Full Text of HB0553 96th General Assembly
HB0553 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010 HB0553
Introduced 2/4/2009, by Rep. Jack D. Franks SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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5 ILCS 430/20-50 |
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5 ILCS 430/25-50 |
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Amends the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. Provides that, if an Executive or the Legislative Inspector General, upon the conclusion of an
investigation, determines that reasonable cause exists to believe that a
violation
has occurred and issues a summary report of the
investigation, then the Inspector General shall deliver a copy of the report, with all confidential information redacted, to the person who is the subject of the investigation and also make a copy of that redacted report available to the public for inspection and copying.
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A BILL FOR
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HB0553 |
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LRB096 04799 JAM 14863 b |
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| AN ACT concerning ethics.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The State Officials and Employees Ethics Act is | 5 |
| amended by changing Sections 20-50 and 25-50 as follows: | 6 |
| (5 ILCS 430/20-50)
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| Sec. 20-50. Investigation reports; complaint procedure.
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| (a) If an Executive Inspector General, upon the conclusion | 9 |
| of an
investigation, determines that reasonable cause exists to | 10 |
| believe that a
violation
has occurred, then
the Executive | 11 |
| Inspector General shall issue a summary report of the
| 12 |
| investigation. The report shall be delivered to the
appropriate | 13 |
| ultimate jurisdictional
authority and to the head of each State
| 14 |
| agency
affected by or involved in the investigation, if | 15 |
| appropriate. The Executive Inspector General shall deliver a | 16 |
| copy of the report, with all confidential information redacted, | 17 |
| to the person who is the subject of the investigation and also | 18 |
| make a copy of that redacted report available to the public for | 19 |
| inspection and copying.
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| (b) The summary report of the investigation shall include | 21 |
| the following:
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| (1) A description of any allegations or other | 23 |
| information
received by the Executive Inspector General |
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HB0553 |
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LRB096 04799 JAM 14863 b |
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| 1 |
| pertinent to the
investigation.
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| (2) A description of any alleged misconduct discovered | 3 |
| in the
course of the investigation.
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| (3) Recommendations for any corrective or disciplinary
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| action to be taken in response to any alleged misconduct | 6 |
| described in the
report, including but not limited to | 7 |
| discharge.
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| (4) Other information the Executive Inspector General
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| deems relevant to the investigation or resulting | 10 |
| recommendations.
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| (c) Not less than 30 days after delivery of the summary | 12 |
| report of
an
investigation under subsection (a),
if the | 13 |
| Executive Inspector General desires to file a petition for | 14 |
| leave to file
a
complaint, the Executive Inspector General | 15 |
| shall notify the Commission and the
Attorney General.
If the | 16 |
| Attorney General determines
that reasonable cause exists to | 17 |
| believe that a violation has occurred, then the
Executive | 18 |
| Inspector
General, represented by the Attorney
General, may | 19 |
| file with the Executive Ethics Commission a petition for
leave | 20 |
| to file a complaint.
The petition shall set
forth the alleged | 21 |
| violation and the
grounds that exist to support the petition. | 22 |
| The petition for leave to
file a complaint must be filed with | 23 |
| the Commission within 18 months
after the most recent act of | 24 |
| the
alleged violation or of a series of alleged violations
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| except where there is reasonable cause to believe
that | 26 |
| fraudulent concealment has occurred. To constitute fraudulent |
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HB0553 |
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LRB096 04799 JAM 14863 b |
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| concealment
sufficient to toll this limitations period, there | 2 |
| must be an affirmative act or
representation calculated to | 3 |
| prevent discovery of the fact that a violation has
occurred.
If | 4 |
| a petition for leave to file a complaint is not filed with the | 5 |
| Commission
within 6 months after notice by the Inspector | 6 |
| General to the Commission and the
Attorney General, then the | 7 |
| Commission may set a meeting of the Commission at
which the | 8 |
| Attorney General shall appear and provide a status
report to | 9 |
| the Commission.
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| (d) A copy of the petition must be served on all | 11 |
| respondents named in the
complaint and on each respondent's | 12 |
| ultimate jurisdictional authority in
the same manner as process | 13 |
| is served under the Code of Civil
Procedure.
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| (e) A respondent may file objections to the petition for | 15 |
| leave to
file a complaint within 30 days after notice of the | 16 |
| petition has been
served on the respondent.
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| (f) The Commission shall meet, either in person or by | 18 |
| telephone,
in a closed session to review the sufficiency of the | 19 |
| complaint.
If the Commission finds that complaint is | 20 |
| sufficient, the Commission shall
grant the petition for leave | 21 |
| to file the
complaint.
The Commission shall
issue notice to the | 22 |
| Executive Inspector General and all respondents of
the | 23 |
| Commission's ruling on the sufficiency of the complaint. If the | 24 |
| complaint
is deemed to
sufficiently allege a violation of this | 25 |
| Act, then the Commission shall notify
the parties and shall
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| include a hearing date scheduled within 4 weeks after the date |
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HB0553 |
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LRB096 04799 JAM 14863 b |
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| of the notice,
unless all of the parties consent to a later | 2 |
| date.
If the complaint is deemed not to sufficiently allege a
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| violation, then
the Commission shall send by certified mail, | 4 |
| return receipt requested,
a notice to the parties of the | 5 |
| decision to dismiss the complaint.
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| (g) On the scheduled date
the Commission shall conduct a | 7 |
| closed meeting,
either in person or, if the parties consent, by | 8 |
| telephone, on the complaint and
allow all
parties the | 9 |
| opportunity to present testimony and evidence.
All such | 10 |
| proceedings shall be transcribed.
| 11 |
| (h) Within an appropriate time limit set by rules of the | 12 |
| Executive
Ethics Commission, the Commission shall (i) dismiss | 13 |
| the
complaint or (ii) issue a recommendation of discipline to | 14 |
| the
respondent and the respondent's ultimate jurisdictional | 15 |
| authority or
impose an administrative fine upon the respondent, | 16 |
| or both.
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| (i) The proceedings on any complaint filed with the | 18 |
| Commission
shall be conducted pursuant to rules promulgated by | 19 |
| the Commission.
| 20 |
| (j) The Commission may designate hearing officers
to | 21 |
| conduct proceedings as determined by rule of the Commission.
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| (k) In all proceedings before the Commission, the standard | 23 |
| of
proof is by a preponderance of the evidence.
| 24 |
| (l) When the Inspector General concludes that there is | 25 |
| insufficient
evidence that a violation has occurred, the | 26 |
| Inspector General shall close the
investigation. At the request |
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HB0553 |
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LRB096 04799 JAM 14863 b |
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| 1 |
| of the subject of the investigation, the
Inspector
General | 2 |
| shall provide a written statement to the subject of the | 3 |
| investigation
and to the Commission of
the Inspector General's | 4 |
| decision to close the investigation. Closure by the
Inspector | 5 |
| General does not bar the Inspector General from resuming the
| 6 |
| investigation if circumstances warrant.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-617, eff. 12-9-03.) | 8 |
| (5 ILCS 430/25-50)
| 9 |
| Sec. 25-50. Investigation reports; complaint procedure.
| 10 |
| (a) If the Legislative Inspector General, upon the | 11 |
| conclusion of an
investigation, determines that reasonable | 12 |
| cause exists to believe that a
violation
has occurred, then
the | 13 |
| Legislative Inspector General shall issue a summary report of | 14 |
| the
investigation. The report shall be delivered to the
| 15 |
| appropriate ultimate jurisdictional
authority and to the head | 16 |
| of each State
agency
affected by or involved in the | 17 |
| investigation, if appropriate. The Legislative Inspector | 18 |
| General shall deliver a copy of the report, with all | 19 |
| confidential information redacted, to the person who is the | 20 |
| subject of the investigation and also make a copy of that | 21 |
| redacted report available to the public for inspection and | 22 |
| copying.
| 23 |
| (b) The summary report of the investigation shall include | 24 |
| the following:
| 25 |
| (1) A description of any allegations or other |
|
|
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HB0553 |
- 6 - |
LRB096 04799 JAM 14863 b |
|
| 1 |
| information
received by the Legislative Inspector General | 2 |
| pertinent to the
investigation.
| 3 |
| (2) A description of any alleged misconduct discovered | 4 |
| in the
course of the investigation.
| 5 |
| (3) Recommendations for any corrective or disciplinary
| 6 |
| action to be taken in response to any alleged misconduct | 7 |
| described in the
report, including but not limited to | 8 |
| discharge.
| 9 |
| (4) Other information the Legislative Inspector | 10 |
| General
deems relevant to the investigation or resulting | 11 |
| recommendations.
| 12 |
| (c) Not less than 30 days after delivery of the summary | 13 |
| report of
an
investigation under subsection (a),
if the | 14 |
| Legislative Inspector General desires to file a petition for | 15 |
| leave to
file a
complaint, the Legislative Inspector General | 16 |
| shall notify the Commission and
the
Attorney General.
If the | 17 |
| Attorney General determines
that reasonable cause exists to | 18 |
| believe that a violation has occurred, then the
Legislative | 19 |
| Inspector
General, represented by the Attorney
General, may | 20 |
| file with the Legislative Ethics Commission a petition for
| 21 |
| leave to file a complaint.
The petition shall set
forth the | 22 |
| alleged violation and the
grounds that exist to support the | 23 |
| petition. The petition for leave to
file a complaint must be | 24 |
| filed with the Commission within 18 months
after the most | 25 |
| recent act of the alleged violation or of a series of alleged
| 26 |
| violations
except where there is reasonable cause to believe
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HB0553 |
- 7 - |
LRB096 04799 JAM 14863 b |
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| 1 |
| that fraudulent concealment has occurred. To constitute | 2 |
| fraudulent concealment
sufficient to toll this limitations | 3 |
| period, there must be an affirmative act or
representation | 4 |
| calculated to prevent discovery of the fact that a violation | 5 |
| has
occurred.
If a petition for leave to file a complaint is | 6 |
| not filed with the Commission
within 6 months after notice by | 7 |
| the Inspector General to the Commission and the
Attorney | 8 |
| General, then the Commission may set a meeting of the | 9 |
| Commission at
which the Attorney General shall appear and | 10 |
| provide a status
report to the Commission.
| 11 |
| (d) A copy of the petition must be served on all | 12 |
| respondents named in the
complaint and on each respondent's | 13 |
| ultimate jurisdictional authority in
the same manner as process | 14 |
| is served under the Code of Civil
Procedure.
| 15 |
| (e) A respondent may file objections to the petition for | 16 |
| leave to
file a complaint within 30 days after notice of the | 17 |
| petition has been
served on the respondent.
| 18 |
| (f) The Commission shall meet, either in person or by | 19 |
| telephone,
in a closed session to review the sufficiency of the | 20 |
| complaint.
If the Commission finds that complaint is | 21 |
| sufficient, the Commission shall
grant the petition for leave | 22 |
| to file the
complaint.
The Commission shall
issue notice to the | 23 |
| Legislative Inspector General and all respondents of
the | 24 |
| Commission's ruling on the sufficiency of the complaint. If the | 25 |
| complaint
is deemed to
sufficiently allege a violation of this | 26 |
| Act, then the Commission shall notify
the parties and shall
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HB0553 |
- 8 - |
LRB096 04799 JAM 14863 b |
|
| 1 |
| include a hearing date scheduled within 4 weeks after the date | 2 |
| of the notice,
unless all of the parties consent to a later | 3 |
| date.
If the complaint is deemed not to sufficiently allege a
| 4 |
| violation, then
the Commission shall send by certified mail, | 5 |
| return receipt requested,
a notice to the parties of the | 6 |
| decision to dismiss the complaint.
| 7 |
| (g) On the scheduled date
the Commission shall conduct a | 8 |
| closed meeting,
either in person or, if the parties consent, by | 9 |
| telephone, on the complaint and
allow all
parties the | 10 |
| opportunity to present testimony and evidence.
All such | 11 |
| proceedings shall be transcribed.
| 12 |
| (h) Within an appropriate time limit set by rules of the | 13 |
| Legislative
Ethics Commission, the Commission shall (i) | 14 |
| dismiss the
complaint or (ii) issue a recommendation of | 15 |
| discipline to the
respondent and the respondent's ultimate | 16 |
| jurisdictional authority or
impose an administrative fine upon | 17 |
| the respondent, or both.
| 18 |
| (i) The proceedings on any complaint filed with the | 19 |
| Commission
shall be conducted pursuant to rules promulgated by | 20 |
| the Commission.
| 21 |
| (j) The Commission may designate hearing officers
to | 22 |
| conduct proceedings as determined by rule of the Commission.
| 23 |
| (k) In all proceedings before the Commission, the standard | 24 |
| of
proof is by a preponderance of the evidence.
| 25 |
| (l) When the Inspector General concludes that there is | 26 |
| insufficient
evidence that a violation has occurred, the |
|
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HB0553 |
- 9 - |
LRB096 04799 JAM 14863 b |
|
| 1 |
| Inspector General shall close the
investigation. At the request | 2 |
| of the subject of the investigation, the
Inspector
General | 3 |
| shall provide a written statement to the subject of the | 4 |
| investigation
and to the Commission of
the Inspector General's | 5 |
| decision to close the investigation. Closure by the
Inspector | 6 |
| General does not bar the Inspector General from resuming the
| 7 |
| investigation if circumstances warrant.
| 8 |
| (Source: P.A. 93-617, eff. 12-9-03.)
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