Public Act 096-1349
 
HB4846 EnrolledLRB096 16807 RLJ 32114 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 Fire Protection District Act is amended  by 
changing Section 4.01 and adding Section 4.04 as follows:
 



    (70 ILCS 705/4.01)  (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 24.01)



    Sec. 4.01. Five-member boards. 

    (a) Any appointed board of trustees of a fire protection 
district may
provide for the establishment of a 5-member board 
of trustees by adopting
an ordinance to that effect.  An 
appointed board of trustees shall also be
increased to a 
5-member board upon the adoption of a proposition to
increase 
the board as provided in subsection (b) of this Section. When 
such
an ordinance or proposition has been adopted, the 
appropriate appointing
authority shall, within 60 days of the 
date of the adoption of the
ordinance or proposition, appoint 2 
additional trustees to the board of
trustees, one to hold 
office for 2 years and one to hold office for 3 years
from the 
first Monday of May next after their appointment and until 
their
successors are appointed and have qualified.  The lengths 
of the terms of
these 2 additional members shall be determined 
by lot at the first meeting
of the board of trustees held after 
the 2 additional members take office.
The 3 trustees already 
holding office in the district shall continue to
hold office 
for the remainder of their respective terms.  Thereafter, on or

before the second Monday in April of each year the appropriate 
appointing
authority shall appoint one trustee or 2 trustees, 
as shall be necessary to
maintain a 5-member board of trustees, 
whose terms shall be for 3 years
commencing the first Monday in 
May of the year in which they are
respectively appointed.

    (b) Upon presentation to an elected or appointed 3-member 
board
of trustees of a petition, signed by not less than 5% of 
the electors of
the district governed by the board, requesting 
that a proposition to
increase the board of trustees to a 
5-member board be submitted to the
electors of the district, 
the secretary of the board of trustees shall
certify the 
proposition to the appropriate election authorities who shall

submit the proposition at a regular election in accordance with 
the general
election law.  The general election law shall apply 
to and govern the
election. The proposition shall be in 
substantially the following form:

-------------------------------------------------------------

    "Shall the number of trustees         YES

of the Fire Protection District be   ------------------------

increased from 3 to 5?"                   NO

-------------------------------------------------------------

    If a majority of the votes cast on the proposition are in 
the
affirmative, the board of trustees of the district shall 
thereafter be
increased to a 5-member board and the 2 
additional trustees shall be
elected or appointed as provided 
by this Section.

    (c) Any appointed board of trustees of a fire protection 
district
that has established a 5-member board of trustees by 
ordinance under
subsection (a) may provide for a return to a 
3-member board of trustees by
adopting an ordinance to that 
effect.  The terms of the 5 persons serving
on the board at the 
time of the adoption of the ordinance shall be
terminated upon 
the adoption of the ordinance, except that they shall
continue 
to serve until the 3-member board under this subsection (c) has

been selected and qualified.  The appropriate appointing 
authority shall
appoint the 3-member board within 60 days after 
the adoption of the
ordinance.  The appointments shall be made 
under Section 4.  Persons
serving on the 5-member board shall be 
eligible for appointment to the
3-member board under this 
subsection (c).

    (d) Beginning on August 17, 1990, and ending 3 years after 
that date, in
the case of a fire protection district board of 
trustees in a county with a
population of more than 400,000 but 
less than 450,000, according to the 1980
general census, 
created under Section 4, subsection (a), paragraph (3) of
this 
Act that has established a 5-member board of trustees under 
this
Section a petition for the redress of a trustee, charging 
the trustee with
palpable omission of duty or nonfeasance in 
office, signed by not less than
5% of the electors of the 
district may be presented to the township
supervisor or the 
presiding officer of the county board, as appropriate.
Upon 
receipt of the petition, the township supervisor or presiding 
officer
of the county board, as appropriate, shall preside over 
a hearing on the
matter of the requested redress.  The hearing 
shall be held not less than
14 nor more than 30 days after 
receipt of the petition.  In the case of a
fire protection 
district trustee appointed by the presiding officer of the

county board, the presiding officer shall appoint at least 4 
but not more
than 8 members of the county board, a majority of 
whom shall reside in a county
board district in which the fire 
protection district is wholly or partially
located, to serve as 
the hearing panel.  In the case of a fire protection
district 
trustee appointed by the board of town trustees, the township

supervisor and 2 other town trustees appointed by the 
supervisor shall
serve as the hearing panel.  Within 30 days 
after the hearing,
the panel shall issue a statement of its 
findings concerning the charges
against the trustee, based upon 
the evidence presented at the hearing, and
may make to the fire 
protection district any recommendations deemed
appropriate.

    (e) In a district governed by an elected or appointed 
5-member board, upon presentation of a petition, signed by not 
less than 5% of the electors of the district governed by the 
board, requesting that a proposition to decrease the board of 
trustees to a 3-member board be submitted to the electors of 
the district, the secretary of the board of trustees shall 
certify the proposition to the appropriate election 
authorities who shall submit the proposition at a regular 
election in accordance with the general election law. The 
general election law shall apply to and govern the election. 
    The election authority must submit the question in 
substantially the following form:
        Shall the number of trustees of the fire protection 
    district be decreased from 5 to 3 members?
The election authority must record the votes as "Yes" or "No".
    If a majority of the votes cast on the proposition are in 
the affirmative, the board of trustees of the district shall be 
decreased to a 3-member board. The terms of the 5 persons 
serving on the board at the time of the reduction of the number 
of members to 3 shall terminate upon certification of the 
election results, except that they shall continue to serve 
until the 3-member board is appointed and qualified or elected 
and qualified.
    In the case of an appointed board, the appointing authority 
shall within 60 days after the certification of the election 
results, appoint 3 trustees to the board with terms starting 
the first Monday in May next following the election where the 
decrease in the board's size is approved. The terms of the 
appointed trustees shall be determined by lot at the first 
board meeting following the election. One trustee shall have a 
term of 3 years, one trustee shall have a term of 2 years, and 
one trustee shall have a term of one year. Thereafter, all 
terms shall be for 3 years.
    In the case of an elected board, 3 trustees shall be 
elected at the next election at which fire protection district 
trustees are to be elected under the general election law. The 
terms of the trustees shall be determined by lot at the first 
board meeting following the election. One elected trustee shall 
have a term of 6 years, one trustee shall have a term of 4 
years, and one trustee shall have a term of 2 years. 
Thereafter, the terms of all elected trustees shall be 6 years. 
(Source: P.A. 86-1179; 87-712.)

 
    (70 ILCS 705/4.04 new)
    Sec. 4.04. Change from a 7-member board to a 5-member or 
3-member board. In a district governed by an elected or 
appointed 7-member board, upon presentation of a petition, 
signed by not less than 5% of the electors of the district 
governed by the board, requesting that a proposition to 
decrease the board of trustees to a 5-member or 3-member board 
be submitted to the electors of the district, the secretary of 
the board of trustees shall certify the proposition to the 
appropriate election authorities who shall submit the 
proposition at a regular election in accordance with the 
general election law. The general election law shall apply to 
and govern the election.
    The election authority must submit the question in 
substantially the following form:
        Shall the number of trustees of the fire protection 
    district be decreased from 7 to (5 or 3) members?
The election authority must record the votes as "Yes" or "No".
    If a majority of the votes cast on the proposition are in 
the affirmative, the board of trustees of the district shall be 
decreased to a 5-member or 3-member board, as applicable. The 
terms of the 7 persons serving on the board at the time of the 
reduction of the number of members to 5 or 3 shall terminate 
upon certification of the election results, except that they 
shall continue to serve until the 5-member or 3-member board is 
appointed and qualified or elected and qualified.
    In the case of an appointed board, the appointing authority 
shall within 60 days after the certification of the election 
results, appoint 3 or 5 trustees, as the case may be, to the 
board of trustees with terms starting the first Monday in May 
next following the election where the decrease in the board's 
size is approved. The terms of the appointed trustees shall be 
determined by lot at the first board meeting following the 
election. In the case of a 5-member board, 2 trustees shall 
have a 3-year term, 2 trustees shall have a 2-year term, and 
one trustee shall have a one-year term. In the case of a 
3-member board, one trustee shall have a 3-year term, one 
trustee shall have a 2-year term, and one trustee shall have a 
one-year term. Thereafter, all terms shall be for 3 years.
    In the case of an elected board, 3 or 5 trustees shall be 
elected at the next election at which fire protection district 
trustees are to be elected under the general election law. The 
terms of the trustees shall be determined by lot at the first 
board meeting following the election. In the case of a 5-member 
board, 2 elected trustees shall have a 2-year term, 2 trustees 
shall have a 4-year term, and one trustee shall have a 6-year 
term. In the case of a 3-member board, one elected trustee 
shall have a 6-year term, one trustee shall have a 4-year term, 
and one trustee shall have a 2-year term. Thereafter, the terms 
of all elected trustees shall be 6 years. 
 
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.