50 ILCS 135/ Local Governmental Employees Political Rights Act.

Information maintained by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Updating the database of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) is an ongoing process. Recent laws may not yet be included in the ILCS database, but they are found on this site as Public Acts soon after they become law. For information concerning the relationship between statutes and Public Acts, refer to the Guide.

Because the statute database is maintained primarily for legislative drafting purposes, statutory changes are sometimes included in the statute database before they take effect. If the source note at the end of a Section of the statutes includes a Public Act that has not yet taken effect, the version of the law that is currently in effect may have already been removed from the database and you should refer to that Public Act to see the changes made to the current law.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
(50 ILCS 135/) Local Governmental Employees Political Rights Act.

50 ILCS 135/1

(50 ILCS 135/1) (from Ch. 85, par. 7601)

Sec. 1.

Short title.

This Act may be cited as the Local Governmental Employees Political Rights Act.

(Source: P.A. 87-385.)

50 ILCS 135/5

(50 ILCS 135/5) (from Ch. 85, par. 7605)

Sec. 5.

Definition; political rights.

"Political rights" include,
without limitation, the following political activities:  to petition, to
make public speeches, to campaign for or against political candidates, to
speak out on questions of public policy, to distribute political
literature, to make campaign contributions, and to seek public office.

(Source: P.A. 87-385.)

50 ILCS 135/10

(50 ILCS 135/10) (from Ch. 85, par. 7610)

Sec. 10.

Political rights protected.

(a) No unit of local government or school district may make or enforce
any rule or ordinance that in any way inhibits or prohibits any of its
employees from exercising the employee's political rights.

(b) No employee of a unit of local government or school district may (i)
use his or her official position of employment to coerce or inhibit others
in the free exercise of their political rights or (ii) engage in political
activities while at work or on duty.

(Source: P.A. 87-385.)

50 ILCS 135/12

    (50 ILCS 135/12)
    Sec. 12. Elective and appointed office.
    (a) A member of any fire department or fire protection district may:
        (1) be a candidate for elective public office and

serve in that public office if elected;

(2) be appointed to any public office and serve in

that public office if appointed; and

(3) as long as the member is not in uniform and not

on duty, solicit votes and campaign funds and challenge voters for the public office for which the member is a candidate.

(b) A firefighter who is elected to the Illinois General Assembly shall, upon written application to the employer, be granted a leave of absence without compensation during his or her term of office.

(Source: P.A. 94-316, eff. 7-25-05; 95-142, eff. 8-13-07.)

50 ILCS 135/15

(50 ILCS 135/15) (from Ch. 85, par. 7615)

Sec. 15.

Home rule.

A home rule unit may not regulate employee
political rights in a manner inconsistent with this Act.  This Section is a
limitation under subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois
Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home rule units of powers and
functions exercised by the State.

(Source: P.A. 87-385.)

50 ILCS 135/105

(50 ILCS 135/105) (from Ch. 85, par. 7649)

Sec. 105.

Effective date.

This Act takes effect upon becoming law.

(Source: P.A. 87-385.)