(225 ILCS 85/11) (from Ch. 111, par. 4131)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2028)
    Sec. 11. Duties of the Department. The Department shall exercise the powers and duties prescribed by the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois for the administration of Licensing Acts and shall exercise such other powers and duties necessary for effectuating the purpose of this Act. The powers and duties of the Department also include:
    (a) Formulation of such rules, not inconsistent with law and subject to the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, as may be necessary to carry out the purposes and enforce the provisions of this Act. The Secretary may grant variances from any such rules as provided for in this Section.
    (b) The suspension, revocation, placing on probationary status, reprimand, refusing to issue or restore, or taking any other disciplinary or non-disciplinary action against any license issued under the provisions of this Act for the reasons set forth in Section 30 of this Act.
    (c) The issuance, renewal, restoration, or reissuance of any license or certificate which has been previously refused to be issued or renewed, or has been revoked, suspended or placed on probationary status.
    (c-5) The granting of variances from rules promulgated pursuant to this Section in individual cases where there is a finding that:
        (1) the provision from which the variance is granted
    
is not statutorily mandated;
        (2) no party will be injured by the granting of the
    
variance; and
        (3) the rule from which the variance is granted
    
would, in the particular case, be unreasonable or unnecessarily burdensome.
    The Secretary shall give consideration to the recommendations of the State Board of Pharmacy regarding granting of such variance and the reasons therefor.
    (d) The Secretary shall appoint a chief pharmacy coordinator who shall be a licensed pharmacist in good standing in this State, shall be a graduate of an accredited college of pharmacy or hold, at a minimum, a bachelor of science degree in pharmacy, and shall have at least 5 years of experience in the practice of pharmacy immediately prior to his or her appointment. The chief pharmacy coordinator shall be the executive administrator and the chief enforcement officer of this Act.
    (e) The Department shall, in conformity with the Personnel Code, employ such pharmacy investigators as deemed necessary who shall report to the chief pharmacy coordinator. Each pharmacy investigator shall be a licensed pharmacist unless employed as a pharmacy investigator on or before August 27, 2015 (the effective date of Public Act 99-473). The Department shall also employ at least one attorney to prosecute violations of this Act and its rules. The Department may, in conformity with the Personnel Code, employ such clerical and other employees as are necessary to carry out the duties of the Board and Department.
    The duly authorized pharmacy investigators of the Department shall have the right to enter and inspect, during business hours, any pharmacy or any other place in this State holding itself out to be a pharmacy where medicines, drugs or drug products, or proprietary medicines are sold, offered for sale, exposed for sale, or kept for sale.
(Source: P.A. 99-473, eff. 8-27-15; 100-497, eff. 9-8-17.)