093_HB2974

 
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 1        AN ACT concerning local government.

 2        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section 5.  The Downstate Forest Preserve District Act is
 5    amended by changing Section 3c as follows:

 6        (70 ILCS 805/3c)
 7        Sec.  3c.  Elected  board  of  commissioners  in  certain
 8    counties. If the boundaries of a  district  are  co-extensive
 9    with  the  boundaries of a county having a population of more
10    than  275,000  800,000   but   less   than   3,000,000,   all
11    commissioners  of  the  forest  preserve  district  shall  be
12    elected  from  the  same  districts  as members of the county
13    board beginning with the general election held  in  2002  and
14    each  succeeding general election.  One commissioner shall be
15    elected from each district.  At  their  first  meeting  after
16    their   election   in  2002  and  following  each  subsequent
17    decennial reapportionment of the county under Division 2-3 of
18    the Counties Code, the elected commissioners  shall  publicly
19    by  lot  divide themselves into 2 groups, as equal in size as
20    possible.  Commissioners from the first group shall serve for
21    terms of 2, 4, and 4 years; and commissioners from the second
22    group shall serve terms of 4, 4,  and  2  years.    Beginning
23    with the general election in 2002, the president of the board
24    of  commissioners  of  the  forest preserve district shall be
25    elected by the voters of  the  county,  rather  than  by  the
26    commissioners.   The  president  shall  be  a resident of the
27    county and shall be  elected  throughout  the  county  for  a
28    4-year term without having been first elected as commissioner
29    of the forest preserve district. Each commissioner shall be a
30    resident  of  the  county board district from which he or she
31    was elected not later than the date of  the  commencement  of
 
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 1    the term of office.  The term of office for the president and
 2    commissioners  elected  under  this Section shall commence on
 3    the  first  Monday  of  the  month  following  the  month  of
 4    election. Neither a commissioner nor  the  president  of  the
 5    board of commissioners of that forest preserve district shall
 6    serve  simultaneously  as  member  or  chairman of the county
 7    board.  No person shall seek  election  to  both  the  forest
 8    preserve   commission  and  the  county  board  at  the  same
 9    election.  The compensation for the  president  shall  be  an
10    amount  equal to 85% of the annual salary of the county board
11    chairman. The president, with the advice and consent  of  the
12    board  of commissioners shall appoint a secretary, treasurer,
13    and such other officers as deemed necessary by the  board  of
14    commissioners,  which  officers  need  not  be members of the
15    board of commissioners.  The president shall have the  powers
16    and duties as specified in Section 12 of this Act.
17        Candidates   for  president  and  commissioner  shall  be
18    candidates of established political parties.
19        If a vacancy in the office of president  or  commissioner
20    occurs,  other  than  by  expiration  of  the  president's or
21    commissioner's term, the forest preserve  district  board  of
22    commissioners   shall  declare  that  a  vacancy  exists  and
23    notification of the vacancy shall  be  given  to  the  county
24    central  committee of each established political party within
25    3 business days after the occurrence of the vacancy.  If  the
26    vacancy  occurs  in  the  office  of forest preserve district
27    commissioner, the president of  the  board  of  commissioners
28    shall, within 60 days after the date of the vacancy, with the
29    advice  and  consent  of  other  commissioners  then serving,
30    appoint a person to serve for the remainder of the  unexpired
31    term.    The  appointee  shall  be  affiliated  with the same
32    political party as  the  commissioner  in  whose  office  the
33    vacancy  occurred  and  be a resident of such district.  If a
34    vacancy in the office of  president  occurs,  other  than  by
 
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 1    expiration  of the president's term, the remaining members of
 2    the board of commissioners shall, within 60  days  after  the
 3    vacancy,  appoint  one  of  the  commissioners  to  serve  as
 4    president  for  the  remainder of the unexpired term. In that
 5    case, the office of the  commissioner  who  is  appointed  to
 6    serve as president shall be deemed vacant and shall be filled
 7    within  60  days  by  appointment  of  the president with the
 8    advice and consent of  the  other  forest  preserve  district
 9    commissioners.   The  commissioner who is appointed to fill a
10    vacancy in the office of president shall be  affiliated  with
11    the  same  political  party  as  the  person who occupied the
12    office of president prior to the vacancy.  A person appointed
13    to fill a vacancy in the office of president or  commissioner
14    shall  establish  his  or her party affiliation by his or her
15    record of voting in primary elections or by holding or having
16    held an office in an established political party organization
17    before the appointment.  If the appointee has not voted in  a
18    party  primary  election or is not holding or has not held an
19    office in an established political party organization  before
20    the  appointment,  the  appointee  shall establish his or her
21    political  party  affiliation  by  his  or  her   record   of
22    participating  in an established political party's nomination
23    or election caucus. If, however, more than 28  months  remain
24    in the unexpired term of a commissioner or the president, the
25    appointment  shall  be  until  the  next general election, at
26    which time the vacated office of  commissioner  or  president
27    shall  be  filled  by election for the remainder of the term.
28    Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, if a vacancy  occurs
29    after  the  last day provided in Section 7-12 of the Election
30    Code for filing nomination papers for the office of president
31    of a forest preserve district where that office is elected as
32    provided for in this Section, or as set forth in Section 7-61
33    of the Election Code, a vacancy in nomination shall be filled
34    by the passage of a resolution by the nominating committee of
 
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 1    the  affected  political  party  within  the   time   periods
 2    specified  in  the  Election  Code.  The nominating committee
 3    shall consist of the chairman of the county central committee
 4    and the township chairmen of the  affected  political  party.
 5    All   other  vacancies  in  nomination  shall  be  filled  in
 6    accordance with the provisions of the Election Code.
 7        The  president  and  commissioners  elected  under   this
 8    Section  may  be  reimbursed  for  their  reasonable expenses
 9    actually incurred in performing their official  duties  under
10    this  Act  in  accordance  with the provisions of Section 3a.
11    The reimbursement paid under this Section shall  be  paid  by
12    the forest preserve district.
13        Compensation  for  forest  preserve commissioners elected
14    under this Section shall be the same as that of county  board
15    members   of  the  county  with  which  the  forest  preserve
16    district's boundaries are co-extensive.
17    (Source: P.A. 91-933, eff. 12-30-00; 92-583, eff. 6-26-02.)

18        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
19    becoming law.