State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_SB1813

 
                                              SRS92SB0050PMcp

 1        AN ACT in relation to forest preserve districts.

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

 4        Section 5.  The Election  Code  is  amended  by  changing
 5    Section 25-11 as follows:

 6        (10 ILCS 5/25-11) (from Ch. 46, par. 25-11)
 7        Sec. 25-11.  When a vacancy occurs in any elective county
 8    office,  or  in a county of less than 3,000,000 population in
 9    the office of clerk of the circuit court, in a  county  which
10    is  not a home rule unit, the county board or board of county
11    commissioners shall declare  that  such  vacancy  exists  and
12    notification  thereof  shall  be  given to the county central
13    committee or the appropriate county board or board of  county
14    commissioners   district   committee   of   each  established
15    political party within  3  days  of  the  occurrence  of  the
16    vacancy.   The  vacancy  shall  be  filled  within 60 days by
17    appointment of the chairman of the county board or  board  of
18    county  commissioners  with  the  advice  and  consent of the
19    county board or board of county commissioners. In counties in
20    which forest preserve district commissioners are  elected  by
21    districts  and  are  not  also  members  of the county board,
22    however, vacancies in the office of forest preserve  district
23    commissioner shall be filled within 60 days by appointment of
24    the  president  of  the  forest  preserve  district  board of
25    commissioners with the  advice  and  consent  of  the  forest
26    preserve  district  board  of  commissioners.  In counties in
27    which the forest preserve district president is  not  also  a
28    member  the  county  board, vacancies in the office of forest
29    preserve district president shall be filled within 60 days by
30    the  forest  preserve  district  board  of  commissioners  by
31    appointing one of the commissioners to  serve  as  president.
 
                            -2-               SRS92SB0050PMcp
 1    The  appointee  shall be a member of the same political party
 2    as the person he succeeds was at the time of his election and
 3    shall be otherwise eligible to  serve.  The  appointee  shall
 4    serve  the remainder of the unexpired term.  However, if more
 5    than 28 months remain in the term, the appointment  shall  be
 6    until  the  next  general  election at which time the vacated
 7    office shall be filled by election for the remainder  of  the
 8    term.   In  the case of a vacancy in a seat on a county board
 9    or board of county commissioners which has been divided  into
10    districts  under  Section  2-3003 or 2-4006.5 of the Counties
11    Code, the appointee must also be a  resident  of  the  county
12    board or county commission district. If a county commissioner
13    ceases to reside in the district that he or she represents, a
14    vacancy in that office exists.
15        Except  as  otherwise  provided by county ordinance or by
16    law, in any county which is a home rule  unit,  vacancies  in
17    elective  county  offices,  other  than  the  office of chief
18    executive officer, and vacancies in the office  of  clerk  of
19    the  circuit  court  in  a  county  of  less  than  3,000,000
20    population,  shall  be filled by the county board or board of
21    county commissioners.
22    (Source: P.A. 92-189, eff. 8-1-01.)

23        Section 10.  The Downstate Forest Preserve  District  Act
24    is amended by changing Section 3c as follows:

25        (70 ILCS 805/3c)
26        Sec.  3c.  Elected  board  of  commissioners  in  certain
27    counties.  If  the  boundaries of a district are co-extensive
28    with the boundaries of a county having a population  of  more
29    than  800,000  but  less than 3,000,000, all commissioners of
30    the forest preserve district shall be elected from  the  same
31    districts  as  members of the county board beginning with the
32    general election held in 2002  and  each  succeeding  general
 
                            -3-               SRS92SB0050PMcp
 1    election.   One  commissioner  shall  be  elected  from  each
 2    district.   At  their  first  meeting after their election in
 3    2002 and following each subsequent decennial  reapportionment
 4    of  the  county  under Division 2-3 of the Counties Code, the
 5    elected commissioners shall publicly by lot divide themselves
 6    into 2 groups, as equal in size as  possible.   Commissioners
 7    from  the  first  group  shall serve for terms of 2, 4, and 4
 8    years; and commissioners from the second  group  shall  serve
 9    terms of 4, 4, and 2 years.  Commissioners elected under this
10    Section   shall   take   office   at  the  first  meeting  of
11    commissioners  following  an   election   of   commissioners.
12    Beginning with the general election in 2002, the president of
13    the  board  of  commissioners of the forest preserve district
14    shall be elected by the voters of the county, rather than  by
15    the  commissioners.  The president shall be a resident of the
16    county and shall be  elected  throughout  the  county  for  a
17    4-year term without having been first elected as commissioner
18    of the forest preserve district. Each commissioner shall be a
19    resident  of  the  county board district from which he or she
20    was elected not later than the date of  the  commencement  of
21    the term of office.  The term of office for the president and
22    commissioners  elected  under  this Section shall commence on
23    the  first  Monday  of  the  month  following  the  month  of
24    election. Neither a commissioner nor  the  president  of  the
25    board of commissioners of that forest preserve district shall
26    serve  simultaneously  as  member  or  chairman of the county
27    board.  No person shall seek  election  to  both  the  forest
28    preserve   commission  and  the  county  board  at  the  same
29    election.  The compensation for the  president  shall  be  an
30    amount  equal to 85% of the annual salary of the county board
31    chairman. The president, with the advice and consent  of  the
32    board  of commissioners shall appoint a secretary, treasurer,
33    and such other officers as deemed necessary by the  board  of
34    commissioners,  which  officers  need  not  be members of the
 
                            -4-               SRS92SB0050PMcp
 1    board of commissioners.  The president shall have the  powers
 2    and duties as specified in Section 12 of this Act.
 3        Candidates   for  president  and  commissioner  shall  be
 4    candidates of established political parties.
 5        If a vacancy in the office of president  or  commissioner
 6    occurs,  other  than  by  expiration  of the president's or a
 7    commissioner's term, the forest preserve  district  board  of
 8    commissioners   shall  declare  that  a  vacancy  exists  and
 9    notification of the vacancy shall  be  given  to  the  county
10    central  committee of each established political party within
11    3 business days after the occurrence of the vacancy.  If  the
12    vacancy  occurs  in  the  office  of forest preserve district
13    commissioner, the president of  the  board  of  commissioners
14    shall, within 60 days after the date of the vacancy, with the
15    advice  and  consent  of  other  commissioners  then serving,
16    appoint a person an individual to serve for the remainder  of
17    the  unexpired  term.  The appointee shall be affiliated with
18    the same political party as the commissioner in whose  office
19    the  vacancy occurred and be a resident of such district.  If
20    a vacancy in the office of president occurs,  other  than  by
21    expiration  of the president's term, the remaining members of
22    the board of commissioners shall, within 60  days  after  the
23    vacancy,  appoint  one  of  the  commissioners  to  serve  as
24    president  for  the  remainder of the unexpired term. In that
25    case, the office of the  commissioner  who  is  appointed  to
26    serve as president shall be deemed vacant and shall be filled
27    within  60  days  by  appointment  of  the president with the
28    advice and consent of  the  other  forest  preserve  district
29    commissioners.   The  commissioner who is appointed to fill a
30    vacancy in the office of president shall be  affiliated  with
31    the  same  political  party  as  the  person who occupied the
32    office of president prior to the vacancy.  A person appointed
33    to fill a vacancy in the office of president or  commissioner
34    shall  establish  his  or her party affiliation by his or her
 
                            -5-               SRS92SB0050PMcp
 1    record of voting in primary elections or by holding or having
 2    held an office in an established political party organization
 3    before the appointment.  If the appointee has not voted in  a
 4    party  primary  election or is not holding or has not held an
 5    office in an established political party organization  before
 6    the  appointment,  the  appointee  shall establish his or her
 7    political  party  affiliation  by  his  or  her   record   of
 8    participating  in an established political party's nomination
 9    or election caucus. If, however, more than 28  months  remain
10    in the unexpired term of a commissioner or the president, the
11    appointment  shall  be  until  the  next general consolidated
12    election, at which time the vacated office of commissioner or
13    president shall be filled by election for  the  remainder  of
14    the  term.  Notwithstanding  any  law  to  the contrary, if a
15    vacancy occurs after the last day provided in Section 7-12 of
16    the Election Code for filing nomination papers for the office
17    of president of a forest preserve district where that  office
18    is  elected  as provided for in this Section, or as set forth
19    in Section 7-61 of the Election Code, a vacancy in nomination
20    shall be filled  by  the  passage  of  a  resolution  by  the
21    nominating  committee  of the affected political party within
22    the  time  periods  specified  in  the  Election  Code.   The
23    nominating committee shall consist of  the  chairman  of  the
24    county  central  committee  and  the township chairmen of the
25    affected political party.  All other vacancies in  nomination
26    shall  be  filled  in  accordance  with the provisions of the
27    Election Code.
28        The  president  and  commissioners  elected  under   this
29    Section  may  be  reimbursed  for  their  reasonable expenses
30    actually incurred in performing their official  duties  under
31    this  Act  in  accordance  with the provisions of Section 3a.
32    The reimbursement paid under this Section shall  be  paid  by
33    the forest preserve district.
34        Compensation  for  forest  preserve commissioners elected
 
                            -6-               SRS92SB0050PMcp
 1    under this Section shall be the same as that of county  board
 2    members   of  the  county  with  which  the  forest  preserve
 3    district's boundaries are co-extensive.
 4    (Source: P.A. 91-933, eff. 12-30-00.)".

 5        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
 6    becoming law.

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