Public Act 102-0065
 
HB0410 EnrolledLRB102 02728 AWJ 12731 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 Municipal Code is amended by
changing Section 1-2.1-4 as follows:
 
    (65 ILCS 5/1-2.1-4)
    Sec. 1-2.1-4. Code hearing units; powers of hearing
officers.
    (a) An ordinance establishing a system of administrative
adjudication, pursuant to this Division, shall provide for a
code hearing unit within an existing agency or as a separate
agency in the municipal government. The ordinance shall
establish the jurisdiction of a code hearing unit that is
consistent with this Division. The "jurisdiction" of a code
hearing unit refers to the particular code violations that it
may adjudicate.
    (b) Adjudicatory hearings shall be presided over by
hearing officers. The powers and duties of a hearing officer
shall include:
        (1) hearing testimony and accepting evidence that is
    relevant to the existence of the code violation;
        (2) issuing subpoenas directing witnesses to appear
    and give relevant testimony at the hearing, upon the
    request of the parties or their representatives;
        (3) preserving and authenticating the record of the
    hearing and all exhibits and evidence introduced at the
    hearing;
        (4) issuing a determination, based on the evidence
    presented at the hearing, of whether a code violation
    exists. The determination shall be in writing and shall
    include a written finding of fact, decision, and order
    including the fine, penalty, or action with which the
    defendant must comply; and
        (5) imposing penalties consistent with applicable code
    provisions and assessing costs upon finding a party liable
    for the charged violation, except, however, that in no
    event shall the hearing officer have authority to (i)
    impose a penalty of incarceration, or (ii) impose a fine
    in excess of $50,000, or at the option of the
    municipality, such other amount not to exceed the maximum
    amount established by the Mandatory Arbitration System as
    prescribed by the Rules of the Illinois Supreme Court from
    time to time for the judicial circuit in which the
    municipality is located. The maximum monetary fine under
    this item (5), shall be exclusive of costs of enforcement
    or costs imposed to secure compliance with the
    municipality's ordinances and shall not be applicable to
    cases to enforce the collection of any tax imposed and
    collected by the municipality.
    (c) Prior to conducting administrative adjudication
proceedings, administrative hearing officers shall have
successfully completed a formal training program which
includes the following:
        (1) instruction on the rules of procedure of the
    administrative hearings which they will conduct;
        (2) orientation to each subject area of the code
    violations that they will adjudicate;
        (3) observation of administrative hearings; and
        (4) participation in hypothetical cases, including
    ruling on evidence and issuing final orders.
    In addition, every administrative hearing officer must be
an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois
for at least 3 years. A person who has served as a judge in
Illinois is not required to fulfill the requirements of items
(1) through (4) of this subsection.
    (d) A proceeding before a code hearing unit shall be
instituted upon the filing of a written pleading by an
authorized official of the municipality.
(Source: P.A. 90-516, eff. 1-1-98.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.