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Public Act 92-0533
HB0148 Enrolled LRB9201397MWpk
AN ACT concerning police officers.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Illinois Police Training Act is amended
by changing Section 8.2 and by adding Section 10.2 as
follows:
(50 ILCS 705/8.2)
Sec. 8.2. Part-time police officers.
(a) A person hired to serve as a part-time police
officer must obtain from the Board a certificate (i)
attesting to his or her successful completion of the
part-time police training course; (ii) attesting to his or
her satisfactory completion of a training program of similar
content and number of hours that has been found acceptable by
the Board under the provisions of this Act; or (iii)
attesting to the Board's determination that the part-time
police training course is unnecessary because of the person's
extensive prior law enforcement experience. A person hired on
or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the
92nd General Assembly must obtain this certificate within 18
months after the initial date of hire as a probationary
part-time police officer in the State of Illinois. The
probationary part-time police officer must be enrolled and
accepted into a Board-approved course within 6 months after
active employment by any department in the State. A person
hired on or after January 1, 1996 and before the effective
date of this amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly must
obtain this certificate within 18 months after the date of
hire. A person hired before January 1, 1996 must obtain this
certificate within 24 months after the effective date of this
amendatory Act of 1995.
The employing agency may seek a waiver from the Board
extending the period for compliance. A waiver shall be
issued only for good and justifiable reasons, and the
probationary part-time police officer may not practice as a
part-time police officer during the waiver period and may not
extend the initial period by more than 90 days. If training
is required and not completed within the applicable time
period, as extended by any waiver that may be granted, then
the officer must forfeit his or her position.
(b) (Blank).
(c) The part-time police training course referred to in
this Section shall be of similar content and the same number
of hours as the courses for full-time officers and shall be
provided by Mobile Team In-Service Training Units under the
Intergovernmental Law Enforcement Officer's In-Service
Training Act or by another approved program or facility in a
manner prescribed by the Board.
(d) For the purposes of this Section, the Board shall
adopt rules defining what constitutes employment on a
part-time basis.
(Source: P.A. 89-170, eff. 1-1-96; 90-271, eff. 7-30-97.)
(50 ILCS 705/10.2 new)
Sec. 10.2. Criminal background investigations.
(a) On and after the effective date of this amendatory
Act of the 92nd General Assembly, an applicant for employment
as a peace officer shall authorize an investigation to
determine if the applicant has been convicted of any criminal
offense that disqualifies the person as a peace officer.
(b) No law enforcement agency may knowingly employ a
person unless (i) a criminal background investigation of that
person has been completed and (ii) that investigation reveals
no convictions of offenses specified in subsection (a) of
Section 6.1 of this Act.
Section 10. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by
changing Section 10-2.1-6 as follows:
(65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-6) (from Ch. 24, par. 10-2.1-6)
Sec. 10-2.1-6. Examination of applicants;
disqualifications.
(a) All applicants for a position in either the fire or
police department of the municipality shall be under 35 years
of age, shall be subject to an examination that shall be
public, competitive, and open to all applicants (unless the
council or board of trustees by ordinance limit applicants to
electors of the municipality, county, state or nation) and
shall be subject to reasonable limitations as to residence,
health, habits, and moral character. The municipality may
not charge or collect any fee from an applicant who has met
all prequalification standards established by the
municipality for any such position.
(b) Residency requirements in effect at the time an
individual enters the fire or police service of a
municipality (other than a municipality that has more than
1,000,000 inhabitants) cannot be made more restrictive for
that individual during his period of service for that
municipality, or be made a condition of promotion, except for
the rank or position of Fire or Police Chief.
(c) No person with a record of misdemeanor convictions
except those under Sections 11-6, 11-7, 11-9, 11-14, 11-15,
11-17, 11-18, 11-19, 12-2, 12-6, 12-15, 14-4, 16-1, 21.1-3,
24-3.1, 24-5, 25-1, 28-3, 31-1, 31-4, 31-6, 31-7, 32-1, 32-2,
32-3, 32-4, 32-8, and subsections (1), (6) and (8) of Section
24-1 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or arrested for any cause
but not convicted on that cause shall be disqualified from
taking the examination to qualify for a position in the fire
department on grounds of habits or moral character.
(d) The age limitation in subsection (a) does not apply
(i) to any person previously employed as a policeman or
fireman in a regularly constituted police or fire department
of (I) any municipality or (II) a fire protection district
whose obligations were assumed by a municipality under
Section 21 of the Fire Protection District Act, (ii) to any
person who has served a municipality as a regularly enrolled
volunteer fireman for 5 years immediately preceding the time
that municipality begins to use full time firemen to provide
all or part of its fire protection service, or (iii) to any
person who has served as an auxiliary policeman under Section
3.1-30-20 for at least 5 years and is under 40 years of age,
or (iv) to any person who has served as a deputy under
Section 3-6008 of the Counties Code and otherwise meets
necessary training requirements.
(e) Applicants who are 20 years of age and who have
successfully completed 2 years of law enforcement studies at
an accredited college or university may be considered for
appointment to active duty with the police department. An
applicant described in this subsection (e) who is appointed
to active duty shall not have power of arrest, nor shall the
applicant be permitted to carry firearms, until he or she
reaches 21 years of age.
(f) Applicants who are 18 years of age and who have
successfully completed 2 years of study in fire techniques,
amounting to a total of 4 high school credits, within the
cadet program of a municipality may be considered for
appointment to active duty with the fire department of any
municipality.
(g) The council or board of trustees may by ordinance
provide that persons residing outside the municipality are
eligible to take the examination.
(h) The examinations shall be practical in character and
relate to those matters that will fairly test the capacity of
the persons examined to discharge the duties of the positions
to which they seek appointment. No person shall be appointed
to the police or fire department if he or she does not
possess a high school diploma or an equivalent high school
education. A board of fire and police commissioners may, by
its rules, require police applicants to have obtained an
associate's degree or a bachelor's degree as a prerequisite
for employment. The examinations shall include tests of
physical qualifications and health. No person shall be
appointed to the police or fire department if he or she has
suffered the amputation of any limb unless the applicant's
duties will be only clerical or as a radio operator. No
applicant shall be examined concerning his or her political
or religious opinions or affiliations. The examinations
shall be conducted by the board of fire and police
commissioners of the municipality as provided in this
Division 2.1.
(i) No person who is classified by his local selective
service draft board as a conscientious objector, or who has
ever been so classified, may be appointed to the police
department.
(j) No person shall be appointed to the police or fire
department unless he or she is a person of good character and
not an habitual drunkard, gambler, or a person who has been
convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude.
No person, however, shall be disqualified from appointment to
the fire department because of his or her record of
misdemeanor convictions except those under Sections 11-6,
11-7, 11-9, 11-14, 11-15, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, 12-2, 12-6,
12-15, 14-4, 16-1, 21.1-3, 24-3.1, 24-5, 25-1, 28-3, 31-1,
31-4, 31-6, 31-7, 32-1, 32-2, 32-3, 32-4, 32-8, and
subsections (1), (6) and (8) of Section 24-1 of the Criminal
Code of 1961 or arrest for any cause without conviction on
that cause. Any such person who is in the department may be
removed on charges brought and after a trial as provided in
this Division 2.1.
(Source: P.A. 89-52, eff. 6-30-95; 90-445, eff. 8-16-97;
90-481, eff. 8-17-97; 90-655, eff. 7-30-98.)
Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
Section 8.25 as follows:
(30 ILCS 805/8.25 new)
Sec. 8.25. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6
and 8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required
for the implementation of any mandate created by this
amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.
Passed in the General Assembly January 09, 2002.
Approved March 14, 2002.
Effective March 14, 2002.
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