50 ILCS 705/6

(50 ILCS 705/6) (from Ch. 85, par. 506)

Sec. 6. Powers and duties of the Board; selection and certification of schools. The Board shall select and certify schools within the State of Illinois for the purpose of providing basic training for probationary law enforcement officers, probationary county corrections officers, and court security officers and of providing advanced or in-service training for permanent law enforcement officers or permanent county corrections officers, which schools may be either publicly or privately owned and operated. In addition, the Board has the following power and duties:

a. To require law enforcement agencies to furnish such reports and information as the Board deems necessary to fully implement this Act.

b. To establish appropriate mandatory minimum standards relating to the training of probationary local law enforcement officers or probationary county corrections officers, and in-service training of permanent law enforcement officers.

c. To provide appropriate certification to those probationary officers who successfully complete the prescribed minimum standard basic training course.

d. To review and approve annual training curriculum for county sheriffs.

e. To review and approve applicants to ensure that no applicant is admitted to a certified academy unless the applicant is a person of good character and has not been convicted of, found guilty of, entered a plea of guilty to, or entered a plea of nolo contendere to a felony offense, any of the misdemeanors in Sections 11-1.50, 11-6, 11-6.5, 11-6.6, 11-9.1, 11-9.1B, 11-14, 11-14.1, 11-30, 12-2, 12-3.2, 12-3.4, 12-3.5, 16-1, 17-1, 17-2, 26.5-1, 26.5-2, 26.5-3, 28-3, 29-1, any misdemeanor in violation of any Section of Part E of Title III of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, or subsection (a) of Section 17-32 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, or Section 5 or 5.2 of the Cannabis Control Act, or a crime involving moral turpitude under the laws of this State or any other state which if committed in this State would be punishable as a felony or a crime of moral turpitude, or any felony or misdemeanor in violation of federal law or the law of any state that is the equivalent of any of the offenses specified therein. The Board may appoint investigators who shall enforce the duties conferred upon the Board by this Act.

For purposes of this paragraph e, a person is considered to have been convicted of, found guilty of, or entered a plea of guilty to, plea of nolo contendere to regardless of whether the adjudication of guilt or sentence is withheld or not entered thereon. This includes sentences of supervision, conditional discharge, or first offender probation, or any similar disposition provided for by law.

f. To establish statewide standards for minimum standards regarding regular mental health screenings for probationary and permanent police officers, ensuring that counseling sessions and screenings remain confidential.

g. To review and ensure all law enforcement officers remain in compliance with this Act, and any administrative rules adopted under this Act.

h. To suspend any certificate for a definite period, limit or restrict any certificate, or revoke any certificate.

i. The Board and the Panel shall have power to secure by its subpoena and bring before it any person or entity in this State and to take testimony either orally or by deposition or both with the same fees and mileage and in the same manner as prescribed by law in judicial proceedings in civil cases in circuit courts of this State. The Board and the Panel shall also have the power to subpoena the production of documents, papers, files, books, documents, and records, whether in physical or electronic form, in support of the charges and for defense, and in connection with a hearing or investigation.

j. The Executive Director, the administrative law judge designated by the Executive Director, and each member of the Board and the Panel shall have the power to administer oaths to witnesses at any hearing that the Board is authorized to conduct under this Act and any other oaths required or authorized to be administered by the Board under this Act.

k. In case of the neglect or refusal of any person to obey a subpoena issued by the Board and the Panel, any circuit court, upon application of the Board and the Panel, through the Illinois Attorney General, may order such person to appear before the Board and the Panel give testimony or produce evidence, and any failure to obey such order is punishable by the court as a contempt thereof. This order may be served by personal delivery, by email, or by mail to the address of record or email address of record.

l. The Board shall have the power to administer state certification examinations. Any and all records related to these examinations, including, but not limited to, test questions, test formats, digital files, answer responses, answer keys, and scoring information shall be exempt from disclosure.

m. To make grants, subject to appropriation, to units of local government and public institutions of higher education for the purposes of hiring and retaining law enforcement officers.

n. To make grants, subject to appropriation, to local law enforcement agencies for costs associated with the expansion and support of National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) and other ballistic technology equipment for ballistic testing.

(Source: P.A. 102-687, eff. 12-17-21; 102-694, eff. 1-7-22; 102-1115, eff. 1-9-23; 103-8, eff. 6-7-23.)