Full Text of HB0774 95th General Assembly
HB0774 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008 HB0774
Introduced 2/7/2007, by Rep. JoAnn D. Osmond SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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70 ILCS 705/16.13b |
from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 37.13b |
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Amends the Fire Protection District Act. Eliminates the requirement that the board of trustees must, by majority vote, confirm the removal or discharge of an officer or a member of the district fire department.
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A BILL FOR
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HB0774 |
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LRB095 04951 HLH 25017 b |
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| AN ACT concerning local government.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Fire Protection District Act is amended by | 5 |
| changing Section 16.13b as follows:
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| (70 ILCS 705/16.13b) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 37.13b)
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| Sec. 16.13b. Unless the employer and a labor organization | 8 |
| have agreed
to a contract provision providing for final and | 9 |
| binding arbitration of
disputes concerning the existence of | 10 |
| just cause for disciplinary action,
no officer or member of the | 11 |
| fire department of any protection district who
has held that | 12 |
| position for one year shall be removed or discharged
except for | 13 |
| just cause, upon written charges specifying the
complainant and | 14 |
| the basis for the charges, and after a hearing on those
charges | 15 |
| before the board of fire commissioners, affording the officer | 16 |
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member an opportunity to be heard in his own defense. In | 17 |
| such case the
board of fire commissioners
appointing authority | 18 |
| shall notify
file with the board of trustees of the reasons for
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| such removal or discharge , which removal or discharge shall not | 20 |
| become
effective unless confirmed by a majority vote of the | 21 |
| board of trustees .
If written charges are brought against an | 22 |
| officer or member,
the board of fire commissioners shall | 23 |
| conduct a fair and impartial hearing
of the charges, to be |
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HB0774 |
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LRB095 04951 HLH 25017 b |
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| commenced within 30 days of the filing thereof, which
hearing | 2 |
| may be continued from time to time. The Chief of the department
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| shall bear the burden of proving the guilt of the officer or | 4 |
| member by a
preponderance of the evidence. In case an officer | 5 |
| or member is found
guilty, the board may discharge him, or may | 6 |
| suspend him not exceeding 30
calendar days without pay. The | 7 |
| board may suspend any officer or member
pending the hearing | 8 |
| with or without pay, but in no event shall the
suspension | 9 |
| pending hearing and the ultimate suspension imposed on the
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| officer or member, if any, exceed 30 calendar days without pay | 11 |
| in the
aggregate. If the board of fire commissioners determines | 12 |
| that the charges
are not sustained, the officer or member shall | 13 |
| be reimbursed for all wages
withheld or lost, if any. In the | 14 |
| conduct of this hearing, each member of
the board shall have | 15 |
| power to secure by its subpoena both the attendance
and | 16 |
| testimony of witnesses and the production of books and papers | 17 |
| relevant
to the hearing.
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| Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, a | 19 |
| probationary employment period may be extended beyond one year | 20 |
| for a firefighter who is required as a condition of employment | 21 |
| to be a certified paramedic, during which time the sole reason | 22 |
| that a firefighter may be discharged without a hearing is for | 23 |
| failing to meet the requirements for paramedic certification.
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| The age for mandatory retirement of firemen in the service | 25 |
| of any
department of such district is 65 years, unless the | 26 |
| board of trustees shall
by ordinance provide for an earlier |
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HB0774 |
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LRB095 04951 HLH 25017 b |
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| mandatory retirement age of not less
than 60 years.
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| The provisions of the Administrative Review Law, and all | 3 |
| amendments and
modifications thereof, and the rules adopted | 4 |
| pursuant thereto, shall apply
to and govern all proceedings for | 5 |
| the judicial review of final
administrative decisions of the | 6 |
| board of fire commissioners hereunder. The
term | 7 |
| "administrative decision" is defined as in Section 3-101 of the | 8 |
| Code
of Civil Procedure.
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| Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prevent the | 10 |
| Chief of the
fire department from suspending without pay a | 11 |
| member of his department for
a period of not more than 5 | 12 |
| consecutive calendar days, but he shall
notify the board in | 13 |
| writing of such suspension. Any fireman so suspended
may appeal | 14 |
| to the board of fire commissioners for a review of the
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| suspension within 5 calendar days after such suspension. Upon | 16 |
| such appeal,
the Chief of the department shall bear the burden | 17 |
| of proof in establishing
the guilt of the officer or member by | 18 |
| a preponderance of the evidence. The
board may sustain the | 19 |
| action of the Chief of the department, may reduce the
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| suspension to a lesser penalty, or may reverse it with | 21 |
| instructions that
the officer or member receive his pay and | 22 |
| other benefits withheld for the
period involved, or may suspend | 23 |
| the officer for an additional period of not
more than 30 days, | 24 |
| or discharge him, depending upon the facts presented.
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| (Source: P.A. 94-135, eff. 7-7-05.)
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