HB3779eng 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB3779 Engrossed LRB097 11985 PJG 55632 b

AN ACT concerning State government.

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

Section 5. The Personnel Code is amended by changing Section 8b.1 as follows:

(20 ILCS 415/8b.1) (from Ch. 127, par. 63b108b.1)

Sec. 8b.1. For open competitive examinations to test the relative fitness of applicants for the respective positions.

Tests shall be designed to eliminate those who are not qualified for entrance into or promotion within the service, and to discover the relative fitness of those who are qualified. The Director may use any one of or any combination of the following examination methods which in his judgment best serves this end: investigation of education; investigation of experience; test of cultural knowledge; test of capacity; test of knowledge; test of manual skill; test of linguistic ability; test of character; test of physical fitness; test of psychological fitness. No person with a record of misdemeanor convictions except those under Sections 11-1.50, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9, 11-14, 11-15, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, 11-30, 11-35, 12-2, 12-6, 12-15, 14-4, 16-1, 21.1-3, 24-3.1, 24-5, 25-1, 28-3, 31-1, 31-4, 31-6, 31-7, 32-1, 32-2, 32-3, 32-4, and 32-8, subdivisions (a)(1) and (a)(2)(C) of Section 11-14.3, and sub-sections 1, 6 and 8 of Section 24-1 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or arrested for any cause but not convicted thereon shall be disqualified from taking such examinations or subsequent appointment, unless the person is attempting to qualify for a position which would give him the powers of a peace officer, in which case the person's conviction or arrest record may be considered as a factor in determining the person's fitness for the position. The eligibility conditions specified for the position of Assistant Director of Healthcare and Family Services in the Department of Healthcare and Family Services in Section 5-230 of the Departments of State Government Law (20 ILCS 5/5-230) shall be applied to that position in addition to other standards, tests or criteria established by the Director. All examinations shall be announced publicly at least 2 weeks in advance of the date of the examinations and may be advertised through the press, radio and other media. The Director may, however, in his discretion, continue to receive applications and examine candidates long enough to assure a sufficient number of eligibles to meet the needs of the service and may add the names of successful candidates to existing eligible lists in accordance with their respective ratings.

Notwithstanding any other law, beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly, the Director of Central Management Services and the Department of Employment Security shall establish a 5-year pilot program under which the Director of Central Management Services and the Department of Employment Security shall jointly administer the competitive examinations. Under the pilot program, the Director of Central Management Services and the Department of Employment Security shall determine the times and places where the competitive examinations shall be held, provided that the competitive examinations shall be held at one Department of Employment Security office per region at least once each quarter. Each designated Department of Employment Security testing office has the discretion to set the dates on which it shall hold the competitive examinations. By March 1, June 1, September 1, and December 1 of each year, a schedule of the times and places where the competitive examinations shall be held during the following quarter shall be posted on the official websites of the Department of Central Management Services and the Department of Employment Security.

The Director may, in his discretion, accept the results of competitive examinations conducted by any merit system established by federal law or by the law of any State, and may compile eligible lists therefrom or may add the names of successful candidates in examinations conducted by those merit systems to existing eligible lists in accordance with their respective ratings. No person who is a non-resident of the State of Illinois may be appointed from those eligible lists, however, unless the requirement that applicants be residents of the State of Illinois is waived by the Director of Central Management Services and unless there are less than 3 Illinois residents available for appointment from the appropriate eligible list. The results of the examinations conducted by other merit systems may not be used unless they are comparable in difficulty and comprehensiveness to examinations conducted by the Department of Central Management Services for similar positions. Special linguistic options may also be established where deemed appropriate.

(Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January 1, 2013.