Section 626.5  Ethics Commission Members and Terms of Office

a)         The Office of the Comptroller's Ethics Commission (Ethics Commission) shall consist of seven commissioners appointed by the Comptroller of the State of Illinois.  No more than four of the seven appointees shall be of the same political party (see 5 ILCS 425/45).

b)         The initial appointees to the Ethics Commission as Commissioners shall be divided into two groups.  The Commissioners of the first group shall serve two-year terms, and the Commissioners of the second group shall serve one-year terms. Thereafter, Commissioners shall be appointed to two-year terms. Commissioners may be reappointed to serve subsequent terms.

Section 626.10  Meetings of the Commission

a)         Ethics Commission meetings shall be held each January and throughout the year as needed.

b)         The Chairperson or any two members of the Ethics Commission may call a Special Meeting of the Ethics Commission.

c)         The regular meetings of the Ethics Commission shall be held at Springfield, Illinois, or such other place as designated by the Chairperson.  The Chairperson shall designate the place of Special Meetings.

d)         Notice of a meeting shall be transmitted to the members not less than five business days prior to any session of the Ethics Commission.

e)         For the purposes of public notice, such notice to the public shall be posted at 325 West Adams, Springfield, Illinois, and at the Office of the Comptroller at 100 West Randolph, Suite 15-500 in Chicago, Illinois.  Such public notice of meetings shall be posted at least 24 hours prior to the date and time of the meeting.

f)         A quorum of the Ethics Commission shall consist of four members of the Ethics Commission.  Official action of the Ethics Commission shall require the affirmative vote of four members of the Ethics Commission.

g)         The Ethics Commission may nominate one of its members as Secretary of the Ethics Commission, or the Ethics Commission may designate a staff employee of the Office of the Comptroller  as Secretary of the Ethics Commission or contract with an individual to perform the duties of Secretary of the Ethics Commission.

h)         Voting shall be by voice vote and shall be recorded by the Secretary.

Section 626.20  Committees

The members of the Ethics Commission, by resolution, may create one or more committees and appoint members of the Ethics Commission or others to serve on the Committees. Each Committee shall have three or more members who shall serve at the pleasure of the Ethics Commission.  Unless the guidelines issued by the Commission when it creates the Committee requires a greater number, a majority of any Committee shall constitute a quorum, and any action shall require the affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the Committee.  A Committee may make recommendations to the Ethics Commission by unanimous consent, in writing, without a meeting, or subject to this Part.  A Committee, by a majority vote of its members, shall determine the time and place of meetings and notice required for the meeting.  A Committee shall be limited in its scope to such matters as specifically referred to it by the members of the Ethics Commission, and it shall take no action inconsistent with that direction nor consider any other matters, other than those matters given to it by the Ethics Commission.

Section 626.30  Informal Action by Committee Members

An action may be taken without a meeting if a consent in writing, setting forth the action so taken, is signed by all of the Committee members with respect to the subject matter.    All approvals of the action taken and evidencing consent for the action shall be delivered to the Secretary to be placed in the Ethics Commission records.

Section 626.40  Telephonic Meetings

Members may attend meetings by telephone or video conference, so long as at least three of the members of the Ethics Commission are physically present at the time and place designated for the meeting.  Members should notify the Chairperson, or the Chairperson's designee, of their intentions as to attendance.  Members of any Committee of the Ethics Commission may participate and act at any meeting of the Ethics Commission through the use of a conference telephone or video communications equipment, by means of which all persons participating in such meeting shall constitute attendance.  For a Committee Meeting, there is no requirement of physical presence.

Section 626.50  Presumption of Assent

A member of the Ethics Commission or a member of a Committee who is present at a meeting of either the Ethics Commission or a Committee at which action on any matter is taken shall be conclusively presumed to have assented to the action, unless his or her dissent is entered in the  minutes of the meeting or unless he or she files written dissent to the action with the person acting as the Secretary of the meeting before adjournment, or shall forward his or her dissent to the Secretary immediately after the adjournment of the meeting.

Section 626.60  Resignations, Removals and Vacancies

a)         Any member of the Ethics Commission may resign at any time by giving written notice to the members of the Ethics Commission and the Comptroller.  The resignation shall take effect at the time specified in the notice and, unless tendered to take effect upon acceptance, the acceptance of the resignation shall not be necessary to make it effective.

b)         The Comptroller may remove a Commissioner in case of incompetency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.  The charges against a Commissioner shall be in writing and shall be served on the Commissioner by certified mail, return receipt requested.  The Commissioner so charged shall have 10 business days after the receipt of the charges to request an opportunity to be heard and respond to the charges in person or by counsel.  A hearing requested by a Commissioner so charged shall be held not less than 10 business days after the request for a hearing on the charges is received.

c)         The Comptroller shall fill any vacancy occurring in the membership of the Ethics Commission for the completion of the term of the vacant position.

Section 626.70  Officers of the Commission

a)         The Commission shall annually elect from among the Commissioners a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and a Secretary.

b)         The Chairperson, subject to the control of the Ethics Commission, shall in general supervise the business and affairs of the Ethics Commission and shall see that resolutions and directions of the Ethics Commission are carried into effect except when that responsibility is specifically assigned to some other person by the Ethics Commission. The Chairperson shall preside at all meetings of the Ethics Commission.

c)         In the absence of the Chairperson, or in the event of the Chairperson's inability or refusal to act, the Vice Chairperson shall perform the duties of the Chairperson and, when so acting, shall have all the authority of and be subject to all the restrictions upon the Chairperson.

d)         The Secretary shall:

1)         keep the minutes of the proceedings of the Ethics Commission;

2)         ensure that the Ethics Commission's records are maintained by the Comptroller's Office;

3)         in general, perform all such duties incident to the position of Secretary and such other duties as from time to time may be prescribed by the Chairperson or the Ethics Commission.

Section 626.80  Conflict of Interest

In the event that a member of the Ethics Commission believes that he or she has a conflict of interest with respect to any matter brought before the Ethics Commission or for any other reason, that member shall advise the Ethics Commission of the material facts of any transaction in which the member may have an interest or any relationship the member believes may create a conflict.  If the members of the Ethics Commission believe that the situation constitutes a conflict of interest, then the member shall abstain from voting on the issue. The abstention from voting by the member shall not alter the requirement that four votes are necessary for the Ethics Commission to take official action.