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| Public Act 095-0866 |
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AN ACT concerning local government.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Fire Protection District Act is amended by | ||||
changing Section 4 as follows:
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(70 ILCS 705/4) (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 24)
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Sec. 4. Trustees; conflict of interest; violations.
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(a) A board of trustees consisting of 3 members for the
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government and control of the affairs and business of a fire | ||||
protection
district incorporated under this Act shall be | ||||
created in the following
manner:
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(1) If the district lies wholly within a single | ||||
township but does
not also lie wholly within a | ||||
municipality, the board of trustees of that
township shall | ||||
appoint the trustees for the district but no township
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official who is eligible to vote on the appointment shall | ||||
be
eligible for such appointment.
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(2) If the district is wholly contained within a | ||||
municipality, the
governing body of the municipality shall | ||||
appoint the trustees for the
district.
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(3) If the district is wholly contained within a
single | ||||
county but does not lie wholly within a single township or | ||||
a single
municipality, the trustees for the district shall | ||||
be appointed by the
presiding officer of the county board | ||
with the advice and consent of the
county board; except | ||
that in counties with a population in excess of
3,000,000, | ||
2 trustees for the district shall be appointed by the
board | ||
of trustees of the township that has the greatest | ||
population within the
district as determined by the last | ||
preceding federal census. That board of
trustees shall also | ||
appoint the remaining trustee if no other township
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comprises at least 10% of the population of the district. | ||
If only one other
township comprises at least 10% of the | ||
population of the district, then the
board of trustees of | ||
that district shall appoint the remaining trustee. If 2
or | ||
more other townships each comprise at least 10% of the | ||
population of the
district, then the boards of trustees of | ||
those townships shall jointly appoint
the remaining | ||
trustee. No township official who is eligible to vote on | ||
the
appointment shall be eligible for the appointment.
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(4) If the district is located in more than one county, | ||
the number
of trustees who are residents of a county shall | ||
be in proportion, as
nearly as practicable, to the number | ||
of residents of the district who
reside in that county in | ||
relation to the total population of the
district.
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(A) In counties with a population of 3,000,000 or | ||
more, the trustees
shall be appointed as provided in | ||
paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection
(a) of this | ||
Section. For purposes of this item (A) and in item (B), | ||
"district"
means that
portion of the total fire | ||
protection district lying within a county with a
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population in excess of 3,000,000.
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(B) In counties with a population of less than | ||
3,000,000, the
trustees for the district shall be | ||
appointed by the presiding officer of the
county board | ||
with the advice and consent of the county board.
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Upon the expiration of the term of a trustee who is in | ||
office on October
1, 1975, the successor shall be a resident of | ||
whichever county is entitled
to such representation in order to | ||
bring about the proportional
representation required herein, | ||
and he shall be appointed by the county
board of that county, | ||
or in the case of a home rule county as defined by
Article VII, | ||
Section 6 of the Constitution of 1970, the chief executive
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officer of that county, with the advice and consent of the | ||
county board.
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Thereafter, each trustee shall be succeeded by a resident | ||
of the same
county who shall be appointed by the same | ||
appointing authority; however,
the provisions of the preceding | ||
paragraph shall apply to the
appointment of the successor to | ||
each trustee who is in office at the
time of the publication of | ||
each decennial Federal census of population.
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Within 60 days after the adoption of this Act as provided | ||
in Section
1, or within 60 days after the adoption of an | ||
ordinance pursuant to subsection
(c) of Section 4.01, the | ||
appropriate appointing authority shall appoint
3 trustees who | ||
are electors in the district, not more than one of whom
shall | ||
be from any one city or village or incorporated town in a | ||
district
unless such city or village or incorporated town has | ||
more than 50% of the
population in the district according to | ||
last preceding Federal census.
Such trustees shall hold their | ||
offices thenceforward and for one, 2 and 3
years from the first | ||
Monday of May next after their appointment and until
their | ||
successors have been selected and qualified and thereafter, | ||
unless
the district has determined to elect trustees as | ||
provided in Section 4a, on
or before the second Monday in April | ||
of each year the appointing authority
shall appoint one trustee | ||
whose term shall be for 3 years commencing on the
first Monday | ||
in May next after they are respectively appointed. The length
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of term of the first trustees shall be determined by lot at | ||
their first meeting.
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Each trustee shall, before entering on the duties of his | ||
office,
enter into bond with security to be approved by the | ||
appointing authority
in such sum as the authority may | ||
determine.
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A majority of the board of trustees shall constitute a | ||
quorum, but a
smaller number may adjourn from day to day. No | ||
trustee or employee of
such district shall be directly or | ||
indirectly interested financially in
any contract work or | ||
business or the sale of any article, the expense,
price or | ||
consideration of which is paid by the district; nor in the
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purchase of any real estate or other property, belonging to the
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district, or which shall be sold for taxes or assessments or by | ||
virtue
of legal process at the suit of the district. Nothing in | ||
this Section
prohibits the appointment or selection of any | ||
person or trustee or
employee whose only interest in the | ||
district is as an owner of real
estate in such fire protection | ||
district or of contributing to the
payment of taxes levied by | ||
the district. The trustees shall have the
power to provide and | ||
adopt a corporate seal for the district.
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(b) However, any trustee may provide materials, | ||
merchandise, property,
services or labor, if:
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A. the contract is with a person, firm, partnership, | ||
association,
corporation or cooperative association in | ||
which such interested trustee has
less than a 7 1/2% share | ||
in the ownership; and
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B. such interested trustee publicly discloses the | ||
nature and extent of
his interest prior to or during | ||
deliberations concerning the proposed award
of the | ||
contract; and
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C. such interested trustee abstains from voting on the | ||
award of the
contract, though he shall be considered | ||
present for the purposes of
establishing a quorum; and
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D. such contract is approved by a majority vote of | ||
those trustees presently
holding office; and
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E. the contract is awarded after sealed bids to the | ||
lowest responsible
bidder if the amount of the contract | ||
exceeds $1500, but the contract may
be awarded without | ||
bidding if the amount is less than $1500; and
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F. the award of the contract would not cause the | ||
aggregate amount of all
such contracts so awarded to the | ||
same person, firm, association,
partnership, corporation, | ||
or cooperative association in the same fiscal
year to | ||
exceed $25,000.
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(c) In addition to the above exemption, any trustee or | ||
employee
may provide materials, merchandise,
property, | ||
services or labor if:
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A. the award of the contract is approved by a majority | ||
vote of the
board of trustees of the fire protection | ||
district provided that any such
interested member shall | ||
abstain from voting; and
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B. the amount of the contract does not exceed $1000; | ||
and
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C. the award of the contract would not cause the | ||
aggregate amount of
all such contracts so awarded to the | ||
same person, firm, association,
partnership, corporation, | ||
or cooperative association in the same fiscal
year to | ||
exceed $2000; and
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D. such interested member publicly discloses the | ||
nature and extent
of his interest prior to or during | ||
deliberations concerning the proposed
award of the | ||
contract; and
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E. such interested member abstains from voting on the | ||
award of the
contract, though he shall be considered | ||
present for the purposes of
establishing a quorum.
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(d) A contract for the procurement of public utility | ||
services by a
district with a public utility company is not | ||
barred by this Section
by one or more members of the board of | ||
trustees being an officer or
employee of the public utility | ||
company or holding an ownership interest
if no more than 7 1/2% | ||
in the public utility company, or holding an ownership
interest | ||
of any size if the fire protection district has a population of | ||
less than
7,500 and the public utility's rates are approved by | ||
the Illinois Commerce
Commission. An elected or appointed | ||
member of the board of trustees having
such an interest shall | ||
be deemed not to have a prohibited interest under this
Section.
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(e) Any officer or employee who violates this Section is | ||
guilty of a Class 4
felony and in addition thereto any office | ||
held by such person so
convicted shall become vacant and shall | ||
be so declared as part of the
judgment of the court.
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(f) Nothing contained in this Section, including the | ||
restrictions
set forth in subsections (b), (c) and (d), shall | ||
preclude a contract of
deposit of monies, loans or other | ||
financial services by a fire protection
district with a local | ||
bank or local savings and loan association, regardless of
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whether a member or members of the board of trustees of the | ||
fire protection
district are interested in such bank or savings | ||
and loan association as an
officer or employee or as a holder | ||
of less than 7 1/2% of the total
ownership interest. A member | ||
or members holding such an interest in
such a contract shall | ||
not be deemed to be holding a prohibited interest
for purposes | ||
of this Act. Such interested member or members of the
board of | ||
trustees must publicly state the nature and extent of their
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interest during deliberations concerning the proposed award of | ||
such a
contract, but shall not participate in any further | ||
deliberations
concerning the proposed award. Such interested | ||
member or members shall
not vote on such a proposed award. Any | ||
member or members abstaining
from participation in | ||
deliberations and voting under this Section may be
considered | ||
present for purposes of establishing a quorum. Award of such
a | ||
contract shall require approval by a majority vote of those | ||
members
presently holding office. Consideration and award of | ||
any such contract
in which a member or members are interested | ||
may only be made at a
regularly scheduled public meeting of the | ||
board of trustees of the
fire protection district.
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(g) Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act | ||
of 1990 and
ending 3 years after the effective date of this | ||
amendatory Act of 1990, in
the case of a fire protection | ||
district board of trustees in a county with a
population of | ||
more than 400,000 but less than 450,000, according to the 1980
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general census, created under subsection (a), paragraph (3) of | ||
this
Section a petition for the redress of a trustee, charging | ||
the trustee with
palpable omission of duty or nonfeasance in | ||
office, signed by not less than
5% of the electors of the | ||
district may be presented to the township
supervisor or the | ||
presiding officer of the county board, as appropriate.
Upon | ||
receipt of the petition, the township supervisor or presiding | ||
officer
of the county board, as appropriate, shall preside over | ||
a hearing on the
matter of the requested redress. The hearing | ||
shall be held not less than
14 nor more than 30 days after | ||
receipt of the petition. In the case of a
fire protection | ||
district trustee appointed by the presiding officer of the
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county board, the presiding officer shall appoint at least 4 | ||
but not more
than 8 members of the county board, a majority of | ||
whom shall reside in a county
board district in which the fire | ||
protection district is wholly or partially
located, to serve as | ||
the hearing panel. In the case of a fire protection
district | ||
trustee appointed by the board of town trustees, the township
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supervisor and 2 other town trustees appointed by the | ||
supervisor shall
serve as the hearing panel. Within 30 days | ||
after the hearing, the panel
shall issue a statement of its | ||
findings concerning the charges against the
trustee, based upon | ||
the evidence presented at the hearing, and may make to
the fire | ||
protection district any recommendations deemed appropriate.
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(h) Any elected or appointed trustee of a fire protection | ||
district shall be entitled to absent himself or herself from | ||
any services or employment in which the trustee is then engaged | ||
or employed on the day and time of a meeting of the board of | ||
trustees of the fire protection district for the period of time | ||
during which the meeting is held and during any necessary time | ||
required to travel to and from the meeting. Any trustee | ||
availing himself or herself of this provision shall not be | ||
penalized in any manner by his or her employer as a result of | ||
an absence authorized by this subsection; however, the employer | ||
shall not be required to compensate the trustee for the time | ||
during which the trustee is absent. No employer shall refuse to | ||
grant to a trustee of a fire protection district the privilege | ||
granted by this subsection, nor shall any employer penalize or | ||
otherwise discriminate against any trustee who avails himself | ||
or herself of the provisions of this subsection, except as | ||
otherwise provided herein. No employer may directly or | ||
indirectly violate the provisions of this subsection. A | ||
"meeting" for purposes of this subsection shall have the same | ||
meaning as that provided under Section 1.02 of the Open | ||
Meetings Act. | ||
(Source: P.A. 89-482, eff. 1-1-97; 89-588, eff. 1-1-97; 90-14, | ||
eff.
7-1-97.)
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