Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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5 ILCS 430/25-50

(5 ILCS 430/25-50)

Sec. 25-50. Investigation reports.

(a) If the Legislative Inspector General, upon the conclusion of an
investigation, determines that reasonable cause exists to believe that a
violation
has occurred, then
the Legislative Inspector General shall issue a summary report of the
investigation. The report shall be delivered to the
appropriate ultimate jurisdictional
authority, to the head of each State
agency
affected by or involved in the investigation, if appropriate, and the member, if any, that is the subject of the report. The appropriate ultimate jurisdictional authority or agency head and the member, if any, that is the subject of the report shall respond to the summary report within 20 days, in writing, to the Legislative Inspector General. If the ultimate jurisdictional authority is the subject of the report, he or she may only respond to the summary report in his or her capacity as the subject of the report and shall not respond in his or her capacity as the ultimate jurisdictional authority. The response shall include a description of any corrective or disciplinary action to be imposed. If the appropriate ultimate jurisdictional authority or the member that is the subject of the report does not respond within 20 days, or within an extended time as agreed to by the Legislative Inspector General, the Legislative Inspector General may proceed under subsection (c) as if a response had been received. A member receiving and responding to a report under this Section shall be deemed to be acting in his or her official capacity.

(b) The summary report of the investigation shall include the following:

(1) A description of any allegations or other

information received by the Legislative Inspector General pertinent to the investigation.

(2) A description of any alleged misconduct

discovered in the course of the investigation.

(3) Recommendations for any corrective or

disciplinary action to be taken in response to any alleged misconduct described in the report, including, but not limited to, discharge.

(4) Other information the Legislative Inspector

General deems relevant to the investigation or resulting recommendations.

(c) Within 30 days after receiving a response from the appropriate ultimate jurisdictional authority or agency head under subsection (a), the Legislative Inspector General shall notify the Commission and the Attorney General if the Legislative Inspector General believes that a complaint should be filed with the Commission. If
 the Legislative Inspector General desires to file a
complaint with the Commission, the Legislative Inspector General shall submit the summary report and supporting documents to
the
Attorney General. If the Attorney General concludes that there is insufficient evidence that a violation has occurred, the Attorney General shall notify the Legislative Inspector General and the Legislative Inspector General shall deliver to the Legislative Ethics Commission a copy of the summary report and response from the ultimate jurisdictional authority or agency head.
If the Attorney General determines
that reasonable cause exists to believe that a violation has occurred, then the
Legislative Inspector
General, represented by the Attorney
General, may file with the Legislative Ethics Commission a complaint.
The complaint shall set
forth the alleged violation and the
grounds that exist to support the complaint. Except as provided under subsection (1.5) of Section 20, the complaint must be filed with the Commission within 12 months after the Legislative Inspector General's receipt of the allegation of the violation or within 18 months after the most recent act of the alleged violation or of a series of alleged violations, whichever is later,
except where there is reasonable cause to believe
that fraudulent concealment has occurred.  To constitute fraudulent concealment
sufficient to toll this limitations period, there must be an affirmative act or
representation calculated to prevent discovery of the fact that a violation has
occurred.
If a complaint is not filed with the Commission
within 6 months after notice by the Inspector General to the Commission and the
Attorney General, then the Commission may set a meeting of the Commission at
which the Attorney General shall appear and provide a status
report to the Commission.

(c-5) Within 30 days after receiving a response from the appropriate ultimate jurisdictional authority or agency head under subsection (a), if the Legislative Inspector General does not believe that a complaint should be filed, the Legislative Inspector General shall deliver to the Legislative Ethics Commission a statement setting forth the basis for the decision not to file a complaint and a copy of the summary report and response from the ultimate jurisdictional authority or agency head. The Inspector General may also submit a redacted version of the summary report and response from the ultimate jurisdictional authority if the Inspector General believes either contains information that, in the opinion of the Inspector General, should be redacted prior to releasing the report, may interfere with an ongoing investigation, or identifies an informant or complainant.

(c-10) If, after reviewing the documents, the Commission believes that further investigation is warranted, the Commission may request that the Legislative Inspector General provide additional information or conduct further investigation. The Commission may also refer the summary report and response from the ultimate jurisdictional authority to the Attorney General for further investigation or review.  If the Commission requests the Attorney General to investigate or review, the Commission must notify the Attorney General and the Legislative Inspector General. The Attorney General may not begin an investigation or review until receipt of notice from the Commission. If, after review, the Attorney General determines that reasonable cause exists to believe that a violation has occurred, then the Attorney General may file a complaint with the Legislative Ethics Commission. If the Attorney General concludes that there is insufficient evidence that a violation has occurred, the Attorney General shall notify the Legislative Ethics Commission and the appropriate Legislative Inspector General.

(d) A copy of the complaint filed with the Legislative Ethics Commission must be served on all respondents named in the
complaint and on each respondent's ultimate jurisdictional authority in
the same manner as process is served under the Code of Civil
Procedure.

(e) A respondent may file objections to the complaint within 30 days after notice of the petition has been
served on the respondent.

(f) The Commission shall meet, at least 30 days after the complaint is served on all respondents either in person or by telephone,
in a closed session to review the sufficiency of the complaint.

The Commission shall
issue notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the Legislative Inspector General, the Attorney General, and all respondents of
the Commission's ruling on the sufficiency of the complaint. If the complaint
is deemed to
sufficiently allege a violation of this Act, then the Commission shall
include a hearing date scheduled within 4 weeks after the date of the notice,
unless all of the parties consent to a later date.
If the complaint is deemed not to sufficiently allege a
violation, then
the Commission shall send by certified mail, return receipt requested,
a notice to the Legislative Inspector General, the Attorney General, and all respondents the decision to dismiss the complaint.

(g) On the scheduled date
the Commission shall conduct a closed meeting,
either in person or, if the parties consent, by telephone, on the complaint and
allow all
parties the opportunity to present testimony and evidence.
All such proceedings shall be transcribed.

(h) Within an appropriate time limit set by rules of the Legislative
Ethics Commission, the Commission shall (i) dismiss the
complaint, (ii) issue a recommendation of discipline to the
respondent and the respondent's ultimate jurisdictional authority, (iii)
impose an administrative fine upon the respondent, (iv) issue injunctive relief as described in Section 50-10, or (v) impose a combination of items (ii) through (iv).

(i) The proceedings on any complaint filed with the Commission
shall be conducted pursuant to rules promulgated by the Commission.

(j) The Commission may designate hearing officers
to conduct proceedings as determined by rule of the Commission.

(k) In all proceedings before the Commission, the standard of
proof is by a preponderance of the evidence.

(l) Within 30 days after the issuance of a final administrative decision that concludes that a violation occurred, the Legislative Ethics Commission shall make public the entire record of proceedings before the Commission, the decision, any recommendation, any discipline imposed, and the response from the agency head or ultimate jurisdictional authority to the Legislative Ethics Commission.

(Source: P.A. 100-588, eff. 6-8-18; 101-221, eff. 8-9-19; 101-617, eff. 12-20-19.)