Public Act 101-0187
 
HB2591 EnrolledLRB101 07708 SLF 52756 b

    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Police Training Act is amended by
changing Sections 6, 6.1, 8.1, and 10.2 as follows:
 
    (50 ILCS 705/6)  (from Ch. 85, par. 506)
    Sec. 6. Powers and duties of the Board; selection and
certification of schools. The Board shall select and certify
schools within the State of Illinois for the purpose of
providing basic training for probationary police officers,
probationary county corrections officers, and court security
officers and of providing advanced or in-service training for
permanent police officers or permanent county corrections
officers, which schools may be either publicly or privately
owned and operated. In addition, the Board has the following
power and duties:
        a. To require local governmental units to furnish such
    reports and information as the Board deems necessary to
    fully implement this Act.
        b. To establish appropriate mandatory minimum
    standards relating to the training of probationary local
    law enforcement officers or probationary county
    corrections officers, and in-service training of permanent
    police officers.
        c. To provide appropriate certification to those
    probationary officers who successfully complete the
    prescribed minimum standard basic training course.
        d. To review and approve annual training curriculum for
    county sheriffs.
        e. To review and approve applicants to ensure that no
    applicant is admitted to a certified academy unless the
    applicant is a person of good character and has not been
    convicted of, or entered a plea of guilty to, a felony
    offense, any of the misdemeanors in Sections 11-1.50, 11-6,
    11-9.1, 11-14, 11-17, 11-19, 12-2, 12-15, 16-1, 17-1, 17-2,
    28-3, 29-1, 31-1, 31-6, 31-7, 32-4a, or 32-7 of the
    Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012,
    subdivision (a)(1) or (a)(2)(C) of Section 11-14.3 of the
    Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, or
    subsection (a) of Section 17-32 of the Criminal Code of
    1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, or Section 5 or 5.2 of
    the Cannabis Control Act, or a crime involving moral
    turpitude under the laws of this State or any other state
    which if committed in this State would be punishable as a
    felony or a crime of moral turpitude. The Board may appoint
    investigators who shall enforce the duties conferred upon
    the Board by this Act.
(Source: P.A. 99-352, eff. 1-1-16.)
 
    (50 ILCS 705/6.1)
    Sec. 6.1. Decertification of full-time and part-time
police officers.
    (a) The Board must review police officer conduct and
records to ensure that no police officer is certified or
provided a valid waiver if that police officer has been
convicted of, or entered a plea of guilty to, a felony offense
under the laws of this State or any other state which if
committed in this State would be punishable as a felony. The
Board must also ensure that no police officer is certified or
provided a valid waiver if that police officer has been
convicted of, or entered a plea of guilty to, on or after the
effective date of this amendatory Act of 1999 of any
misdemeanor specified in this Section or if committed in any
other state would be an offense similar to Section 11-1.50,
11-6, 11-9.1, 11-14, 11-17, 11-19, 12-2, 12-15, 16-1, 17-1,
17-2, 28-3, 29-1, 31-1, 31-6, 31-7, 32-4a, or 32-7 of the
Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, to
subdivision (a)(1) or (a)(2)(C) of Section 11-14.3 of the
Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, or
subsection (a) of Section 17-32 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or
the Criminal Code of 2012, or to Section 5 or 5.2 of the
Cannabis Control Act. The Board must appoint investigators to
enforce the duties conferred upon the Board by this Act.
    (b) It is the responsibility of the sheriff or the chief
executive officer of every local law enforcement agency or
department within this State to report to the Board any arrest,
or conviction, or plea of guilty of any officer for an offense
identified in this Section.
    (c) It is the duty and responsibility of every full-time
and part-time police officer in this State to report to the
Board within 30 days, and the officer's sheriff or chief
executive officer, of his or her arrest, or conviction, or plea
of guilty for an offense identified in this Section. Any
full-time or part-time police officer who knowingly makes,
submits, causes to be submitted, or files a false or untruthful
report to the Board must have his or her certificate or waiver
immediately decertified or revoked.
    (d) Any person, or a local or State agency, or the Board is
immune from liability for submitting, disclosing, or releasing
information of arrests, or convictions, or pleas of guilty in
this Section as long as the information is submitted,
disclosed, or released in good faith and without malice. The
Board has qualified immunity for the release of the
information.
    (e) Any full-time or part-time police officer with a
certificate or waiver issued by the Board who is convicted of,
or entered a plea of guilty to, any offense described in this
Section immediately becomes decertified or no longer has a
valid waiver. The decertification and invalidity of waivers
occurs as a matter of law. Failure of a convicted person to
report to the Board his or her conviction as described in this
Section or any continued law enforcement practice after
receiving a conviction is a Class 4 felony.
    (f) The Board's investigators are peace officers and have
all the powers possessed by policemen in cities and by
sheriff's, and these provided that the investigators may
exercise those powers anywhere in the State, only after contact
and cooperation with the appropriate local law enforcement
authorities. An investigator shall not have peace officer
status or exercise police powers unless he or she successfully
completes the basic police training course mandated and
approved by the Board or the Board waives the training
requirement by reason of the investigator's prior law
enforcement experience, training, or both. The Board shall not
waive the training requirement unless the investigator has had
a minimum of 5 years experience as a sworn officer of a local,
State, or federal law enforcement agency.
    (g) The Board must request and receive information and
assistance from any federal, state, or local governmental
agency as part of the authorized criminal background
investigation. The Department of State Police must process,
retain, and additionally provide and disseminate information
to the Board concerning criminal charges, arrests,
convictions, and their disposition, that have been filed
before, on, or after the effective date of this amendatory Act
of the 91st General Assembly against a basic academy applicant,
law enforcement applicant, or law enforcement officer whose
fingerprint identification cards are on file or maintained by
the Department of State Police. The Federal Bureau of
Investigation must provide the Board any criminal history
record information contained in its files pertaining to law
enforcement officers or any applicant to a Board certified
basic law enforcement academy as described in this Act based on
fingerprint identification. The Board must make payment of fees
to the Department of State Police for each fingerprint card
submission in conformance with the requirements of paragraph 22
of Section 55a of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois.
    (h) A police officer who has been certified or granted a
valid waiver shall also be decertified or have his or her
waiver revoked upon a determination by the Illinois Labor
Relations Board State Panel that he or she, while under oath,
has knowingly and willfully made false statements as to a
material fact going to an element of the offense of murder. If
an appeal is filed, the determination shall be stayed.
        (1) In the case of an acquittal on a charge of murder,
    a verified complaint may be filed:
            (A) by the defendant; or
            (B) by a police officer with personal knowledge of
        perjured testimony.
        The complaint must allege that a police officer, while
    under oath, knowingly and willfully made false statements
    as to a material fact going to an element of the offense of
    murder. The verified complaint must be filed with the
    Executive Director of the Illinois Law Enforcement
    Training Standards Board within 2 years of the judgment of
    acquittal.
        (2) Within 30 days, the Executive Director of the
    Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board shall
    review the verified complaint and determine whether the
    verified complaint is frivolous and without merit, or
    whether further investigation is warranted. The Illinois
    Law Enforcement Training Standards Board shall notify the
    officer and the Executive Director of the Illinois Labor
    Relations Board State Panel of the filing of the complaint
    and any action taken thereon. If the Executive Director of
    the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board
    determines that the verified complaint is frivolous and
    without merit, it shall be dismissed. The Executive
    Director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training
    Standards Board has sole discretion to make this
    determination and this decision is not subject to appeal.
    (i) If the Executive Director of the Illinois Law
Enforcement Training Standards Board determines that the
verified complaint warrants further investigation, he or she
shall refer the matter to a task force of investigators created
for this purpose. This task force shall consist of 8 sworn
police officers: 2 from the Illinois State Police, 2 from the
City of Chicago Police Department, 2 from county police
departments, and 2 from municipal police departments. These
investigators shall have a minimum of 5 years of experience in
conducting criminal investigations. The investigators shall be
appointed by the Executive Director of the Illinois Law
Enforcement Training Standards Board. Any officer or officers
acting in this capacity pursuant to this statutory provision
will have statewide police authority while acting in this
investigative capacity. Their salaries and expenses for the
time spent conducting investigations under this paragraph
shall be reimbursed by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training
Standards Board.
    (j) Once the Executive Director of the Illinois Law
Enforcement Training Standards Board has determined that an
investigation is warranted, the verified complaint shall be
assigned to an investigator or investigators. The investigator
or investigators shall conduct an investigation of the verified
complaint and shall write a report of his or her findings. This
report shall be submitted to the Executive Director of the
Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel.
    Within 30 days, the Executive Director of the Illinois
Labor Relations Board State Panel shall review the
investigative report and determine whether sufficient evidence
exists to conduct an evidentiary hearing on the verified
complaint. If the Executive Director of the Illinois Labor
Relations Board State Panel determines upon his or her review
of the investigatory report that a hearing should not be
conducted, the complaint shall be dismissed. This decision is
in the Executive Director's sole discretion, and this dismissal
may not be appealed.
    If the Executive Director of the Illinois Labor Relations
Board State Panel determines that there is sufficient evidence
to warrant a hearing, a hearing shall be ordered on the
verified complaint, to be conducted by an administrative law
judge employed by the Illinois Labor Relations Board State
Panel. The Executive Director of the Illinois Labor Relations
Board State Panel shall inform the Executive Director of the
Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board and the
person who filed the complaint of either the dismissal of the
complaint or the issuance of the complaint for hearing. The
Executive Director shall assign the complaint to the
administrative law judge within 30 days of the decision
granting a hearing.
    (k) In the case of a finding of guilt on the offense of
murder, if a new trial is granted on direct appeal, or a state
post-conviction evidentiary hearing is ordered, based on a
claim that a police officer, under oath, knowingly and
willfully made false statements as to a material fact going to
an element of the offense of murder, the Illinois Labor
Relations Board State Panel shall hold a hearing to determine
whether the officer should be decertified if an interested
party requests such a hearing within 2 years of the court's
decision. The complaint shall be assigned to an administrative
law judge within 30 days so that a hearing can be scheduled.
    At the hearing, the accused officer shall be afforded the
opportunity to:
        (1) Be represented by counsel of his or her own
    choosing;
        (2) Be heard in his or her own defense;
        (3) Produce evidence in his or her defense;
        (4) Request that the Illinois Labor Relations Board
    State Panel compel the attendance of witnesses and
    production of related documents including but not limited
    to court documents and records.
    Once a case has been set for hearing, the verified
complaint shall be referred to the Department of Professional
Regulation. That office shall prosecute the verified complaint
at the hearing before the administrative law judge. The
Department of Professional Regulation shall have the
opportunity to produce evidence to support the verified
complaint and to request the Illinois Labor Relations Board
State Panel to compel the attendance of witnesses and the
production of related documents, including, but not limited to,
court documents and records. The Illinois Labor Relations Board
State Panel shall have the power to issue subpoenas requiring
the attendance of and testimony of witnesses and the production
of related documents including, but not limited to, court
documents and records and shall have the power to administer
oaths.
    The administrative law judge shall have the responsibility
of receiving into evidence relevant testimony and documents,
including court records, to support or disprove the allegations
made by the person filing the verified complaint and, at the
close of the case, hear arguments. If the administrative law
judge finds that there is not clear and convincing evidence to
support the verified complaint that the police officer has,
while under oath, knowingly and willfully made false statements
as to a material fact going to an element of the offense of
murder, the administrative law judge shall make a written
recommendation of dismissal to the Illinois Labor Relations
Board State Panel. If the administrative law judge finds that
there is clear and convincing evidence that the police officer
has, while under oath, knowingly and willfully made false
statements as to a material fact that goes to an element of the
offense of murder, the administrative law judge shall make a
written recommendation so concluding to the Illinois Labor
Relations Board State Panel. The hearings shall be transcribed.
The Executive Director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training
Standards Board shall be informed of the administrative law
judge's recommended findings and decision and the Illinois
Labor Relations Board State Panel's subsequent review of the
recommendation.
    (l) An officer named in any complaint filed pursuant to
this Act shall be indemnified for his or her reasonable
attorney's fees and costs by his or her employer. These fees
shall be paid in a regular and timely manner. The State, upon
application by the public employer, shall reimburse the public
employer for the accused officer's reasonable attorney's fees
and costs. At no time and under no circumstances will the
accused officer be required to pay his or her own reasonable
attorney's fees or costs.
    (m) The accused officer shall not be placed on unpaid
status because of the filing or processing of the verified
complaint until there is a final non-appealable order
sustaining his or her guilt and his or her certification is
revoked. Nothing in this Act, however, restricts the public
employer from pursuing discipline against the officer in the
normal course and under procedures then in place.
    (n) The Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel shall
review the administrative law judge's recommended decision and
order and determine by a majority vote whether or not there was
clear and convincing evidence that the accused officer, while
under oath, knowingly and willfully made false statements as to
a material fact going to the offense of murder. Within 30 days
of service of the administrative law judge's recommended
decision and order, the parties may file exceptions to the
recommended decision and order and briefs in support of their
exceptions with the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel.
The parties may file responses to the exceptions and briefs in
support of the responses no later than 15 days after the
service of the exceptions. If exceptions are filed by any of
the parties, the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel
shall review the matter and make a finding to uphold, vacate,
or modify the recommended decision and order. If the Illinois
Labor Relations Board State Panel concludes that there is clear
and convincing evidence that the accused officer, while under
oath, knowingly and willfully made false statements as to a
material fact going to an element of the offense murder, the
Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel shall inform the
Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board and the
Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board shall revoke
the accused officer's certification. If the accused officer
appeals that determination to the Appellate Court, as provided
by this Act, he or she may petition the Appellate Court to stay
the revocation of his or her certification pending the court's
review of the matter.
    (o) None of the Illinois Labor Relations Board State
Panel's findings or determinations shall set any precedent in
any of its decisions decided pursuant to the Illinois Public
Labor Relations Act by the Illinois Labor Relations Board State
Panel or the courts.
    (p) A party aggrieved by the final order of the Illinois
Labor Relations Board State Panel may apply for and obtain
judicial review of an order of the Illinois Labor Relations
Board State Panel, in accordance with the provisions of the
Administrative Review Law, except that such judicial review
shall be afforded directly in the Appellate Court for the
district in which the accused officer resides. Any direct
appeal to the Appellate Court shall be filed within 35 days
from the date that a copy of the decision sought to be reviewed
was served upon the party affected by the decision.
    (q) Interested parties. Only interested parties to the
criminal prosecution in which the police officer allegedly,
while under oath, knowingly and willfully made false statements
as to a material fact going to an element of the offense of
murder may file a verified complaint pursuant to this Section.
For purposes of this Section, "interested parties" shall be
limited to the defendant and any police officer who has
personal knowledge that the police officer who is the subject
of the complaint has, while under oath, knowingly and willfully
made false statements as to a material fact going to an element
of the offense of murder.
    (r) Semi-annual reports. The Executive Director of the
Illinois Labor Relations Board shall submit semi-annual
reports to the Governor, President, and Minority Leader of the
Senate, and to the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of
Representatives beginning on June 30, 2004, indicating:
        (1) the number of verified complaints received since
    the date of the last report;
        (2) the number of investigations initiated since the
    date of the last report;
        (3) the number of investigations concluded since the
    date of the last report;
        (4) the number of investigations pending as of the
    reporting date;
        (5) the number of hearings held since the date of the
    last report; and
        (6) the number of officers decertified since the date
    of the last report.
(Source: P.A. 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11; 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)
 
    (50 ILCS 705/8.1)  (from Ch. 85, par. 508.1)
    Sec. 8.1. Full-time police and county corrections
officers.
    (a) After January 1, 1976, no person shall receive a
permanent appointment as a law enforcement officer as defined
in this Act nor shall any person receive, after the effective
date of this amendatory Act of 1984, a permanent appointment as
a county corrections officer unless that person has been
awarded, within 6 six months of his or her initial full-time
employment, a certificate attesting to his or her successful
completion of the Minimum Standards Basic Law Enforcement and
County Correctional Training Course as prescribed by the Board;
or has been awarded a certificate attesting to his or her
satisfactory completion of a training program of similar
content and number of hours and which course has been found
acceptable by the Board under the provisions of this Act; or by
reason of extensive prior law enforcement or county corrections
experience the basic training requirement is determined by the
Board to be illogical and unreasonable.
    If such training is required and not completed within the
applicable 6 six months, then the officer must forfeit his or
her position, or the employing agency must obtain a waiver from
the Board extending the period for compliance. Such waiver
shall be issued only for good and justifiable reasons, and in
no case shall extend more than 90 days beyond the initial 6 six
months. Any hiring agency that fails to train a law enforcement
officer within this period shall be prohibited from employing
this individual in a law enforcement capacity for one year from
the date training was to be completed. If an agency again fails
to train the individual a second time, the agency shall be
permanently barred from employing this individual in a law
enforcement capacity.
    (b) No provision of this Section shall be construed to mean
that a law enforcement officer employed by a local governmental
agency at the time of the effective date of this amendatory
Act, either as a probationary police officer or as a permanent
police officer, shall require certification under the
provisions of this Section. No provision of this Section shall
be construed to mean that a county corrections officer employed
by a local governmental agency at the time of the effective
date of this amendatory Act of 1984, either as a probationary
county corrections or as a permanent county corrections
officer, shall require certification under the provisions of
this Section. No provision of this Section shall be construed
to apply to certification of elected county sheriffs.
    (c) This Section does not apply to part-time police
officers or probationary part-time police officers.
(Source: P.A. 89-170, eff. 1-1-96; 90-271, eff. 7-30-97.)
 
    (50 ILCS 705/10.2)
    Sec. 10.2. Criminal background investigations.
    (a) On and after the effective date of this amendatory Act
of the 92nd General Assembly, an applicant for employment as a
peace officer, or for annual certification as a retired law
enforcement officer qualified under federal law to carry a
concealed weapon, shall authorize an investigation to
determine if the applicant has been convicted of, or entered a
plea of guilty to, any criminal offense that disqualifies the
person as a peace officer.
    (b) No law enforcement agency may knowingly employ a
person, or certify a retired law enforcement officer qualified
under federal law to carry a concealed weapon, unless (i) a
criminal background investigation of that person has been
completed and (ii) that investigation reveals no convictions or
pleas of guilty of offenses specified in subsection (a) of
Section 6.1 of this Act.
(Source: P.A. 94-103, eff. 7-1-05.)