Full Text of SB1633 96th General Assembly
SB1633 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010 SB1633
Introduced 2/19/2009, by Sen. Bill Brady SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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5 ILCS 430/20-50 |
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5 ILCS 430/20-95 |
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Amends the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. Requires that summary reports of investigations be delivered to the Executive Ethics Commission. With respect to all reports of the Office of an Executive Inspector General, removes the requirements that they are confidential, are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, and may not be divulged except to certain persons and agencies (now, these requirements apply to reports other than quarterly reports). Specifies that personal information must be redacted from investigatory reports, including summary reports of investigations, and quarterly reports before the reports are disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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SB1633 |
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LRB096 10788 JAM 20996 b |
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| AN ACT concerning ethics.
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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 State Officials and Employees Ethics Act is | 5 |
| amended by changing Sections 20-50 and 20-95 as follows: | 6 |
| (5 ILCS 430/20-50)
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| Sec. 20-50. Investigation reports; complaint procedure.
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| (a) If an Executive Inspector General, upon the conclusion | 9 |
| of an
investigation, determines that reasonable cause exists to | 10 |
| believe that a
violation
has occurred, then
the Executive | 11 |
| Inspector General shall issue a summary report of the
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| investigation. The report shall be delivered (i) to the | 13 |
| Executive Ethics Commission, (ii) to the
appropriate ultimate | 14 |
| jurisdictional
authority , and (iii) if appropriate, to the head | 15 |
| of each State
agency
affected by or involved in the | 16 |
| investigation , if appropriate .
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| (b) The summary report of the investigation shall include | 18 |
| the following:
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| (1) A description of any allegations or other | 20 |
| information
received by the Executive Inspector General | 21 |
| pertinent to the
investigation.
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| (2) A description of any alleged misconduct discovered | 23 |
| in the
course of the investigation.
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| (3) Recommendations for any corrective or disciplinary
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| action to be taken in response to any alleged misconduct | 3 |
| described in the
report, including but not limited to | 4 |
| discharge.
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| (4) Other information the Executive Inspector General
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| deems relevant to the investigation or resulting | 7 |
| recommendations.
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| (c) Not less than 30 days after delivery of the summary | 9 |
| report of
an
investigation under subsection (a),
if the | 10 |
| Executive Inspector General desires to file a petition for | 11 |
| leave to file
a
complaint, the Executive Inspector General | 12 |
| shall notify the Commission and the
Attorney General.
If the | 13 |
| Attorney General determines
that reasonable cause exists to | 14 |
| believe that a violation has occurred, then the
Executive | 15 |
| Inspector
General, represented by the Attorney
General, may | 16 |
| file with the Executive Ethics Commission a petition for
leave | 17 |
| to file a complaint.
The petition shall set
forth the alleged | 18 |
| violation and the
grounds that exist to support the petition. | 19 |
| The petition for leave to
file a complaint must be filed with | 20 |
| the Commission within 18 months
after the most recent act of | 21 |
| the
alleged violation or of a series of alleged violations
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| except where there is reasonable cause to believe
that | 23 |
| fraudulent concealment has occurred. To constitute fraudulent | 24 |
| concealment
sufficient to toll this limitations period, there | 25 |
| must be an affirmative act or
representation calculated to | 26 |
| prevent discovery of the fact that a violation has
occurred.
If |
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| a petition for leave to file a complaint is not filed with the | 2 |
| Commission
within 6 months after notice by the Inspector | 3 |
| General to the Commission and the
Attorney General, then the | 4 |
| Commission may set a meeting of the Commission at
which the | 5 |
| Attorney General shall appear and provide a status
report to | 6 |
| the Commission.
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| (d) A copy of the petition must be served on all | 8 |
| respondents named in the
complaint and on each respondent's | 9 |
| ultimate jurisdictional authority in
the same manner as process | 10 |
| is served under the Code of Civil
Procedure.
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| (e) A respondent may file objections to the petition for | 12 |
| leave to
file a complaint within 30 days after notice of the | 13 |
| petition has been
served on the respondent.
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| (f) The Commission shall meet, either in person or by | 15 |
| telephone,
in a closed session to review the sufficiency of the | 16 |
| complaint.
If the Commission finds that complaint is | 17 |
| sufficient, the Commission shall
grant the petition for leave | 18 |
| to file the
complaint.
The Commission shall
issue notice to the | 19 |
| Executive Inspector General and all respondents of
the | 20 |
| Commission's ruling on the sufficiency of the complaint. If the | 21 |
| complaint
is deemed to
sufficiently allege a violation of this | 22 |
| Act, then the Commission shall notify
the parties and shall
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| include a hearing date scheduled within 4 weeks after the date | 24 |
| of the notice,
unless all of the parties consent to a later | 25 |
| date.
If the complaint is deemed not to sufficiently allege a
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| violation, then
the Commission shall send by certified mail, |
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| return receipt requested,
a notice to the parties of the | 2 |
| decision to dismiss the complaint.
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| (g) On the scheduled date
the Commission shall conduct a | 4 |
| closed meeting,
either in person or, if the parties consent, by | 5 |
| telephone, on the complaint and
allow all
parties the | 6 |
| opportunity to present testimony and evidence.
All such | 7 |
| proceedings shall be transcribed.
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| (h) Within an appropriate time limit set by rules of the | 9 |
| Executive
Ethics Commission, the Commission shall (i) dismiss | 10 |
| the
complaint or (ii) issue a recommendation of discipline to | 11 |
| the
respondent and the respondent's ultimate jurisdictional | 12 |
| authority or
impose an administrative fine upon the respondent, | 13 |
| or both.
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| (i) The proceedings on any complaint filed with the | 15 |
| Commission
shall be conducted pursuant to rules promulgated by | 16 |
| the Commission.
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| (j) The Commission may designate hearing officers
to | 18 |
| conduct proceedings as determined by rule of the Commission.
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| (k) In all proceedings before the Commission, the standard | 20 |
| of
proof is by a preponderance of the evidence.
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| (l) When the Inspector General concludes that there is | 22 |
| insufficient
evidence that a violation has occurred, the | 23 |
| Inspector General shall close the
investigation. At the request | 24 |
| of the subject of the investigation, the
Inspector
General | 25 |
| shall provide a written statement to the subject of the | 26 |
| investigation
and to the Commission of
the Inspector General's |
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| decision to close the investigation. Closure by the
Inspector | 2 |
| General does not bar the Inspector General from resuming the
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| investigation if circumstances warrant.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-617, eff. 12-9-03.) | 5 |
| (5 ILCS 430/20-95)
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| Sec. 20-95. Exemptions.
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| (a) Documents generated by an ethics
officer under this | 8 |
| Act, except Section 5-50, are exempt from the provisions of
the | 9 |
| Freedom
of Information Act.
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| (b) Any allegations
and related documents
submitted to an | 11 |
| Executive Inspector General and any pleadings and
related | 12 |
| documents brought before the Executive Ethics
Commission are | 13 |
| exempt from the provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act so | 14 |
| long as the Executive Ethics Commission
does not make a finding | 15 |
| of a violation of this Act.
If the Executive
Ethics Commission | 16 |
| finds that a violation has occurred, the
entire record of | 17 |
| proceedings before the Commission, the decision and
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| recommendation, and the mandatory report from the agency head | 19 |
| or
ultimate jurisdictional authority to the Executive Ethics
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| Commission are not exempt from the provisions of the Freedom of
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| Information Act but information contained therein that is | 22 |
| otherwise exempt from
the
Freedom of Information Act must be | 23 |
| redacted before disclosure as provided in
Section 8 of the | 24 |
| Freedom of Information Act.
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| (c) Meetings of the Commission under
Sections 20-5
and |
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| 20-15 of this Act are exempt from the provisions of the Open
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| Meetings Act.
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| (d) Unless otherwise provided in this Act, all | 4 |
| investigatory files and
reports of the Office of an Executive | 5 |
| Inspector General , other than quarterly
reports, are | 6 |
| confidential, are exempt from disclosure
under the Freedom of | 7 |
| Information Act, and shall not be divulged to
any person or | 8 |
| agency, except as necessary (i) to the appropriate law
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| enforcement
authority if the matter is referred pursuant to | 10 |
| this Act, (ii) to the ultimate
jurisdictional authority, (iii) | 11 |
| to the
Executive Ethics Commission; or (iv) to another | 12 |
| Inspector General appointed
pursuant to this Act. | 13 |
| Investigatory reports, including summary reports of | 14 |
| investigations, and quarterly reports of the Office of an | 15 |
| Executive Inspector General are not exempt from the provisions | 16 |
| of the Freedom of Information Act, but information contained | 17 |
| therein that is otherwise exempt from the Freedom of | 18 |
| Information Act must be redacted before disclosure as provided | 19 |
| in Section 8 of the Freedom of Information Act.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-617, eff. 12-9-03.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 22 |
| becoming law.
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