Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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70 ILCS 805/3c

(70 ILCS 805/3c)

Sec. 3c. Elected board of commissioners in certain counties.

If the boundaries of a district are co-extensive with the boundaries of a
county having a population of more than 800,000 but less than 3,000,000,
all commissioners of the forest preserve district shall be elected from the number of districts as determined by the forest preserve district board of commissioners. Such a forest preserve district is a separate and distinct legal entity, and its board members are elected separate and apart from the elected county commissioners. Upon its formation, or as a result of decennial reapportionment, such a forest preserve district shall adopt a district map determining the boundary lines of each district.  That map shall be adjusted and reapportioned subject to the same decennial reapportionment process stated in Section 3c-1. No more than one commissioner shall be elected from each district. The 
president of the board of commissioners of the forest
preserve district shall be elected by the voters of the county, rather than by
the commissioners.  The president shall be a resident of the county and shall
be elected throughout the county for a
4-year term without having been first elected as commissioner of the forest
preserve
district.
Each commissioner shall be a resident of the forest preserve board district from which
he or she was elected not later than the date of the commencement of the term
of office.  The term of office for the president and commissioners elected
under this
Section shall commence on the first Monday
of the month following the month of election.
Neither a commissioner nor the president of the board of
commissioners of that forest preserve
district
shall serve simultaneously as member or chairman of the county board.  No
person shall seek election to both the forest preserve commission and the
county board at the same election, nor shall they be eligible to hold both offices at the same time.
The president, with the advice and consent of the
board of commissioners shall appoint a secretary,
treasurer, and such other officers as deemed necessary by the board of
commissioners, which officers need not be members of the board of
commissioners.  The president shall have the powers and duties as specified in
Section 12 of this Act.

Candidates for president and commissioner shall be candidates of
established political
parties.

If a vacancy in the office of president or commissioner occurs, other
than by expiration
of the president's or commissioner's term, the
forest preserve district board of commissioners shall declare that a vacancy
exists and notification of the vacancy shall be given to the county central
committee of each established political party within 3 business days after the
occurrence of the vacancy.  If the vacancy occurs in the office of forest
preserve
district commissioner, the
president of the board
of commissioners shall,
within 60 days after the date of the vacancy,
with the advice and consent of other commissioners then serving, appoint a
person to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.
The appointee
shall be affiliated with the same political party as the commissioner in whose
office the vacancy occurred and be a resident of such district.  If a vacancy
in the office of president occurs, other than by expiration of the president's
term, the remaining members of
the board of commissioners shall, within 60 days after the vacancy,
appoint one of the commissioners to serve as
president for the remainder of
the unexpired term.
In that case, the office of the commissioner who is appointed to serve
as president shall be deemed vacant and shall be filled within 60 days by
appointment of the president with the advice and consent of the other forest
preserve district commissioners.  The commissioner who is appointed to fill a
vacancy in
the office of president shall be affiliated with the same political party as
the person who occupied the office of president prior to the vacancy.  A person
appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of president or commissioner shall
establish his or her party affiliation by his or her record of voting in
primary elections or by holding or having held an office in an established
political party organization before the appointment.  If the appointee has not
voted in a party primary election or is not holding or has not held an office
in an established political party organization before the appointment, the
appointee shall establish his or her political party affiliation by his or her
record of participating in an established political party's nomination or
election caucus.
If, however, more than 28 months remain in the unexpired
term of a commissioner or the president, the
appointment shall be until the next general election, at
which time the
vacated office of commissioner or president shall be filled by election for the
remainder of the term.
Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, if a vacancy occurs after
the last day provided in Section 7-12 of the Election Code for filing
nomination papers for the office of president of a forest
preserve district where that office is elected as provided for in this
Section, or as set forth in Section 7-61 of the Election Code, a vacancy in
nomination shall be filled by the passage of a resolution by the nominating
committee of the affected political party within the time periods specified in
the Election Code.  The nominating committee shall consist of the chairman of
the county central committee and the township chairmen of the affected
political party.  All other vacancies in nomination shall be filled in
accordance with the provisions of the Election Code.

The president and commissioners elected under this Section may be reimbursed
for their reasonable expenses actually incurred in performing their official
duties under this Act in accordance with the provisions of Section 3a.  The
reimbursement paid under this Section shall be paid by the forest preserve
district.

Compensation for the president and the forest preserve commissioners elected under this Section
shall be established by the board of commissioners of the forest preserve district.

This Section does not apply to a forest preserve district created under Section 18.5 of the Conservation District Act.

(Source: P.A. 102-668, eff. 11-15-21.)