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.