98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB2377

 

Introduced 2/20/2013, by Rep. Deborah Conroy

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
70 ILCS 805/3c

    Amends a Section of the Downstate Forest Preserve District Act regarding the elected board of commissioners in DuPage County. Provides that the president and forest preserve commissioners elected on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly shall serve without compensation. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

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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 Downstate Forest Preserve District Act is
5amended by changing Section 3c as follows:
 
6    (70 ILCS 805/3c)
7    Sec. 3c. Elected board of commissioners in certain
8counties. If the boundaries of a district are co-extensive with
9the boundaries of a county having a population of more than
10800,000 but less than 3,000,000, all commissioners of the
11forest preserve district shall be elected from the same
12districts as members of the county board beginning with the
13general election held in 2002 and each succeeding general
14election. One commissioner shall be elected from each district.
15At their first meeting after their election in 2002 and
16following each subsequent decennial reapportionment of the
17county under Division 2-3 of the Counties Code, the elected
18commissioners shall publicly by lot divide themselves into 2
19groups, as equal in size as possible. Commissioners from the
20first group shall serve for terms of 2, 4, and 4 years; and
21commissioners from the second group shall serve terms of 4, 4,
22and 2 years. Beginning with the general election in 2002, the
23president of the board of commissioners of the forest preserve

 

 

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1district shall be elected by the voters of the county, rather
2than by the commissioners. The president shall be a resident of
3the county and shall be elected throughout the county for a
44-year term without having been first elected as commissioner
5of the forest preserve district. Each commissioner shall be a
6resident of the county board district from which he or she was
7elected not later than the date of the commencement of the term
8of office. The term of office for the president and
9commissioners elected under this Section shall commence on the
10first Monday of the month following the month of election.
11Neither a commissioner nor the president of the board of
12commissioners of that forest preserve district shall serve
13simultaneously as member or chairman of the county board. No
14person shall seek election to both the forest preserve
15commission and the county board at the same election. The
16president, with the advice and consent of the board of
17commissioners shall appoint a secretary, treasurer, and such
18other officers as deemed necessary by the board of
19commissioners, which officers need not be members of the board
20of commissioners. The president shall have the powers and
21duties as specified in Section 12 of this Act.
22    Candidates for president and commissioner shall be
23candidates of established political parties.
24    If a vacancy in the office of president or commissioner
25occurs, other than by expiration of the president's or
26commissioner's term, the forest preserve district board of

 

 

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1commissioners shall declare that a vacancy exists and
2notification of the vacancy shall be given to the county
3central committee of each established political party within 3
4business days after the occurrence of the vacancy. If the
5vacancy occurs in the office of forest preserve district
6commissioner, the president of the board of commissioners
7shall, within 60 days after the date of the vacancy, with the
8advice and consent of other commissioners then serving, appoint
9a person to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term. The
10appointee shall be affiliated with the same political party as
11the commissioner in whose office the vacancy occurred and be a
12resident of such district. If a vacancy in the office of
13president occurs, other than by expiration of the president's
14term, the remaining members of the board of commissioners
15shall, within 60 days after the vacancy, appoint one of the
16commissioners to serve as president for the remainder of the
17unexpired term. In that case, the office of the commissioner
18who is appointed to serve as president shall be deemed vacant
19and shall be filled within 60 days by appointment of the
20president with the advice and consent of the other forest
21preserve district commissioners. The commissioner who is
22appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of president shall be
23affiliated with the same political party as the person who
24occupied the office of president prior to the vacancy. A person
25appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of president or
26commissioner shall establish his or her party affiliation by

 

 

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1his or her record of voting in primary elections or by holding
2or having held an office in an established political party
3organization before the appointment. If the appointee has not
4voted in a party primary election or is not holding or has not
5held an office in an established political party organization
6before the appointment, the appointee shall establish his or
7her political party affiliation by his or her record of
8participating in an established political party's nomination
9or election caucus. If, however, more than 28 months remain in
10the unexpired term of a commissioner or the president, the
11appointment shall be until the next general election, at which
12time the vacated office of commissioner or president shall be
13filled by election for the remainder of the term.
14Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, if a vacancy occurs
15after the last day provided in Section 7-12 of the Election
16Code for filing nomination papers for the office of president
17of a forest preserve district where that office is elected as
18provided for in this Section, or as set forth in Section 7-61
19of the Election Code, a vacancy in nomination shall be filled
20by the passage of a resolution by the nominating committee of
21the affected political party within the time periods specified
22in the Election Code. The nominating committee shall consist of
23the chairman of the county central committee and the township
24chairmen of the affected political party. All other vacancies
25in nomination shall be filled in accordance with the provisions
26of the Election Code.

 

 

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1    The president and commissioners elected under this Section
2may be reimbursed for their reasonable expenses actually
3incurred in performing their official duties under this Act in
4accordance with the provisions of Section 3a. The reimbursement
5paid under this Section shall be paid by the forest preserve
6district.
7     Compensation for the president and the forest preserve
8commissioners elected under this Section prior to the effective
9date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly shall
10be established by the board of commissioners of the forest
11preserve district. The president and forest preserve
12commissioners elected under this Section on or after the
13effective date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General
14Assembly shall serve without compensation.
15    This Section does not apply to a forest preserve district
16created under Section 18.5 of the Conservation District Act.
17(Source: P.A. 94-617, eff. 8-18-05; 94-900, eff. 6-22-06.)
 
18    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
19becoming law.