Full Text of HB0365 95th General Assembly
HB0365 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008 HB0365
Introduced 1/26/2007, by Rep. Jack D. Franks SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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70 ILCS 410/5 |
from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 7105 |
70 ILCS 410/6 |
from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 7106 |
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Amends the Conservation District Act.
Provides that in counties adjacent to a county with more than 3,000,000
inhabitants, by resolution of the
county board or boards or by petition signed by
5% of the voters who voted in the county in the last gubernatorial election, a proposal to elect or
appoint a 5 or 7 member board of trustees chosen at large or from single
member subdistricts of
the conservation district shall
be submitted
to the voters at the next general election.
Provides transition procedures if the proposition
is approved by a majority of the voters in the
district. Provides that the trustees shall be elected on a nonpartisan basis
at a consolidated election.
Makes other provisions such as, length of initial terms in office and, if more than one county is involved, division of trustees among counties based upon population sizes of the counties. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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HB0365 |
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LRB095 05246 HLH 25323 b |
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| AN ACT concerning conservation districts.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | 3 |
| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Conservation District Act is amended by | 5 |
| changing
Sections 5 and 6 as follows:
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| (70 ILCS 410/5) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 7105)
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| Sec. 5. Board of trustees.
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| (a) The affairs of a conservation district shall be managed | 9 |
| by a
board
consisting
which shall consist of 5 trustees, except | 10 |
| as otherwise provided in this
Section. If the boundaries of the | 11 |
| district are
coextensive with the boundaries of one county, the | 12 |
| trustees shall be
residents of that county. If the district | 13 |
| embraces 2 counties, 3 trustees
shall be residents of the | 14 |
| county with the larger population and 2 trustees
shall be | 15 |
| residents of the other county. If the district embraces 3
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| counties, one trustee shall be a resident of the county with | 17 |
| the smallest
population and each of the other counties shall | 18 |
| have 2 resident trustees.
If the district embraces 4 counties, | 19 |
| 2 trustees shall be residents of the
county with the largest | 20 |
| population and each of the other counties shall
have one | 21 |
| resident trustee. If the district embraces 5 counties, each | 22 |
| county
shall have one resident trustee.
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| (b) A district that is entirely within a county of under |
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HB0365 |
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LRB095 05246 HLH 25323 b |
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| 750,000
inhabitants and contiguous to a county of more than | 2 |
| 2,000,000 inhabitants
and that is authorized by referendum as | 3 |
| provided in subsection (d) of
Section 15 to incur indebtedness | 4 |
| over 0.575% but not to exceed 1.725% shall
have a board | 5 |
| consisting of 7 trustees, all of whom shall be residents of the
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| county. The additional 2 trustees shall be appointed by the | 7 |
| chairman of
the county board, with the consent of the county | 8 |
| board, and shall hold
office for terms expiring on June 30 as | 9 |
| follows: one trustee after 4 years
and one trustee after 5 | 10 |
| years from the date of the referendum. Successor
trustees shall | 11 |
| be
appointed in the same manner no later than June 1 before the | 12 |
| commencement
of the term of the trustee.
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| (c) Trustees shall be qualified voters of the
such district | 14 |
| who do not hold any
other public office and are not officers of | 15 |
| any political party. Trustees,
if nominated by the county board | 16 |
| chairman as hereinafter provided, shall be
selected on the | 17 |
| basis of their demonstrated interest in the purpose of
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| conservation districts.
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| (d) If the trustees are appointed, the
The chairman of the | 20 |
| county board for the county of which the trustee is
a resident | 21 |
| shall, with the consent of the county board of that county,
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| appoint the first trustees who shall hold office for terms | 23 |
| expiring on June
30 after one, 2, 3, 4, and 5 year periods | 24 |
| respectively as determined and
fixed by lot. Thereafter, | 25 |
| successor appointed trustees shall be appointed for a term of 5 | 26 |
| years in the same
manner no later than June 1 prior to the |
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| commencement of term of the
trustee. If the term of office of | 2 |
| any appointed trustee expires before the first
election of | 3 |
| trustees under subsection (i) after referendum approval of | 4 |
| elected
trustees, the chairman of the county board who | 5 |
| appointed that trustee under
this subsection shall appoint a | 6 |
| successor to serve until a successor is elected
and has | 7 |
| qualified.
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| (e) When a vacancy occurs in the office of trustee, whether | 9 |
| by death,
resignation, refusal to qualify, no longer being a | 10 |
| qualified voter of the
district, or for any other reason, the | 11 |
| board of trustees shall declare that a
vacancy exists. The | 12 |
| vacancy shall be filled within 60 days.
Each successor trustee | 13 |
| shall serve for a term of 5 years. A vacancy
occurring | 14 |
| otherwise than by expiration of term , for appointed trustees,
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| shall be filled for the
unexpired term by appointment of a | 16 |
| trustee by the county board chairman of
the county of which the | 17 |
| trustee shall be a resident, with the approval of
the county | 18 |
| board of that county. An appointed
A trustee who has served a | 19 |
| full term of 5
years is ineligible to serve as a trustee for a | 20 |
| period of one year
following the expiration of his or her term. | 21 |
| In the case of an elected
trustee, appointment of an eligible | 22 |
| person shall be by the president of the
board of trustees with | 23 |
| the advice and consent of the other trustees. The
appointee | 24 |
| shall serve the remainder of the unexpired term. If, however, | 25 |
| more
than 28 months remain in the term of the elected trustee | 26 |
| and the vacancy occurs
at least 182 days
before the next |
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| general election, the appointment shall be until the next
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| general election, at which time the vacated office of the | 3 |
| elected trustee shall
be filled by election for the remainder | 4 |
| of the term.
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| If a vacancy occurs in the office of president of the board | 6 |
| of trustees, the
remaining trustees shall select one of their | 7 |
| number to serve as president for
the balance of the unexpired | 8 |
| term of the president in whose office the vacancy
occurred. | 9 |
| When any trustee during his or her term of
office shall | 10 |
| cease to be a bona fide resident of the district , or shall move
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| from one township or congressional township in the district to | 12 |
| another so that
the township residency requirements of this | 13 |
| Section are no longer met, then he is
disqualified as a trustee | 14 |
| and his office becomes vacant. If the district has decided to | 15 |
| elect or appoint trustees from single member
subdistricts under | 16 |
| subsection (i), then when any trustee during his or her term
of | 17 |
| office shall cease to be a bona fide resident of the | 18 |
| subdistrict he or she
is disqualified as a trustee and the | 19 |
| office becomes vacant.
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| (f) Trustees shall serve without compensation, but may be | 21 |
| paid their actual
and necessary expenses incurred in the | 22 |
| performance of their official
duties.
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| (g) An appointed
A trustee may be removed for cause by the | 24 |
| county board chairman for the
county of which the trustee is a | 25 |
| resident, with the approval of the county
board of that county, | 26 |
| but every such removal shall be by a written order and
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which
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| shall be filed with the county clerk.
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| (h) A conservation district with 5 trustees may determine | 3 |
| by majority vote
of the board to increase the size of the board | 4 |
| to 7 trustees. With respect to
a 7-member
board, no more than 3 | 5 |
| members may be residents
of
any township in a county under | 6 |
| township
organization or of any congressional township in a | 7 |
| county not under township
organization.
In the case of
a | 8 |
| 7-member board representing a district that embraces 2 | 9 |
| counties, 4
trustees
shall be residents of the county with the | 10 |
| larger population and 3 trustees
shall be residents of the | 11 |
| other county. If the district embraces 3 counties,
2 trustees | 12 |
| shall be residents of each of the 2 counties with the smallest
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| population and
the largest county shall have 3 resident | 14 |
| trustees. If the district
embraces 4 counties, one trustee | 15 |
| shall be a resident of the county with the
smallest population | 16 |
| and each of the other counties shall have 2 resident
trustees. | 17 |
| If the district embraces 5 counties, the 2 counties with the | 18 |
| largest
population shall each have 2 resident trustees and each | 19 |
| of the other counties
shall have one resident trustee. The | 20 |
| pertinent appointing authorities shall
appoint the additional | 21 |
| 2 trustees to initial terms as equally staggered as
possible | 22 |
| from the
terms of the trustees already appointed from that | 23 |
| township or county so that 2
trustees representing the same | 24 |
| area shall not be succeeded in the same year.
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| (i) Except as provided in subsection (b), a conservation | 26 |
| district
in a county adjacent to a county with more than |
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| 3,000,000 inhabitants may
determine by referendum (i)
to have | 2 |
| an elected or appointed board of trustees, (ii) to have a board
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| of trustees with 5 or 7 members, and (iii) to have trustees
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| chosen at large or from single
member subdistricts.
If the | 5 |
| boundaries of the district are coextensive with the boundaries
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| of a single county, the county
board may determine by ordinance | 7 |
| to hold the referendum; or
if the boundaries of the
district | 8 |
| are
embraced by more than one county, the county boards of
each | 9 |
| county in the district, jointly, may determine by ordinance to
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| hold the referendum; or
a petition signed
by not less than 5% | 11 |
| of the electors of the entire district who voted in the last | 12 |
| gubernatorial election may be submitted to
the board of | 13 |
| trustees requiring the district to
hold the referendum.
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| The secretary of the board of trustees shall certify the | 15 |
| proposition
to the appropriate election authorities who shall | 16 |
| submit the proposition at
a consolidated or general election | 17 |
| according to the Election Code.
The Election Code shall apply | 18 |
| to and govern the election.
The proposition shall be in | 19 |
| substantially the following form:
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| Shall the (insert name) Conservation District have an | 21 |
| (insert "elected" or
"appointed") board of trustees with
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| (insert "5" or "7") trustees
chosen (insert "at large" or | 23 |
| "from single member subdistricts")?
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| The votes shall be recorded as
"Yes" or "No".
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| If a majority of the votes cast on the proposition are in | 26 |
| the
affirmative,
the trustees of the district shall thereafter |
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| be chosen as provided in this
paragraph.
At the next | 2 |
| consolidated election,
a district that has decided by | 3 |
| referendum to have its
trustees elected rather than appointed | 4 |
| shall elect 5 or 7 trustees
as provided in the ordinance or | 5 |
| petition and in the proposition.
The trustees shall be elected | 6 |
| on a nonpartisan basis.
The provisions of the general election | 7 |
| law shall apply to and govern
the nomination and election of | 8 |
| the trustees.
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| (1) If the district has decided to elect or appoint at | 10 |
| large trustees,
then with respect to a 5-member board,
the | 11 |
| residency of members shall be the same as prescribed in
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| subsection (a).
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| With respect to a 7-member board, no more than 3 | 14 |
| members may be residents
of
any township in a county under | 15 |
| township
organization or of any congressional township in a | 16 |
| county not under township
organization.
In the case of
a | 17 |
| 7-member board representing a district that embraces 2 | 18 |
| counties, 4
trustees
shall be residents of the county with | 19 |
| the larger population and 3 trustees
shall be residents of | 20 |
| the other county. If the district embraces 3 counties,
2 | 21 |
| trustees shall be residents of each of the 2 counties with | 22 |
| the smaller
populations and
the county with the largest | 23 |
| population shall have 3 resident trustees. If the district
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| embraces 4 counties, one trustee shall be a resident of the | 25 |
| county with the
smallest population and each of the other | 26 |
| counties shall have 2 resident
trustees. If the district |
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| embraces 5 counties, the 2 counties with the largest
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| populations shall each have 2 resident trustees and each of | 3 |
| the other counties
shall have one resident trustee.
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| (2) If the district has decided to elect or appoint | 5 |
| trustees from single
member subdistricts, then with | 6 |
| respect to a 5-member board of a district
embracing
a | 7 |
| single county,
the county
board shall apportion the | 8 |
| district into 5 subdistricts. One trustee shall be
a | 9 |
| resident of and elected or appointed from each of the 5 | 10 |
| subdistricts. In the
case of a
5-member board of a district
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| embracing more than one county, the members of each county | 12 |
| board shall,
jointly, apportion the district into 5 | 13 |
| subdistricts.
One trustee shall be a resident of and | 14 |
| elected or appointed from each of the 5
subdistricts.
The | 15 |
| initial subdistricts shall be apportioned within 90 days | 16 |
| after the
referendum is approved, and the subdistricts | 17 |
| shall be reapportioned after each
decennial census.
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| With respect to a 7-member board of a district | 19 |
| embracing a single county,
the
county board
shall apportion | 20 |
| the district into 7 subdistricts. One trustee shall be a
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| resident of and elected or appointed
from each of the 7 | 22 |
| subdistricts. In the case of a 7-member board of a district
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| embracing
more than one county, the members of each county | 24 |
| board shall, jointly,
apportion the district into 7 | 25 |
| subdistricts. One
trustee shall be a resident of and | 26 |
| elected or appointed from each of the 7
subdistricts.
The |
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| initial subdistricts shall be apportioned within 90 days | 2 |
| after the
referendum is approved, and the subdistricts | 3 |
| shall be reapportioned after each
decennial census.
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| (j) When a conservation district determines to elect or | 5 |
| appoint trustees
as
provided in subsection (i), the terms of | 6 |
| these trustees shall commence
on the first Monday of December | 7 |
| following the election. The
terms of all trustees previously | 8 |
| appointed or elected under this Section shall
expire on
the | 9 |
| first Monday of December following the first election.
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| (1) If the district has decided to elect or appoint | 11 |
| at-large trustees,
then the
initial elected board of | 12 |
| trustees shall, no later than 45 days after taking
office, | 13 |
| divide themselves publicly by lot as equally as possible | 14 |
| into 2 groups.
Trustees or their successors from the larger | 15 |
| group shall serve for terms of 4
years; the initial elected | 16 |
| trustees from the second group shall serve for terms
of 2 | 17 |
| years, and their successors shall be elected for terms of 4 | 18 |
| years.
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| (2) If the district has decided to elect or appoint | 20 |
| trustees from single
member
subdistricts, then the members | 21 |
| of the initial elected board of trustees and
each
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| subsequent board
elected prior to the first decennial | 23 |
| census following the initial apportionment
shall be | 24 |
| elected to a term of 2 years. In the year following the | 25 |
| first
decennial census occurring after the initial | 26 |
| apportionment and in the year
following each subsequent |
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| decennial census, the 5 or 7 subdistricts shall be
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| reapportioned
to reflect the results of the census. The | 3 |
| board of trustees elected in the
first election following a | 4 |
| decennial census shall, no later than 45 days after
taking | 5 |
| office, divide themselves publicly by lot as equally as | 6 |
| possible into 3
groups. Trustees or their successors from | 7 |
| one group shall be elected to terms
of 4 years, 4 years, | 8 |
| and 2 years. Trustees or their successors from the second
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| group
shall be elected to terms of 4 years, 2 years, and 4 | 10 |
| years. The trustee or
successors from the third group shall | 11 |
| be elected to terms of 2 years, 4 years,
and 4 years.
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| (Source: P.A. 94-617, eff. 8-18-05.)
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| (70 ILCS 410/6) (from Ch. 96 1/2, par. 7106)
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| Sec. 6. Officers and employees. As soon as possible after | 15 |
| the initial
election or the initial appointments, as the case | 16 |
| may be
Within 60 days after their selection , the trustees shall | 17 |
| organize
by selecting from their members a president, | 18 |
| secretary, treasurer , and such
other officers as are deemed | 19 |
| necessary, who shall hold office for 2 years in
the case of an | 20 |
| elected board, or the
fiscal year in which elected in the case | 21 |
| of an appointed board, and until their successors are selected | 22 |
| and
qualify. Three trustees shall constitute a quorum of the | 23 |
| board for the
transaction of business if the district has 5 | 24 |
| trustees. If the
district has 7 trustees, 4 trustees shall | 25 |
| constitute a quorum of the board
for the transaction of |
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| business. The board shall hold regular monthly
meetings. | 2 |
| Special meetings may be called by the president and shall be | 3 |
| called
on the request of a majority of members, as may be | 4 |
| required.
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| The board shall provide for the proper and safe keeping of | 6 |
| its permanent
records and for the recording of the corporate | 7 |
| action of the district. It
shall keep a proper system of | 8 |
| accounts showing a true and accurate record
of its receipts and | 9 |
| disbursements , and it shall cause an annual audit to be
made of | 10 |
| its books, records , and accounts.
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| The records of the district shall be subject to public | 12 |
| inspection at all
reasonable hours and under such regulations | 13 |
| as the board may prescribe.
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| The district shall annually make a full and complete report | 15 |
| to the
county board of each county within the district and to | 16 |
| the Department of Natural Resources of its transactions and
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| operations for the preceding year. The
Such report shall | 18 |
| contain a full statement
of its receipts, disbursements , and | 19 |
| the program of work for the period covered,
and may include | 20 |
| such recommendations as may be deemed advisable.
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| Executive or ministerial duties may be delegated to one or | 22 |
| more trustees
or to an authorized officer, employee, agent, | 23 |
| attorney , or other
representative of the district.
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| All officers and employees authorized to receive or retain | 25 |
| the custody
of money or to sign vouchers, checks, warrants , or | 26 |
| evidences of indebtedness
binding upon the district shall |
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| furnish surety bond for the faithful
performance of their | 2 |
| duties and the faithful accounting for all moneys that
may come | 3 |
| into their hands in an amount to be fixed and in a form to be
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| approved by the board.
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| All contracts for supplies, material, or work involving an | 6 |
| expenditure in
excess of $20,000 shall be let to the lowest | 7 |
| responsible bidder, after due
advertisement, excepting work | 8 |
| requiring personal confidence or necessary
supplies under the | 9 |
| control of monopolies, where competitive bidding is
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| impossible. All contracts for supplies, material , or work shall | 11 |
| be signed by
the president of the board and by any such other | 12 |
| officer as the board in
its discretion may designate.
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| (Source: P.A. 94-454, eff. 8-4-05.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 15 |
| becoming law. |
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