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1 | AN ACT concerning local government.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by | ||||||
5 | changing Section 10-2.1-6 as follows:
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6 | (65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-6) (from Ch. 24, par. 10-2.1-6)
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7 | Sec. 10-2.1-6. Examination of applicants; | ||||||
8 | disqualifications.
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9 | (a) All applicants for a position in either the fire or | ||||||
10 | police department
of the municipality shall be under 35 years | ||||||
11 | of age, shall be subject to an
examination that shall be | ||||||
12 | public, competitive, and open to all applicants
(unless the | ||||||
13 | council or board of trustees by ordinance limit applicants to
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14 | electors of the municipality, county, state or nation) and | ||||||
15 | shall be subject to
reasonable limitations as to residence, | ||||||
16 | health, habits, and moral character.
The municipality may not | ||||||
17 | charge or collect any fee from an applicant who has
met all | ||||||
18 | prequalification standards established by the municipality for | ||||||
19 | any such
position. With respect to a police department, a | ||||||
20 | veteran shall be allowed to exceed the maximum age provision of | ||||||
21 | this Section by the number of years served on active military | ||||||
22 | duty, but by no more than 10 years of active military duty.
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23 | (b) Residency requirements in effect at the time an |
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1 | individual enters the
fire or police service of a municipality | ||||||
2 | (other than a municipality that
has more than 1,000,000 | ||||||
3 | inhabitants) cannot be made more restrictive for
that | ||||||
4 | individual during his period of service for that municipality, | ||||||
5 | or be
made a condition of promotion, except for the rank or | ||||||
6 | position of Fire or
Police Chief.
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7 | (c) No person with a record of misdemeanor convictions | ||||||
8 | except those
under Sections 11-1.50, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9, 11-14, | ||||||
9 | 11-15, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19,
11-30, 11-35, 12-2, 12-6, 12-15, | ||||||
10 | 14-4, 16-1, 21.1-3, 24-3.1, 24-5, 25-1, 28-3, 31-1, 31-4,
31-6, | ||||||
11 | 31-7, 32-1, 32-2, 32-3, 32-4, and 32-8, subdivisions (a)(1) and | ||||||
12 | (a)(2)(C) of Section 11-14.3, and subsections (1), (6) and (8) | ||||||
13 | of
Section 24-1 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal | ||||||
14 | Code of 2012, or arrested for any cause but not
convicted on | ||||||
15 | that cause shall be disqualified from taking the examination to
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16 | qualify for a position in the fire department on grounds of | ||||||
17 | habits or moral
character.
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18 | (d) The age limitation in subsection (a) does not apply (i) | ||||||
19 | to any person
previously employed as a policeman or fireman in | ||||||
20 | a regularly constituted police
or fire department of (I) any | ||||||
21 | municipality, regardless of whether the municipality is | ||||||
22 | located in Illinois or in another state, or (II) a fire | ||||||
23 | protection district
whose obligations were assumed by a | ||||||
24 | municipality under Section 21 of the Fire
Protection District | ||||||
25 | Act, (ii) to any person who has served a municipality as a
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26 | regularly enrolled volunteer fireman for 5 years immediately |
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1 | preceding the time
that municipality begins to use full time | ||||||
2 | firemen to provide all or part of its
fire protection service, | ||||||
3 | or (iii) to any person who has served as an auxiliary police | ||||||
4 | officer under Section 3.1-30-20 for at least 5 years and is | ||||||
5 | under 40 years of
age, (iv) to any person who has served as a | ||||||
6 | deputy under Section 3-6008 of
the Counties Code and otherwise | ||||||
7 | meets necessary training requirements, or (v) to any person who | ||||||
8 | has served as a sworn officer as a member of the Illinois | ||||||
9 | Department of State Police.
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10 | (e) Applicants who are 20 years of age and who have | ||||||
11 | successfully completed 2
years of law enforcement studies at an | ||||||
12 | accredited college or university may be
considered for | ||||||
13 | appointment to active duty with the police department. An
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14 | applicant described in this subsection (e) who is appointed to | ||||||
15 | active duty
shall not have power of arrest, nor shall the | ||||||
16 | applicant be permitted to carry
firearms, until he or she | ||||||
17 | reaches 21 years of age.
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18 | (f) Applicants who are 18 years of age and who have | ||||||
19 | successfully
completed 2 years of study in fire techniques, | ||||||
20 | amounting to a total of 4
high school credits, within the cadet | ||||||
21 | program of a municipality may be
considered for appointment to | ||||||
22 | active duty with the fire department of any
municipality.
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23 | (g) The council or board of trustees may by ordinance | ||||||
24 | provide
that persons residing outside the municipality are | ||||||
25 | eligible to take the
examination.
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26 | (h) The examinations shall be practical in character and |
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1 | relate to
those matters that will fairly test the capacity of | ||||||
2 | the persons examined
to discharge the duties of the positions | ||||||
3 | to which they seek appointment. No
person shall be appointed to | ||||||
4 | the police or fire department if he or she does
not possess a | ||||||
5 | high school diploma or an equivalent high school education.
A | ||||||
6 | board of fire and police commissioners may, by its rules, | ||||||
7 | require police
applicants to have obtained an associate's | ||||||
8 | degree or a bachelor's degree as a
prerequisite for employment. | ||||||
9 | The
examinations shall include tests of physical | ||||||
10 | qualifications and health. A board of fire and police | ||||||
11 | commissioners may, by its rules, waive portions of the required | ||||||
12 | examination for police applicants who have previously been | ||||||
13 | full-time sworn officers of a regular police department in any | ||||||
14 | municipal, county, university, or State law enforcement | ||||||
15 | agency, provided they are certified by the Illinois Law | ||||||
16 | Enforcement Training Standards Board and have been with their | ||||||
17 | respective law enforcement agency within the State for at least | ||||||
18 | 2 years. No
person shall be appointed to the police or fire | ||||||
19 | department if he or she has
suffered the amputation of any limb | ||||||
20 | unless the applicant's duties will be only
clerical or as a | ||||||
21 | radio operator. No applicant shall be examined concerning his
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22 | or her political or religious opinions or affiliations. The | ||||||
23 | examinations shall
be conducted by the board of fire and police | ||||||
24 | commissioners of the municipality
as provided in this Division | ||||||
25 | 2.1.
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26 | The requirement that a police applicant possess an |
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1 | associate's degree under this subsection shall be waived if one | ||||||
2 | or more of the following applies: (1) the applicant has served | ||||||
3 | for 24 months of honorable active duty in the United States | ||||||
4 | Armed Forces and has not been discharged dishonorably or under | ||||||
5 | circumstances other than honorable or (2) the applicant has | ||||||
6 | served for 180 days of active duty in the United States Armed | ||||||
7 | Forces in combat duty recognized by the Department of Defense. | ||||||
8 | The requirement that a police applicant possess a | ||||||
9 | bachelor's degree under this subsection shall be waived if one | ||||||
10 | or more of the following applies: (1) the applicant has served | ||||||
11 | for 36 months of honorable active duty in the United States | ||||||
12 | Armed Forces and has not been discharged dishonorably or under | ||||||
13 | circumstances other than honorable or (2) the applicant has | ||||||
14 | served for 180 days of active duty in the United States Armed | ||||||
15 | Forces in combat duty recognized by the Department of Defense. | ||||||
16 | (i) No person who is classified by his local selective | ||||||
17 | service draft board
as a conscientious objector, or who has | ||||||
18 | ever been so classified, may be
appointed to the police | ||||||
19 | department.
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20 | (j) No person shall be appointed to the police or fire | ||||||
21 | department unless he
or she is a person of good character and | ||||||
22 | not an habitual drunkard, gambler, or
a person who has been | ||||||
23 | convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral
turpitude. No | ||||||
24 | person, however, shall be disqualified from appointment to the
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25 | fire department because of his or her record of misdemeanor | ||||||
26 | convictions except
those under Sections 11-1.50, 11-6, 11-7, |
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1 | 11-9, 11-14, 11-15, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, 11-30, 11-35, 12-2,
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2 | 12-6, 12-15, 14-4, 16-1, 21.1-3, 24-3.1, 24-5, 25-1, 28-3, | ||||||
3 | 31-1, 31-4, 31-6,
31-7, 32-1, 32-2, 32-3, 32-4, and 32-8, | ||||||
4 | subdivisions (a)(1) and (a)(2)(C) of Section 11-14.3, and | ||||||
5 | subsections (1), (6) and (8) of Section
24-1 of the Criminal | ||||||
6 | Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, or arrest for any | ||||||
7 | cause without conviction on
that cause. Any such person who is | ||||||
8 | in the department may be removed on charges
brought and after a | ||||||
9 | trial as provided in this Division 2.1.
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10 | (Source: P.A. 96-472, eff. 8-14-09; 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11; | ||||||
11 | 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)
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12 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
13 | becoming law.
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