Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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15 ILCS 310/10b.1

(15 ILCS 310/10b.1) (from Ch. 124, par. 110b.1)

Sec. 10b.1. Competitive examinations.

(a) 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 the Office of the Secretary of State
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 and 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 skill; 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 paragraphs (1), (6), and (8) of subsection (a) of Section 24-1 of the Criminal Code of
1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, 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.  All examinations shall be
announced publicly at least 2 weeks in advance of the date of
examinations and may be advertised through the press, radio or other
media.

The Director may, at 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
Personnel 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 Personnel for similar positions.  Special
linguistic options may also be established where deemed appropriate.

(b) The Director of Personnel may require that each person seeking
employment with the Secretary of State, as part of the application
process, authorize an investigation to determine if the applicant has
ever been convicted of a crime and if so, the disposition of those
convictions; this authorization shall indicate the scope of the inquiry
and the agencies which may be contacted.  Upon this authorization, the
Director of Personnel may request and receive information and assistance
from any federal, state or local governmental agency as part of the
authorized investigation.  The investigation shall be undertaken after the
fingerprinting of an applicant in the form and manner prescribed by the
Illinois State Police.  The investigation shall consist of a criminal
history records check performed by the Illinois State Police and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, or some other entity that has the ability to
check the applicant's fingerprints against the fingerprint records now and
hereafter filed in the Illinois State Police and Federal Bureau of
Investigation criminal history records databases.  If the Illinois State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
conduct an investigation directly for the Secretary of State's Office, then
the Illinois State Police shall charge a fee for conducting the criminal
history records check, which shall be deposited in the State Police Services
Fund and shall not exceed the actual cost of the records check. The
Illinois State Police shall
provide information concerning any criminal convictions, and their
disposition, brought against the applicant or prospective employee of
the Secretary of State upon request of the Department of Personnel when
the request is made in the form and manner required by the Illinois State Police.  The information derived from this investigation,
including the source of this information, and any conclusions or
recommendations derived from this information by the Director of
Personnel shall be provided to the applicant or prospective employee, or
his designee, upon request to the Director of Personnel prior to any
final action by the Director of Personnel on the application.  No
information obtained from such investigation may be placed in any
automated information system.  Any criminal convictions and their
disposition information obtained by the Director of Personnel shall be
confidential and may not be transmitted outside the Office of the
Secretary of State, except as required herein, and may not be
transmitted to anyone within the Office of the Secretary of State except
as needed for the purpose of evaluating the application.   The only
physical identity materials which the applicant or prospective employee
can be required to provide the Director of Personnel are photographs or
fingerprints; these shall be returned to the applicant or prospective
employee upon request to the Director of Personnel, after the
investigation has been completed and no copy of these materials may be
kept by the Director of Personnel or any agency to which such identity
materials were transmitted.  Only information and standards which bear a
reasonable and rational relation to the performance of an employee shall
be used by the Director of Personnel.  The Secretary of State shall
adopt rules and regulations for the administration of this Section.  Any
employee of the Secretary of State who gives or causes to be given away
any confidential information concerning any criminal convictions and
their disposition of an applicant or prospective employee shall be
guilty of a Class A misdemeanor unless release of such information is
authorized by this Section.

(Source: P.A. 102-538, eff. 8-20-21; 102-813, eff. 5-13-22.)