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90_HB2476
70 ILCS 705/4 from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 24
Amends the Fire Protection District Act. Eliminates the
provision that violation of certain prohibitions against
financial interests in contracts by an employee is a Class 4
felony.
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1 AN ACT to amend the Fire Protection District Act by
2 changing Section 4.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Fire Protection District Act is amended
6 by changing Section 4 as follows:
7 (70 ILCS 705/4) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 24)
8 Sec. 4. Trustees; conflict of interest; violations.
9 (a) A board of trustees consisting of 3 members for the
10 government and control of the affairs and business of a fire
11 protection district incorporated under this Act shall be
12 created in the following manner:
13 (1) If the district lies wholly within a single
14 township but does not also lie wholly within a
15 municipality, the board of trustees of that township
16 shall appoint the trustees for the district but no
17 township official who is eligible to vote on the
18 appointment shall be eligible for such appointment.
19 (2) If the district is wholly contained within a
20 municipality, the governing body of the municipality
21 shall appoint the trustees for the district.
22 (3) If the district is wholly contained within a
23 single county but does not lie wholly within a single
24 township or a single municipality, the trustees for the
25 district shall be appointed by the presiding officer of
26 the county board with the advice and consent of the
27 county board; except that in counties with a population
28 in excess of 3,000,000, 2 trustees for the district shall
29 be appointed by the board of trustees of the township
30 that has the greatest population within the district as
31 determined by the last preceding federal census. That
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1 board of trustees shall also appoint the remaining
2 trustee if no other township comprises at least 10% of
3 the population of the district. If only one other
4 township comprises at least 10% of the population of the
5 district, then the board of trustees of that district
6 shall appoint the remaining trustee. If 2 or more other
7 townships each comprise at least 10% of the population of
8 the district, then the boards of trustees of those
9 townships shall jointly appoint the remaining trustee.
10 No township official who is eligible to vote on the
11 appointment shall be eligible for the appointment.
12 (4) If the district is located in more than one
13 county, the number of trustees who are residents of a
14 county shall be in proportion, as nearly as practicable,
15 to the number of residents of the district who reside in
16 that county in relation to the total population of the
17 district.
18 (A) In counties with a population of 3,000,000
19 or more, the trustees shall be appointed as provided
20 in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a) of
21 this Section. For purposes of this item (A) and in
22 item (B), "district" means that portion of the total
23 fire protection district lying within a county with
24 a population in excess of 3,000,000.
25 (B) In counties with a population of less than
26 3,000,000, the trustees for the district shall be
27 appointed by the presiding officer of the county
28 board with the advice and consent of the county
29 board.
30 Upon the expiration of the term of a trustee who is in
31 office on October 1, 1975, the successor shall be a resident
32 of whichever county is entitled to such representation in
33 order to bring about the proportional representation required
34 herein, and he shall be appointed by the county board of that
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1 county, or in the case of a home rule county as defined by
2 Article VII, Section 6 of the Constitution of 1970, the chief
3 executive officer of that county, with the advice and consent
4 of the county board.
5 Thereafter, each trustee shall be succeeded by a resident
6 of the same county who shall be appointed by the same
7 appointing authority; however, the provisions of the
8 preceding paragraph shall apply to the appointment of the
9 successor to each trustee who is in office at the time of the
10 publication of each decennial Federal census of population.
11 Within 60 days after the adoption of this Act as provided
12 in Section 1, or within 60 days after the adoption of an
13 ordinance pursuant to subsection (c) of Section 4.01, the
14 appropriate appointing authority shall appoint 3 trustees who
15 are electors in the district, not more than one of whom shall
16 be from any one city or village or incorporated town in a
17 district unless such city or village or incorporated town has
18 more than 50% of the population in the district according to
19 last preceding Federal census. Such trustees shall hold
20 their offices thenceforward and for one, 2 and 3 years from
21 the first Monday of May next after their appointment and
22 until their successors have been selected and qualified and
23 thereafter, unless the district has determined to elect
24 trustees as provided in Section 4a, on or before the second
25 Monday in April of each year the appointing authority shall
26 appoint one trustee whose term shall be for 3 years
27 commencing on the first Monday in May next after they are
28 respectively appointed. The length of term of the first
29 trustees shall be determined by lot at their first meeting.
30 Each trustee shall, before entering on the duties of his
31 office, enter into bond with security to be approved by the
32 appointing authority in such sum as the authority may
33 determine.
34 A majority of the board of trustees shall constitute a
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1 quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day. No
2 trustee or employee of such district shall be directly or
3 indirectly interested financially in any contract work or
4 business or the sale of any article, the expense, price or
5 consideration of which is paid by the district; nor in the
6 purchase of any real estate or other property, belonging to
7 the district, or which shall be sold for taxes or assessments
8 or by virtue of legal process at the suit of the district.
9 Nothing in this Section prohibits the appointment or
10 selection of any person or trustee or employee whose only
11 interest in the district is as an owner of real estate in
12 such fire protection district or of contributing to the
13 payment of taxes levied by the district. The trustees shall
14 have the power to provide and adopt a corporate seal for the
15 district.
16 (b) However, any trustee may provide materials,
17 merchandise, property, services or labor, if:
18 A. the contract is with a person, firm,
19 partnership, association, corporation or cooperative
20 association in which such interested trustee has less
21 than a 7 1/2% share in the ownership; and
22 B. such interested trustee publicly discloses the
23 nature and extent of his interest prior to or during
24 deliberations concerning the proposed award of the
25 contract; and
26 C. such interested trustee abstains from voting on
27 the award of the contract, though he shall be considered
28 present for the purposes of establishing a quorum; and
29 D. such contract is approved by a majority vote of
30 those trustees presently holding office; and
31 E. the contract is awarded after sealed bids to the
32 lowest responsible bidder if the amount of the contract
33 exceeds $1500, but the contract may be awarded without
34 bidding if the amount is less than $1500; and
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1 F. the award of the contract would not cause the
2 aggregate amount of all such contracts so awarded to the
3 same person, firm, association, partnership, corporation,
4 or cooperative association in the same fiscal year to
5 exceed $25,000.
6 (c) In addition to the above exemption, any trustee or
7 employee may provide materials, merchandise, property,
8 services or labor if:
9 A. the award of the contract is approved by a
10 majority vote of the board of trustees of the fire
11 protection district provided that any such interested
12 member shall abstain from voting; and
13 B. the amount of the contract does not exceed
14 $1000; and
15 C. the award of the contract would not cause the
16 aggregate amount of all such contracts so awarded to the
17 same person, firm, association, partnership, corporation,
18 or cooperative association in the same fiscal year to
19 exceed $2000; and
20 D. such interested member publicly discloses the
21 nature and extent of his interest prior to or during
22 deliberations concerning the proposed award of the
23 contract; and
24 E. such interested member abstains from voting on
25 the award of the contract, though he shall be considered
26 present for the purposes of establishing a quorum.
27 (d) A contract for the procurement of public utility
28 services by a district with a public utility company is not
29 barred by this Section by one or more members of the board of
30 trustees being an officer or employee of the public utility
31 company or holding an ownership interest if no more than 7
32 1/2% in the public utility company, or holding an ownership
33 interest of any size if the fire protection district has a
34 population of less than 7,500 and the public utility's rates
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1 are approved by the Illinois Commerce Commission. An elected
2 or appointed member of the board of trustees having such an
3 interest shall be deemed not to have a prohibited interest
4 under this Section.
5 (e) Any officer or employee who violates this Section is
6 guilty of a Class 4 felony and in addition thereto any office
7 held by such person so convicted shall become vacant and
8 shall be so declared as part of the judgment of the court.
9 (f) Nothing contained in this Section, including the
10 restrictions set forth in subsections (b), (c) and (d), shall
11 preclude a contract of deposit of monies, loans or other
12 financial services by a fire protection district with a local
13 bank or local savings and loan association, regardless of
14 whether a member or members of the board of trustees of the
15 fire protection district are interested in such bank or
16 savings and loan association as an officer or employee or as
17 a holder of less than 7 1/2% of the total ownership interest.
18 A member or members holding such an interest in such a
19 contract shall not be deemed to be holding a prohibited
20 interest for purposes of this Act. Such interested member or
21 members of the board of trustees must publicly state the
22 nature and extent of their interest during deliberations
23 concerning the proposed award of such a contract, but shall
24 not participate in any further deliberations concerning the
25 proposed award. Such interested member or members shall not
26 vote on such a proposed award. Any member or members
27 abstaining from participation in deliberations and voting
28 under this Section may be considered present for purposes of
29 establishing a quorum. Award of such a contract shall require
30 approval by a majority vote of those members presently
31 holding office. Consideration and award of any such contract
32 in which a member or members are interested may only be made
33 at a regularly scheduled public meeting of the board of
34 trustees of the fire protection district.
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1 (g) Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory
2 Act of 1990 and ending 3 years after the effective date of
3 this amendatory Act of 1990, in the case of a fire protection
4 district board of trustees in a county with a population of
5 more than 400,000 but less than 450,000, according to the
6 1980 general census, created under subsection (a), paragraph
7 (3) of this Section a petition for the redress of a trustee,
8 charging the trustee with palpable omission of duty or
9 nonfeasance in office, signed by not less than 5% of the
10 electors of the district may be presented to the township
11 supervisor or the presiding officer of the county board, as
12 appropriate. Upon receipt of the petition, the township
13 supervisor or presiding officer of the county board, as
14 appropriate, shall preside over a hearing on the matter of
15 the requested redress. The hearing shall be held not less
16 than 14 nor more than 30 days after receipt of the petition.
17 In the case of a fire protection district trustee appointed
18 by the presiding officer of the county board, the presiding
19 officer shall appoint at least 4 but not more than 8 members
20 of the county board, a majority of whom shall reside in a
21 county board district in which the fire protection district
22 is wholly or partially located, to serve as the hearing
23 panel. In the case of a fire protection district trustee
24 appointed by the board of town trustees, the township
25 supervisor and 2 other town trustees appointed by the
26 supervisor shall serve as the hearing panel. Within 30 days
27 after the hearing, the panel shall issue a statement of its
28 findings concerning the charges against the trustee, based
29 upon the evidence presented at the hearing, and may make to
30 the fire protection district any recommendations deemed
31 appropriate.
32 (Source: P.A. 89-482, eff. 1-1-97; 89-588, eff. 1-1-97;
33 90-14, eff. 7-1-97.)