HB1264 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 24865 RJT 51198 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB1264

Introduced 1/31/2023, by Rep. Maurice A. West, II

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

110 ILCS 805/3-7	from Ch. 122, par. 103-7
110 ILCS 805/3-7d new

Amends the Public Community College Act. Provides for the election of board of trustee members by trustee district rather than at large in community college districts with a population of 300,000 or more inhabitants, other than specified community college districts, and in those community college districts with a population under 300,000 inhabitants whose board approves the election of board members by trustee district by a three-fifths majority vote. Makes related changes. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning education.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Public Community College Act is amended by changing Section 3-7 and by adding Section 3-7d as follows:

(110 ILCS 805/3-7) (from Ch. 122, par. 103-7)

Sec. 3-7. (a) The election of the members of the board of trustees shall be nonpartisan and shall be held at the time and in the manner provided in the general election law.

(b) Unless otherwise provided in this Act, members shall be elected to serve 6 year terms. The term of members elected in 1985 and thereafter shall be from the date the member is officially determined to be elected to the board by a canvass conducted pursuant to the Election Code, to the date that the winner of the seat is officially determined by the canvass conducted pursuant to the Election Code the next time the seat on the board is to be filled by election.

(c) Each member must on the date of his election be a citizen of the United States, of the age of 18 years or over, and a resident of the State and the territory which on the date of the election is included in the community college district for at least one year immediately preceding his election. In Community College District No. 526, each member elected at the consolidated election in 2005 or thereafter must also be a resident of the trustee district he or she represents for at least one year immediately preceding his or her election, except that in the first consolidated election for each trustee district following reapportionment, a candidate for the board may be elected from any trustee district that contains a part of the trustee district in which he or she resided at the time of the reapportionment and may be reelected if a resident of the new trustee district he or she represents for one year prior to reelection. In each community college district with a population of 300,000 or more inhabitants within the district, other than Community College District No. 522, Community College District No. 526, or a community college district subject to Article VII, and in any community college district with a population under 300,000 inhabitants within the district whose board has approved the election of board members by trustee district under Section 3-7d, each member elected at the consolidated election in 2025 or thereafter must also be a resident of the trustee district he or she represents for at least one year immediately preceding his or her election, except that in the first consolidated election for each trustee district following reapportionment by the board, a candidate for the board may be elected from any trustee district that contains a part of the trustee district in which he or she resided at the time of the reapportionment and may be reelected if a resident of the new trustee district he or she represents for one year prior to reelection.

In the event a person who is a member of a common school board is elected or appointed to a board of trustees of a community college district, that person shall be permitted to serve the remainder of his or her term of office as a member of the common school board. Upon the expiration of the common school board term, that person shall not be eligible for election or appointment to a common school board during the term of office with the community college district board of trustees.

(d) Whenever a vacancy occurs, the remaining members shall fill the vacancy, and the person so appointed shall serve until a successor is elected to serve the remainder of the unexpired term at the next regular election for board members and is certified in accordance with Sections 22-17 and 22-18 of the Election Code. If the remaining members fail so to act within 60 days after the vacancy occurs, the chairman of the State Board shall fill that vacancy, and the person so appointed shall serve until a successor is elected to serve the remainder of the unexpired term at the next regular election for board members and is certified in accordance with Sections 22-17 and 22-18 of the Election Code. The person appointed to fill the vacancy shall have the same residential qualifications as his predecessor in office was required to have. In either instance, if the vacancy occurs with less than 4 months remaining before the next scheduled consolidated election, and the term of office of the board member vacating the position is not scheduled to expire at that election, then the term of the person so appointed shall extend through that election and until the succeeding consolidated election. If the term of office of the board member vacating the position is scheduled to expire at the upcoming consolidated election, the appointed member shall serve only until a successor is elected and qualified at that election.

(e) Members of the board shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for their reasonable expenses incurred in connection with their service as members. Compensation, for purposes of this Section, means any salary or other benefits not expressly authorized by this Act to be provided or paid to, for or on behalf of members of the board. The board of each community college district may adopt a policy providing for the issuance of bank credit cards, for use by any board member who requests the same in writing and agrees to use the card only for the reasonable expenses which he or she incurs in connection with his or her service as a board member. Expenses charged to such credit cards shall be accounted for separately and shall be submitted to the chief financial officer of the district for review prior to being reported to the board at its next regular meeting.

(f) The ballot for the election of members of the board for a community college district shall indicate the length of term for each office to be filled. In the election of a board for any community college district, the ballot shall not contain any political party designation.

(Source: P.A. 100-273, eff. 8-22-17; 100-884, eff. 1-1-19.)

(110 ILCS 805/3-7d new)

Sec. 3-7d. Trustee districts beginning with the 2025 consolidated election. Beginning with the consolidated election in 2025, the election of board members shall be by trustee district rather than at large in each community college district with a population of 300,000 or more inhabitants within the district, other than in Community College District No. 522, Community College District No. 526, or a community college district subject to Article VII, and in any community college district with a population under 300,000 inhabitants within the district whose board approves the election of board members by trustee district by a three-fifths majority vote as follows:

(1) In 2025, before the next consolidated election if that year is an election year, the board shall divide the community college district into 7 trustee districts, each of which shall be compact, contiguous, and substantially equal in population to each other trustee district. The division of the community college district into trustee districts must be completed and formally approved by a majority of the members of the board.

(2) For each at-large seat on the board that is to be filled by election in 2025 or thereafter, the seat shall instead be filled by a trustee elected from a trustee district. The board shall determine which trustee district seat is to replace which at-large seat by lot.

(3) In the year following each decennial census after 2025, before the next consolidated election if that year is an election year, the board shall reapportion the trustee districts to reflect the results of the census and shall divide the community college district into 7 trustee districts, each of which shall be compact, contiguous, and substantially equal in population to each other trustee district. The reapportionment must be completed and formally approved by a majority of the members of the board. At the same meeting of the board, the board shall, publicly by lot, divide the trustee districts into 2 groups. Four trustees or their successors from one group shall be elected for successive terms of 4 years and 6 years, and 3 trustees or their successors from the second group shall be elected for successive terms of 6 years and 4 years. One member shall be elected from each such trustee district.

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