3 the first Monday of the month following the month of
4 election. Neither a commissioner nor the president of the
5 board of commissioners of that forest preserve district shall
6 serve simultaneously as member or chairman of the county
7 board. No person shall seek election to both the forest
8 preserve commission and the county board at the same
9 election. The compensation for the president shall be an
10 amount equal to 85% of the annual salary of the county board
11 chairman. The president, with the advice and consent of the
12 board of commissioners shall appoint a secretary, treasurer,
13 and such other officers as deemed necessary by the board of
14 commissioners, which officers need not be members of the
15 board of commissioners. The president shall have the powers
16 and duties as specified in Section 12 of this Act.
17 Candidates for president and commissioner shall be
18 candidates of established political parties.
19 If a vacancy in the office of president or commissioner
20 occurs, other than by expiration of the president's or
21 commissioner's term, the forest preserve district board of
22 commissioners shall declare that a vacancy exists and
23 notification of the vacancy shall be given to the county
24 central committee of each established political party within
25 3 business days after the occurrence of the vacancy. If the
26 vacancy occurs in the office of forest preserve district
27 commissioner, the president of the board of commissioners
28 shall, within 60 days after the date of the vacancy, with the
29 advice and consent of other commissioners then serving,
30 appoint a person to serve for the remainder of the unexpired
31 term. The appointee shall be affiliated with the same
32 political party as the commissioner in whose office the
33 vacancy occurred and be a resident of such district. If a
34 vacancy in the office of president occurs, other than by
-3- LRB093 09413 BDD 11797 b
1 expiration of the president's term, the remaining members of
2 the board of commissioners shall, within 60 days after the
3 vacancy, appoint one of the commissioners to serve as
4 president for the remainder of the unexpired term. In that
5 case, the office of the commissioner who is appointed to
6 serve as president shall be deemed vacant and shall be filled
7 within 60 days by appointment of the president with the
8 advice and consent of the other forest preserve district
9 commissioners. The commissioner who is appointed to fill a
10 vacancy in the office of president shall be affiliated with
11 the same political party as the person who occupied the
12 office of president prior to the vacancy. A person appointed
13 to fill a vacancy in the office of president or commissioner
14 shall establish his or her party affiliation by his or her
15 record of voting in primary elections or by holding or having
16 held an office in an established political party organization
17 before the appointment. If the appointee has not voted in a
18 party primary election or is not holding or has not held an
19 office in an established political party organization before
20 the appointment, the appointee shall establish his or her
21 political party affiliation by his or her record of
22 participating in an established political party's nomination
23 or election caucus. If, however, more than 28 months remain
24 in the unexpired term of a commissioner or the president, the
25 appointment shall be until the next general election, at
26 which time the vacated office of commissioner or president
27 shall be filled by election for the remainder of the term.
28 Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, if a vacancy occurs
29 after the last day provided in Section 7-12 of the Election
30 Code for filing nomination papers for the office of president
31 of a forest preserve district where that office is elected as
32 provided for in this Section, or as set forth in Section 7-61
33 of the Election Code, a vacancy in nomination shall be filled
34 by the passage of a resolution by the nominating committee of
-4- LRB093 09413 BDD 11797 b
1 the affected political party within the time periods
2 specified in the Election Code. The nominating committee
3 shall consist of the chairman of the county central committee
4 and the township chairmen of the affected political party.
5 All other vacancies in nomination shall be filled in
6 accordance with the provisions of the Election Code.
7 The president and commissioners elected under this
8 Section may be reimbursed for their reasonable expenses
9 actually incurred in performing their official duties under
10 this Act in accordance with the provisions of Section 3a.
11 The reimbursement paid under this Section shall be paid by
12 the forest preserve district.
13 Compensation for forest preserve commissioners elected
14 under this Section shall be the same as that of county board
15 members of the county with which the forest preserve
16 district's boundaries are co-extensive.
17 (Source: P.A. 91-933, eff. 12-30-00; 92-583, eff. 6-26-02.)
18 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
19 becoming law.