|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | AN ACT concerning local government.
| |||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| |||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
| |||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Section 5. The Fire Protection District Act is amended by | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | changing Section 16.13b as follows:
| |||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | (70 ILCS 705/16.13b) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 37.13b)
| |||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Sec. 16.13b. Unless the employer and a labor organization | |||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | have agreed
to a contract provision providing for final and | |||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | binding arbitration of
disputes concerning the existence of | |||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | just cause for disciplinary action,
no officer or member of the | |||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | fire department of any protection district who
has held that | |||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | position for one year shall be removed or discharged
except for | |||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | just cause, upon written charges specifying the
complainant and | |||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | the basis for the charges, and after a hearing on those
charges | |||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | before the board of fire commissioners, affording the officer | |||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | or
member an opportunity to be heard in his own defense. In | |||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | such case the
board of fire commissioners
appointing authority | |||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | shall notify
file with the board of trustees of the reasons for
| |||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | such removal or discharge, which removal or discharge shall not | |||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | become
effective unless confirmed by a majority vote of the | |||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | board of trustees.
If written charges are brought against an | |||||||||||||||||||
| 22 | officer or member,
the board of fire commissioners shall | |||||||||||||||||||
| 23 | conduct a fair and impartial hearing
of the charges, to be | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | commenced within 30 days of the filing thereof, which
hearing | ||||||
| 2 | may be continued from time to time. The Chief of the department
| ||||||
| 3 | shall bear the burden of proving the guilt of the officer or | ||||||
| 4 | member by a
preponderance of the evidence. In case an officer | ||||||
| 5 | or member is found
guilty, the board may discharge him, or may | ||||||
| 6 | suspend him not exceeding 30
calendar days without pay. The | ||||||
| 7 | board may suspend any officer or member
pending the hearing | ||||||
| 8 | with or without pay, but in no event shall the
suspension | ||||||
| 9 | pending hearing and the ultimate suspension imposed on the
| ||||||
| 10 | officer or member, if any, exceed 30 calendar days without pay | ||||||
| 11 | in the
aggregate. If the board of fire commissioners determines | ||||||
| 12 | that the charges
are not sustained, the officer or member shall | ||||||
| 13 | be reimbursed for all wages
withheld or lost, if any. In the | ||||||
| 14 | conduct of this hearing, each member of
the board shall have | ||||||
| 15 | power to secure by its subpoena both the attendance
and | ||||||
| 16 | testimony of witnesses and the production of books and papers | ||||||
| 17 | relevant
to the hearing.
| ||||||
| 18 | Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, a | ||||||
| 19 | probationary employment period may be extended beyond one year | ||||||
| 20 | for a firefighter who is required as a condition of employment | ||||||
| 21 | to be a certified paramedic, during which time the sole reason | ||||||
| 22 | that a firefighter may be discharged without a hearing is for | ||||||
| 23 | failing to meet the requirements for paramedic certification.
| ||||||
| 24 | The age for mandatory retirement of firemen in the service | ||||||
| 25 | of any
department of such district is 65 years, unless the | ||||||
| 26 | board of trustees shall
by ordinance provide for an earlier | ||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 1 | mandatory retirement age of not less
than 60 years.
| ||||||
| 2 | The provisions of the Administrative Review Law, and all | ||||||
| 3 | amendments and
modifications thereof, and the rules adopted | ||||||
| 4 | pursuant thereto, shall apply
to and govern all proceedings for | ||||||
| 5 | the judicial review of final
administrative decisions of the | ||||||
| 6 | board of fire commissioners hereunder. The
term | ||||||
| 7 | "administrative decision" is defined as in Section 3-101 of the | ||||||
| 8 | Code
of Civil Procedure.
| ||||||
| 9 | Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prevent the | ||||||
| 10 | Chief of the
fire department from suspending without pay a | ||||||
| 11 | member of his department for
a period of not more than 5 | ||||||
| 12 | consecutive calendar days, but he shall
notify the board in | ||||||
| 13 | writing of such suspension. Any fireman so suspended
may appeal | ||||||
| 14 | to the board of fire commissioners for a review of the
| ||||||
| 15 | suspension within 5 calendar days after such suspension. Upon | ||||||
| 16 | such appeal,
the Chief of the department shall bear the burden | ||||||
| 17 | of proof in establishing
the guilt of the officer or member by | ||||||
| 18 | a preponderance of the evidence. The
board may sustain the | ||||||
| 19 | action of the Chief of the department, may reduce the
| ||||||
| 20 | suspension to a lesser penalty, or may reverse it with | ||||||
| 21 | instructions that
the officer or member receive his pay and | ||||||
| 22 | other benefits withheld for the
period involved, or may suspend | ||||||
| 23 | the officer for an additional period of not
more than 30 days, | ||||||
| 24 | or discharge him, depending upon the facts presented.
| ||||||
| 25 | (Source: P.A. 94-135, eff. 7-7-05.)
| ||||||