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90_SB1606
65 ILCS 5/10-1-7 from Ch. 24, par. 10-1-7
65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-6 from Ch. 24, par. 10-2.1-6
Amends the Illinois Municipal Code. Provides that
firefighters shall reside within the corporate limits of the
municipality that employs them.
LRB9010843PTsb
LRB9010843PTsb
1 AN ACT concerning firefighters.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by
5 changing Sections 10-1-7 and 10-2.1-6 as follows:
6 (65 ILCS 5/10-1-7) (from Ch. 24, par. 10-1-7)
7 Sec. 10-1-7. Examination of applicants;
8 disqualifications.
9 (a) All applicants for offices or places in the
10 classified service, except those mentioned in Section
11 10-1-17, are subject to examination. The examination shall
12 be public, competitive, and open to all citizens of the
13 United States, with specified limitations as to residence,
14 age, health, habits and moral character.
15 (b) Residency requirements in effect at the time an
16 individual enters the fire or police service of a
17 municipality (other than a municipality that has more than
18 1,000,000 inhabitants) cannot be made more restrictive for
19 that individual during his or her period of service for that
20 municipality, or be made a condition of promotion, except (i)
21 for the rank or position of Fire or Police Chief and (ii)
22 after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1998,
23 firefighters shall reside within the corporate limits of the
24 municipality that employs them.
25 (c) No person with a record of misdemeanor convictions
26 except those under Sections 11-6, 11-7, 11-9, 11-14, 11-15,
27 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, 12-2, 12-6, 12-15, 14-4, 16-1, 21.1-3,
28 24-3.1, 24-5, 25-1, 28-3, 31-1, 31-4, 31-6, 31-7, 32-1, 32-2,
29 32-3, 32-4, 32-8, and subsections (1), (6) and (8) of Section
30 24-1 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or arrested for any cause
31 but not convicted on that cause shall be disqualified from
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1 taking the examination on grounds of habits or moral
2 character, unless the person is attempting to qualify for a
3 position on the police department, in which case the
4 conviction or arrest may be considered as a factor in
5 determining the person's habits or moral character.
6 (d) Persons entitled to military preference under
7 Section 10-1-16 shall not be subject to limitations
8 specifying age unless they are applicants for a position as a
9 fireman or a policeman having no previous employment status
10 as a fireman or policeman in the regularly constituted fire
11 or police department of the municipality, in which case they
12 must not have attained their 35th birthday, except any person
13 who has served as an auxiliary policeman under Section
14 3.1-30-20 for at least 5 years and is under 40 years of age.
15 (e) All employees of a municipality of less than 500,000
16 population (except those who would be excluded from the
17 classified service as provided in this Division 1) who are
18 holding that employment as of the date a municipality adopts
19 this Division 1, or as of July 17, 1959, whichever date is
20 the later, and who have held that employment for at least 2
21 years immediately before that later date, and all firemen and
22 policemen regardless of length of service who were either
23 appointed to their respective positions by the board of fire
24 and police commissioners under the provisions of Division 2
25 of this Article or who are serving in a position (except as a
26 temporary employee) in the fire or police department in the
27 municipality on the date a municipality adopts this Division
28 1, or as of July 17, 1959, whichever date is the later, shall
29 become members of the classified civil service of the
30 municipality without examination.
31 (f) The examinations shall be practical in their
32 character, and shall relate to those matters that will fairly
33 test the relative capacity of the persons examined to
34 discharge the duties of the positions to which they seek to
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1 be appointed. The examinations shall include tests of
2 physical qualifications, health, and (when appropriate)
3 manual skill. If an applicant is unable to pass the physical
4 examination solely as the result of an injury received by the
5 applicant as the result of the performance of an act of duty
6 while working as a temporary employee in the position for
7 which he or she is being examined, however, the physical
8 examination shall be waived and the applicant shall be
9 considered to have passed the examination. No questions in
10 any examination shall relate to political or religious
11 opinions or affiliations. Results of examinations and the
12 eligible registers prepared from the results shall be
13 published by the commission within 60 days after any
14 examinations are held.
15 (g) The commission shall control all examinations, and
16 may, whenever an examination is to take place, designate a
17 suitable number of persons, either in or not in the official
18 service of the municipality, to be examiners. The examiners
19 shall conduct the examinations as directed by the commission
20 and shall make a return or report of the examinations to the
21 commission. If the appointed examiners are in the official
22 service of the municipality, the examiners shall not receive
23 extra compensation for conducting the examinations. The
24 commission may at any time substitute any other person,
25 whether or not in the service of the municipality, in the
26 place of any one selected as an examiner. The commission
27 members may themselves at any time act as examiners without
28 appointing examiners. The examiners at any examination shall
29 not all be members of the same political party.
30 (h) In municipalities of 500,000 or more population, no
31 person who has attained his or her 35th birthday shall be
32 eligible to take an examination for a position as a fireman
33 or a policeman unless the person has had previous employment
34 status as a policeman or fireman in the regularly constituted
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1 police or fire department of the municipality, except as
2 provided in this Section.
3 (i) In municipalities of more than 5,000 but not more
4 than 200,000 inhabitants, no person who has attained his or
5 her 35th birthday shall be eligible to take an examination
6 for a position as a fireman or a policeman unless the person
7 has had previous employment status as a policeman or fireman
8 in the regularly constituted police or fire department of the
9 municipality, except as provided in this Section.
10 (j) In all municipalities, applicants who are 20 years
11 of age and who have successfully completed 2 years of law
12 enforcement studies at an accredited college or university
13 may be considered for appointment to active duty with the
14 police department. An applicant described in this subsection
15 (j) who is appointed to active duty shall not have power of
16 arrest, nor shall the applicant be permitted to carry
17 firearms, until he or she reaches 21 years of age.
18 (k) In municipalities of more than 500,000 population,
19 applications for examination for and appointment to positions
20 as firefighters or police shall be made available at various
21 branches of the public library of the municipality.
22 (l) No municipality having a population less than
23 1,000,000 shall require that any fireman appointed to the
24 lowest rank serve a probationary employment period of longer
25 than one year. The limitation on periods of probationary
26 employment provided in this amendatory Act of 1989 is an
27 exclusive power and function of the State. Pursuant to
28 subsection (h) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois
29 Constitution, a home rule municipality having a population
30 less than 1,000,000 must comply with this limitation on
31 periods of probationary employment, which is a denial and
32 limitation of home rule powers. Notwithstanding anything to
33 the contrary in this Section, the probationary employment
34 period limitation shall not apply to a fireman whose position
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1 also includes paramedic responsibilities.
2 (Source: P.A. 86-990; 87-1119.)
3 (65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-6) (from Ch. 24, par. 10-2.1-6)
4 Sec. 10-2.1-6. Examination of applicants;
5 disqualifications.
6 (a) All applicants for a position in either the fire or
7 police department of the municipality shall be under 35 years
8 of age, shall be subject to an examination that shall be
9 public, competitive, and open to all applicants (unless the
10 council or board of trustees by ordinance limit applicants to
11 electors of the municipality, county, state or nation) and
12 shall be subject to reasonable limitations as to residence,
13 health, habits, and moral character. The municipality may
14 not charge or collect any fee from an applicant who has met
15 all prequalification standards established by the
16 municipality for any such position.
17 (b) Residency requirements in effect at the time an
18 individual enters the fire or police service of a
19 municipality (other than a municipality that has more than
20 1,000,000 inhabitants) cannot be made more restrictive for
21 that individual during his period of service for that
22 municipality, or be made a condition of promotion, except (i)
23 for the rank or position of Fire or Police Chief and (ii)
24 after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1998,
25 firefighters shall reside within the corporate limits of the
26 municipality that employs them.
27 (c) No person with a record of misdemeanor convictions
28 except those under Sections 11-6, 11-7, 11-9, 11-14, 11-15,
29 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, 12-2, 12-6, 12-15, 14-4, 16-1, 21.1-3,
30 24-3.1, 24-5, 25-1, 28-3, 31-1, 31-4, 31-6, 31-7, 32-1, 32-2,
31 32-3, 32-4, 32-8, and subsections (1), (6) and (8) of Section
32 24-1 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or arrested for any cause
33 but not convicted on that cause shall be disqualified from
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1 taking the examination to qualify for a position in the fire
2 department on grounds of habits or moral character.
3 (d) The age limitation in subsection (a) does not apply
4 (i) to any person previously employed as a policeman or
5 fireman in a regularly constituted police or fire department
6 of (I) any municipality or (II) a fire protection district
7 whose obligations were assumed by a municipality under
8 Section 21 of the Fire Protection District Act, (ii) to any
9 person who has served a municipality as a regularly enrolled
10 volunteer fireman for 5 years immediately preceding the time
11 that municipality begins to use full time firemen to provide
12 all or part of its fire protection service, or (iii) to any
13 person who has served as an auxiliary policeman under Section
14 3.1-30-20 for at least 5 years and is under 40 years of age.
15 (e) Applicants who are 20 years of age and who have
16 successfully completed 2 years of law enforcement studies at
17 an accredited college or university may be considered for
18 appointment to active duty with the police department. An
19 applicant described in this subsection (e) who is appointed
20 to active duty shall not have power of arrest, nor shall the
21 applicant be permitted to carry firearms, until he or she
22 reaches 21 years of age.
23 (f) Applicants who are 18 years of age and who have
24 successfully completed 2 years of study in fire techniques,
25 amounting to a total of 4 high school credits, within the
26 cadet program of a municipality may be considered for
27 appointment to active duty with the fire department of any
28 municipality.
29 (g) The council or board of trustees may by ordinance
30 provide that persons residing outside the municipality are
31 eligible to take the examination.
32 (h) The examinations shall be practical in character and
33 relate to those matters that will fairly test the capacity of
34 the persons examined to discharge the duties of the positions
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1 to which they seek appointment. No person shall be appointed
2 to the police or fire department if he or she does not
3 possess a high school diploma or an equivalent high school
4 education. A board of fire and police commissioners may, by
5 its rules, require police applicants to have obtained an
6 associate's degree or a bachelor's degree as a prerequisite
7 for employment. The examinations shall include tests of
8 physical qualifications and health. No person shall be
9 appointed to the police or fire department if he or she has
10 suffered the amputation of any limb unless the applicant's
11 duties will be only clerical or as a radio operator. No
12 applicant shall be examined concerning his or her political
13 or religious opinions or affiliations. The examinations
14 shall be conducted by the board of fire and police
15 commissioners of the municipality as provided in this
16 Division 2.1.
17 (i) No person who is classified by his local selective
18 service draft board as a conscientious objector, or who has
19 ever been so classified, may be appointed to the police
20 department.
21 (j) No person shall be appointed to the police or fire
22 department unless he or she is a person of good character and
23 not an habitual drunkard, gambler, or a person who has been
24 convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude.
25 No person, however, shall be disqualified from appointment to
26 the fire department because of his or her record of
27 misdemeanor convictions except those under Sections 11-6,
28 11-7, 11-9, 11-14, 11-15, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, 12-2, 12-6,
29 12-15, 14-4, 16-1, 21.1-3, 24-3.1, 24-5, 25-1, 28-3, 31-1,
30 31-4, 31-6, 31-7, 32-1, 32-2, 32-3, 32-4, 32-8, and
31 subsections (1), (6) and (8) of Section 24-1 of the Criminal
32 Code of 1961 or arrest for any cause without conviction on
33 that cause. Any such person who is in the department may be
34 removed on charges brought and after a trial as provided in
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1 this Division 2.1.
2 (Source: P.A. 89-52, eff. 6-30-95; 90-445, eff. 8-16-97;
3 90-481, eff. 8-17-97; revised 11-17-97.)