Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

Updating the database of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) is an ongoing process. Recent laws may not yet be included in the ILCS database, but they are found on this site as Public Acts soon after they become law. For information concerning the relationship between statutes and Public Acts, refer to the Guide.

Because the statute database is maintained primarily for legislative drafting purposes, statutory changes are sometimes included in the statute database before they take effect. If the source note at the end of a Section of the statutes includes a Public Act that has not yet taken effect, the version of the law that is currently in effect may have already been removed from the database and you should refer to that Public Act to see the changes made to the current law.

65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-17

(65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-17) (from Ch. 24, par. 10-2.1-17)

Sec. 10-2.1-17.

Removal or discharge; investigation of charges;
retirement.  Except as hereinafter provided, no officer or member of the fire
or police department of any municipality subject to this Division 2.1 shall be
removed or discharged except for cause, upon written charges, and after an
opportunity to be heard in his own defense.
The hearing shall be as hereinafter provided, unless the employer and the
labor organization representing the person have negotiated an alternative or
supplemental form of due process based upon impartial arbitration as a term of
a collective bargaining agreement.  Such
						
						bargaining shall be mandatory unless the parties mutually agree otherwise.  Any such alternative agreement shall be permissive.

If the chief of the fire department or the chief of the police department or
both of them are appointed in the manner provided by ordinance, they may be
removed or discharged by the appointing authority.  In such case the appointing
authority shall file with the corporate authorities the reasons for such
removal or discharge, which removal or discharge shall not become effective
unless confirmed by a majority vote of the corporate authorities.  The board of
fire and police commissioners shall conduct a fair and impartial hearing of
the charges, to be commenced within 30 days of the filing thereof, which
hearing may be continued from time to time.  In case an officer or member
is found guilty, the board may discharge him, or may suspend him not
exceeding 30 days without pay.  The board may suspend any officer or
member pending the hearing with or without pay, but not to exceed 30
days.  If the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners determines that the
charges are not sustained, the officer or member shall be reimbursed for
all wages withheld, if any.  In the conduct of this hearing, each member
of the board shall have power to administer oaths and affirmations, and
the board shall have power to secure by its subpoena both the attendance
and testimony of witnesses and the production of books and papers
relevant to the hearing.

The age for retirement of policemen or firemen in the service of any
municipality which adopts this Division 2.1 is 65 years, unless the
Council or Board of Trustees shall by ordinance provide for an earlier
retirement age of not less than 60 years.

The provisions of the Administrative Review Law, and all amendments and
modifications thereof, and the rules
adopted pursuant thereto, shall apply to and govern all proceedings for
the judicial review of final administrative decisions of the board of
fire and police commissioners hereunder.  The term "administrative
decision" is defined as in Section 3-101 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prevent the chief of
the fire department or the chief of the police department from
suspending without pay a member of his  department for a period of not
more than 5 calendar days, but he  shall notify the board in writing of such
suspension.
The hearing shall be as hereinafter provided, unless the employer and the
labor organization representing the person have negotiated an alternative or
supplemental form of due process based upon impartial arbitration as a term of
a collective bargaining agreement.  Such
						
bargaining shall be 
						mandatory unless the parties mutually agree otherwise.  Any such alternative agreement shall be permissive.

Any policeman or fireman so suspended may appeal to the board of fire and
police commissioners for a review of the suspension within 5 calendar days
after such suspension, and upon such appeal, the board may sustain the action
of the chief of the department, may reverse it with instructions that the man
receive his  pay for the period involved, or may suspend the officer for an
additional period of not more than 30 days or discharge him, depending upon
the facts presented.

(Source: P.A. 95-356, eff. 8-23-07.)