(65 ILCS 5/10-1-7) (from Ch. 24, par. 10-1-7)
Sec. 10-1-7. Examination of applicants; disqualifications.
(a) All applicants for offices or places in the classified service, except
those mentioned in Section 10-1-17, are subject to examination. The
examination shall be public, competitive, and open to all citizens of the
United States, with specified limitations as to residence, age, health, habits,
and moral character. An individual who is not a citizen but is legally authorized to work
in the United States under federal law or is an individual against whom immigration action has been deferred by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) process is authorized to apply for the position of police officer, subject to (i) all requirements and limitations, other than citizenship, to which other applicants are subject and (ii) the individual being authorized under federal law to obtain, carry, or purchase or otherwise possess a firearm.
(b) Residency requirements in effect at the time an individual enters the
fire or police service of a municipality (other than a municipality that
has more than 1,000,000 inhabitants) cannot be made more restrictive
for that individual during his or her period of service for that municipality,
or be made a condition of promotion, except for the rank or position of Fire or
Police Chief.
(c) No person with a record of misdemeanor convictions except
those under Sections 11-1.50, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9, 11-14, 11-15, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19,
11-30, 11-35, 12-2, 12-6, 12-15, 14-4, 16-1, 21.1-3, 24-3.1, 24-5, 25-1, 28-3, 31-1,
31-4, 31-6, 31-7, 32-1, 32-2, 32-3, 32-4, and 32-8, subdivisions (a)(1) and (a)(2)(C) of Section 11-14.3, and paragraphs (1), (6), and
(8) of subsection (a) of Section 24-1 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012 or arrested for any cause but
not convicted on that cause shall be disqualified from taking the examination
on grounds of habits or moral character, unless the person is attempting to
qualify for a position on the police department, in which case the conviction
or arrest may be considered as a factor in determining the person's habits or
moral character.
(d) Persons entitled to military preference under Section 10-1-16
shall not be subject to limitations specifying age unless they are
applicants for a position as a fireman or a policeman having no previous
employment status as a fireman or policeman in the regularly constituted
fire or police department of the municipality, in which case they must not
have attained their 35th birthday, except any person who has served as an
auxiliary police officer under Section 3.1-30-20 for at least 5 years and is
under 40 years of age.
(e) All employees of a municipality of less than 500,000 population (except
those who would be excluded from the classified service as provided in this
Division 1) who are holding that employment as of the date a municipality
adopts this Division 1, or as of July 17, 1959, whichever date is the later,
and who have held that employment for at least 2 years immediately before that
later date, and all firemen and policemen regardless of length of service who
were either appointed to their respective positions by the board of fire and
police commissioners under the provisions of Division 2 of this Article or who
are serving in a position (except as a temporary employee) in the fire or
police department in the municipality on the date a municipality adopts
this Division 1, or as of July 17, 1959, whichever date is the later, shall
become members of the classified civil service of the municipality
without examination.
(f) The examinations shall be practical in their character, and shall
relate to those matters that will fairly test the relative capacity of the
persons examined to discharge the duties of the positions to which they
seek to be appointed. The examinations shall include tests of physical
qualifications, health, and (when appropriate) manual skill. If an applicant
is unable to pass the physical examination solely as the result of an injury
received by the applicant as the result of the performance of an act of duty
while working as a temporary employee in the position for which he or she is
being examined, however, the physical examination shall be waived and the
applicant shall be considered to have passed the examination. No questions in
any examination shall relate to political or religious opinions or
affiliations. Results of examinations and the eligible registers prepared from
the results shall be published by the commission within 60 days after any
examinations are held.
(g) The commission shall control all examinations, and may, whenever an
examination is to take place, designate a suitable number of persons,
either in or not in the official service of the municipality, to be
examiners. The examiners shall conduct the examinations as directed by the
commission and shall make a return or report of the examinations to the
commission. If the appointed examiners are in the official service of the
municipality, the examiners shall not receive extra compensation for conducting
the examinations unless the examiners are subject to a collective bargaining agreement with the municipality. The commission may at any time substitute any other person,
whether or not in the service of the municipality, in the place of any one
selected as an examiner. The commission members may themselves at any time act
as examiners without appointing examiners. The examiners at any examination
shall not all be members of the same political party.
(h) In municipalities of 500,000 or more population, no person who has
attained his or her 35th birthday shall be eligible to take an examination for
a position as a fireman or a policeman unless the person has had previous
employment status as a policeman or fireman in the regularly constituted police
or fire department of the municipality, except as provided in this Section.
(i) In municipalities of more than 5,000 but not more than 200,000
inhabitants, no person who has attained his or her 35th birthday shall be
eligible to take an examination for a position as a fireman or a policeman
unless the person has had previous employment status as a policeman or fireman
in the regularly constituted police or fire department of the municipality,
except as provided in this Section.
(j) In all municipalities, applicants who are 20 years of age and who have
successfully completed 2 years of law enforcement studies at an accredited
college or university may be considered for appointment to active duty with
the police department. An applicant described in this subsection (j) who is
appointed to active duty shall not have power of arrest, nor shall the
applicant be permitted to carry firearms, until he or she reaches 21 years of
age.
(k) In municipalities of more than 500,000 population, applications for
examination for and appointment to positions as firefighters or police
shall be made available at various branches of the public library of the
municipality.
(l) No municipality having a population less than 1,000,000 shall require
that any fireman appointed to the lowest rank serve a probationary employment
period of longer than one year. The limitation on periods of probationary
employment provided in Public Act 86-990 is an exclusive power and
function of the State. Pursuant to subsection (h) of Section 6 of Article VII
of the Illinois Constitution, a home rule municipality having a population less
than 1,000,000 must comply with this limitation on periods of probationary
employment, which is a denial and limitation of home rule powers.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section, the probationary
employment period limitation may be extended for a firefighter who is required, as a condition of employment, to be a licensed paramedic, during which time the sole reason that a firefighter may be discharged without a hearing is for failing to meet the requirements for paramedic licensure.
(m) To the extent that this Section or any other Section in this Division conflicts with Section 10-1-7.1 or 10-1-7.2, then Section 10-1-7.1 or 10-1-7.2 shall control.(Source: P.A. 102-813, eff. 5-13-22; 103-357, eff. 1-1-24.)
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