99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016
SB1286

 

Introduced 2/18/2015, by Sen. Chris Nybo

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
70 ILCS 2605/4.14  from Ch. 42, par. 323.14

    Amends the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Act. Provides that written charges to remove or discharge an officer or employee shall specify the facts that support removal or discharge. Provides that an employee may withdraw consent to continue a discharge hearing at which point the hearing shall take place and a decision entered within 60 days of the withdrawal of consent. Provides that after charges are filed against a suspended employee, the employee's suspension shall be extended without pay up to 180 days until the civil service board enters its findings. If the civil service board disapproves of the employee being suspended, provides that the board shall restore all pay and benefits to the employee from the date of suspension and order the sanitary district to pay promptly the costs and reasonable attorney fees of the employee. Provides that the revisions to the Act will apply retroactively to January 1, 2010. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

SB1286LRB099 08883 AWJ 29055 b

1    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Act
5is amended by changing Section 4.14 as follows:
 
6    (70 ILCS 2605/4.14)  (from Ch. 42, par. 323.14)
7    Sec. 4.14. No officer or employee in the classified civil
8service of the sanitary district shall be removed or discharged
9except for cause, upon written charges that specify the facts
10that support removal or discharge, and after an opportunity to
11be heard in his own defense. Such charges shall be filed with
12the civil service board within 30 days from the date of
13suspension under the charges, and the charges shall be promptly
14investigated by or before the civil service board, or by or
15before some officer or officers appointed by the civil service
16board to conduct such investigation. The hearing shall take
17place within 120 days after charges are filed against the
18employee. The hearing shall be public and the accused shall be
19entitled to call witnesses in his defense and to have the aid
20of counsel. The civil service board may continue a discharge
21hearing for good cause shown and only with the consent of the
22employee. The employee may withdraw such consent after 180 days
23after charges are filed against the employee, at which point

 

 

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1the hearing shall take place and a finding and decision entered
2within 60 days of the withdrawal of such consent. The civil
3service board shall enter a finding and decision. A decision
4shall be deemed to have been served either when a copy of the
5decision is personally delivered or when a copy of the decision
6is deposited in the United States mail, addressed to the
7employee at his last known address on file with the human
8resources department. The finding and decision of the civil
9service board or of such investigating officer or officers,
10when approved by said civil service board, shall be final,
11except for the judicial review thereof as herein provided, and
12shall be certified to the appointing officer, and shall be
13forthwith enforced by such officer. Nothing in this Act shall
14limit the power of any officer to suspend a subordinate for a
15reasonable period not exceeding thirty days; however, if
16charges are filed against a suspended employee, the suspension
17shall be extended until the civil service board enters its
18finding and decision regarding the charges unless prior to this
19time the board enters an order approving an agreement between
20the sanitary district and the employee that the suspension
21should terminate at an earlier date. Every such suspension
22shall be without pay up to 180 days: Provided, however, that
23the civil service board shall have authority to investigate
24every such suspension and, in case of its disapproval thereof,
25it shall have power to restore all pay and benefits to the
26employee from the date of suspension and order the sanitary

 

 

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1district to pay promptly the costs and reasonable attorney fees
2of the employee so suspended. In the course of any
3investigation provided for in this Act, each member of the
4civil service board and any officer appointed by it shall have
5the power to administer oaths and shall have power to secure by
6its subpoena both the attendance and testimony of witnesses and
7the production of books and papers.
8    Either the sanitary district or the employee may file a
9written petition for rehearing of the finding and decision of
10the civil service board within 21 calendar days after the
11finding and decision are served as provided in this Section.
12The petition shall state fully the grounds upon which
13application for further investigation and hearing is based. If
14a petition is denied by the civil service board, the decision
15shall remain in full force and effect and any further appeal by
16either party shall be in accordance with the provisions of the
17Administrative Review Law.
18    The provisions of the Administrative Review Law, and all
19amendments and modifications thereof, and the rules adopted
20pursuant thereto, shall apply to and govern all proceedings for
21the judicial review of final administrative decisions of the
22civil service board hereunder. The term "administrative
23decision" is defined as in Section 3-101 of the Code of Civil
24Procedure. The provisions of this Article as amended by this
25amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly shall apply
26retroactively to January 1, 2010.

 

 

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1(Source: P.A. 95-923, eff. 8-26-08.)
 
2    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
3becoming law.