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 1                       SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
 2                      CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

 3        RESOLVED, BY  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  NINETY-THIRD  GENERAL
 4    ASSEMBLY   OF   THE   STATE   OF   ILLINOIS,   THE  HOUSE  OF
 5    REPRESENTATIVES  CONCURRING  HEREIN,  that  there  shall   be
 6    submitted  to  the  electors  of  the  State  for adoption or
 7    rejection at the general election next occurring at  least  6
 8    months after the adoption of this resolution a proposition to
 9    amend the Illinois Constitution by changing Section 14 of and
10    adding  Section  14.5  to  Article  IV, changing Section 6 of
11    Article V, and changing Section 15 of Article VI as follows:

12                             ARTICLE IV
13                           THE LEGISLATURE

14         (ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 14)
15    SECTION 14. IMPEACHMENT
16        The House of Representatives of the General Assembly  has
17    the  sole  power  to  conduct  legislative  investigations to
18    determine the existence of cause for impeachment and, by  the
19    vote  of  a  majority  of  the  members  elected,  to impeach
20    Executive and Judicial officers. Impeachments shall be  tried
21    by  the Senate. When sitting for that purpose, Senators shall
22    be upon oath, or affirmation, to do justice according to law.
23    If the Governor is tried, the Chief Justice  of  the  Supreme
24    Court shall preside. No person shall be convicted without the
25    concurrence  of  two-thirds of the Senators elected. Judgment
26    shall   not   extend   beyond   removal   from   office   and
27    disqualification to hold any public office of this State.  An
28    impeached  officer,  whether convicted or acquitted, shall be
29    liable  to  prosecution,  trial,  judgment   and   punishment
30    according to law.
31    (Source: Illinois Constitution.)
 
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 1        (ILCON Art. IV, Sec. 14.5 new)
 2        SECTION 14.5. RECALL OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEMBERS

 3                              ARTICLE V
 4                            THE EXECUTIVE

 5         (ILCON Art. V, Sec. 6)
 6    SECTION 6. GUBERNATORIAL SUCCESSION
 7        (a)  In  the  event of a vacancy, the order of succession
 8    to the office of Governor of Illinois or to the  position  of
 9    Acting Governor shall be the Lieutenant Governor, the elected
10    Attorney General, the elected Secretary of State, and then as
11    provided by law.
12        (b)  If the Governor is unable to serve because of death,
13    conviction on impeachment, failure to qualify, resignation or
14    other  disability,  the office of Governor shall be filled by
15    the officer next in line of succession for the  remainder  of
16    the term or until the disability is removed.
17        (c)  Whenever  the  Governor  determines  that  he may be
18    seriously impeded in the exercise of his powers, he shall  so
19    notify the Secretary of State and the officer next in line of
20    succession.   The   latter  shall  thereafter  become  Acting
21    Governor with the duties and powers  of  Governor.  When  the
22    Governor  is  prepared  to  resume  office, he shall do so by
23    notifying the Secretary of State and the Acting Governor.
24        (d)  The General Assembly by law shall  specify  by  whom
25    and  by  what procedures the ability of the Governor to serve
26    or to resume office may be  questioned  and  determined.  The
27    Supreme  Court shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction
28    to review such a law and any such determination and,  in  the
29    absence  of  such  a  law, shall make the determination under
30    such rules as it may adopt.
31    (Source: Illinois Constitution.)

32                             ARTICLE VI
 
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 1                            THE JUDICIARY

 2         (ILCON Art. VI, Sec. 15)
 3    SECTION 15. RETIREMENT - DISCIPLINE
 4        (a)  The General Assembly of Illinois may provide by  law
 5    for  the  retirement  of  Judges  and  Associate  Judges at a
 6    prescribed age. Any retired Judge or  Associate  Judge,  with
 7    his  or  her consent, may be assigned by the Supreme Court to
 8    judicial service for  which  he  or  she  shall  receive  the
 9    applicable  compensation  in  lieu  of retirement benefits. A
10    retired Associate Judge may be assigned only as an  Associate
11    Judge.
12        (b)  A  Judicial  Inquiry  Board  is created. The Supreme
13    Court shall select two Circuit  Judges  as  members  and  the
14    Governor  shall  appoint four persons who are not lawyers and
15    three lawyers as members of the Board. No more  than  two  of
16    the  lawyers  and  two  of  the  non-lawyers appointed by the
17    Governor shall be members of the same  political  party.  The
18    terms  of Board members shall be four years. A vacancy on the
19    Board shall be filled for a  full  term  in  the  manner  the
20    original  appointment  was  made.  No member may serve on the
21    Board more than eight years.
22        (c)  The  Board  shall  be  convened  permanently,   with
23    authority  to  conduct  investigations,  receive  or initiate
24    complaints concerning a Judge or Associate  Judge,  and  file
25    complaints  with  the  Courts Commission. The Board shall not
26    file  a  complaint  unless  five  members  believe   that   a
27    reasonable  basis exists (1) to charge the Judge or Associate
28    Judge with willful misconduct in office,  persistent  failure
29    to  perform  his duties, or other conduct that is prejudicial
30    to the administration of justice or that brings the  judicial
31    office  into  disrepute,  or  (2) to charge that the Judge or
32    Associate Judge is physically or mentally unable  to  perform
33    his   duties.   All   proceedings   of  the  Board  shall  be
 
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 1    confidential except the filing of a complaint with the Courts
 2    Commission. The Board shall prosecute the complaint.
 3        (d)  The  Board   shall   adopt   rules   governing   its
 4    procedures.  It  shall  have  subpoena power and authority to
 5    appoint and direct its staff. Members of the  Board  who  are
 6    not  Judges shall receive per diem compensation and necessary
 7    expenses; members who  are  Judges  shall  receive  necessary
 8    expenses  only. The General Assembly by law shall appropriate
 9    funds for the operation of the Board.
10        (e)  An  independent   Courts   Commission   is   created
11    consisting  of one Supreme Court Judge selected by that Court
12    as a member and one as  an  alternate,  two  Appellate  Court
13    Judges  selected  by  that  Court  as  members  and  three as
14    alternates, two Circuit Judges selected by the Supreme  Court
15    as members and three as alternates, and two citizens selected
16    by the Governor as members and two as alternates. Members and
17    alternates who are Appellate Court Judges must each be from a
18    different  Judicial District.  Members and alternates who are
19    Circuit  Judges  must  each  be  from  a  different  Judicial
20    District. Members and alternates of the Commission shall  not
21    be members of the Judicial Inquiry Board.  The members of the
22    Commission  shall  select  a  chairperson to serve a two-year
23    term.
24        The Commission shall  be  convened  permanently  to  hear
25    complaints   filed   by   the  Judicial  Inquiry  Board.  The
26    Commission shall  have  authority  after  notice  and  public
27    hearing,  (1)  to  remove  from  office, suspend without pay,
28    censure or reprimand a Judge or Associate Judge  for  willful
29    misconduct  in  office,  persistent failure to perform his or
30    her duties, or other  conduct  that  is  prejudicial  to  the
31    administration  of justice or that brings the judicial office
32    into disrepute, or (2) to suspend, with or  without  pay,  or
33    retire  a  Judge  or  Associate  Judge  who  is physically or
34    mentally unable to perform his or her duties.
 
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 1        (f)  The concurrence of four members  of  the  Commission
 2    shall  be  necessary  for  a  decision.  The  decision of the
 3    Commission shall be final.
 4        (g)  The Commission shall adopt  comprehensive  rules  to
 5    ensure  that  its procedures are fair and appropriate.  These
 6    rules and any amendments shall be public and filed  with  the
 7    Secretary   of   State  at  least  30  days  before  becoming
 8    effective.
 9        (h)  A member of the Commission shall disqualify  himself
10    or  herself,  or  the  other  members of the Commission shall
11    disqualify a member, with respect to any proceeding in  which
12    disqualification  or  recusal  would  be  required of a Judge
13    under  rules  of  the  Supreme  Court,  under  rules  of  the
14    Commission, or by law.
15        If a Supreme Court Judge is the subject of a  proceeding,
16    then  there  shall  be  no  Supreme  Court Judge sitting as a
17    member of the Commission with  respect  to  that  proceeding.
18    Instead, an alternate Appellate Court Judge not from the same
19    Judicial  District  as  the subject Supreme Court Judge shall
20    replace the subject Supreme Court Judge. If a member  who  is
21    an Appellate Court Judge is the subject of a proceeding, then
22    an  alternate Appellate Court Judge shall replace the subject
23    Appellate Court Judge. If an Appellate Court Judge who is not
24    a member is the subject of  a  proceeding  and  an  Appellate
25    Court Judge from the same Judicial District is a member, then
26    an alternate Appellate Court Judge shall replace that member.
27    If  a  member  who  is  a  Circuit  Judge is the subject of a
28    proceeding, then an alternate Circuit Judge shall replace the
29    subject Circuit Judge. If a Circuit Judge who is not a member
30    is the subject of a proceeding and a Circuit Judge  from  the
31    same Judicial District is a member, then an alternate Circuit
32    Judge shall replace that member.
33        If  a member of the Commission is disqualified under this
34    Section with respect to any proceeding, that member shall  be
 
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 1    replaced  by  an  alternate  on  a rotating basis in a manner
 2    provided by rule of the Commission.  The alternate shall  act
 3    as  member  of the Commission with respect to that proceeding
 4    only.
 5        (i)  The Commission shall have power to issue subpoenas.
 6        (j)  Members and alternates of the Commission who are not
 7    Judges shall receive  per  diem  compensation  and  necessary
 8    expenses; members and alternates who are Judges shall receive
 9    necessary  expenses only.  The General Assembly shall provide
10    by law for the expenses and compensation of the Commission.
11    (Source: Amendment adopted at general  election  November  3,
12    1998.)

13                              SCHEDULE
14        This  Constitutional  Amendment  takes  effect upon being
15    declared adopted in accordance with Section 7 of the Illinois
16    Constitutional Amendment Act.