Public Act 102-0065
 
HB0410 EnrolledLRB102 02728 AWJ 12731 b


  
    AN ACT concerning local government.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  



 
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended  by 
changing Section 1-2.1-4 as follows:
 



    (65 ILCS 5/1-2.1-4)



    Sec. 1-2.1-4. Code hearing units; powers of hearing 
officers. 

    (a) An ordinance establishing a system of administrative 
adjudication,
pursuant to this Division, shall provide for a 
code hearing unit within an
existing agency or as a separate 
agency in the municipal government.  The
ordinance shall 
establish the jurisdiction of a code hearing unit that is

consistent with this Division.  The "jurisdiction" of a code 
hearing unit
refers to the particular code violations that it 
may adjudicate.

    (b) Adjudicatory hearings shall be presided over by 
hearing officers. The
powers and duties of a hearing officer 
shall include:


        (1) hearing testimony and accepting evidence that is 
    relevant to the
existence of the code violation;


        (2) issuing subpoenas directing witnesses to appear 
    and give relevant
testimony at the hearing, upon the 
    request of the parties or their
representatives;


        (3) preserving and authenticating the record of the 
    hearing and all
exhibits and evidence introduced at the 
    hearing;


        (4) issuing a determination, based on the evidence 
    presented at the
hearing, of whether a code violation 
    exists.  The determination shall be in
writing and shall 
    include a written finding of fact, decision, and order

    including the fine, penalty, or action with which the 
    defendant must
comply; and


        (5) imposing penalties consistent with applicable code 
    provisions and
assessing costs upon finding a party liable 
    for the charged violation, except,
however, that in no 
    event shall the hearing officer have authority to (i)

    impose a
penalty of incarceration, or (ii) impose a fine 
    in excess of $50,000, or at
the option of
the 
    municipality, such other amount not to exceed the maximum

    amount established by the Mandatory Arbitration System as 
    prescribed by the
Rules of the Illinois Supreme Court from 
    time to time for the judicial circuit
in
which the 
    municipality is located.
The maximum monetary fine under 
    this item (5), shall be exclusive of costs of
enforcement 
    or costs imposed to secure compliance with the 
    municipality's
ordinances and shall not be applicable to 
    cases to enforce the collection of
any tax imposed and 
    collected by the municipality.

    (c) Prior to conducting administrative adjudication 
proceedings,
administrative hearing officers shall have 
successfully completed a formal
training program which 
includes the following:


        (1) instruction on the rules of procedure of the 
    administrative hearings
which they will conduct;


        (2) orientation to each subject area of the code 
    violations that they will
adjudicate;


        (3) observation of administrative hearings; and


        (4) participation in hypothetical cases, including 
    ruling on evidence and
issuing final orders.

    In addition, every administrative hearing officer must
be 
an attorney licensed to practice law in
the State of Illinois 
for at least 3 years. A person who has served as a judge in 
Illinois is not required to fulfill the requirements of items 
(1) through (4) of this subsection.

    (d) A proceeding before a code hearing unit shall be 
instituted upon the
filing of a written pleading by an 
authorized official of the municipality.

(Source: P.A. 90-516, eff. 1-1-98.)

 
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.