Public Act 096-1039
 
HB4868 EnrolledLRB096 16804 RLJ 32111 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 Fire Protection District Act is amended  by 
changing Section 4 as follows:
 



    (70 ILCS 705/4)  (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 24)



    Sec. 4. Trustees; conflict of interest; violations. 

    (a) A board of trustees consisting of 3 members for the

government and control of the affairs and business of a fire 
protection
district incorporated under this Act shall be 
created in the following
manner:


        (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

    official who is eligible to vote on the appointment shall 
    be
eligible for such appointment.


        (2) If the district is wholly contained within a 
    municipality, the
governing body of the municipality shall 
    appoint the trustees for the
district.


        (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

    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.


        (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.


            (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

        population in excess of 3,000,000.


            (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.

    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

officer of that county, with the advice and consent of the 
county board.

    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.

    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

of term of the first trustees shall be determined by lot at 
their first meeting.

    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.

    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

purchase of any real estate or other property, belonging to the

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.

    (b) However, any trustee may provide materials, 
merchandise, property,
services or labor, if:


        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


        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


        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


        D. such contract is approved by a majority vote of 
    those trustees presently
holding office; and


        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


        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.

    (c) In addition to the above exemption, any trustee or 
employee
may provide materials, merchandise,
property, 
services or labor if:


        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


        B. the amount of the contract does not exceed $1000; 
    and


        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


        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


        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.

    (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.

    (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.

    (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

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

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.

    (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

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

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

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.

    (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. 
    (i) Under either of the following circumstances, a trustee 
may hold a position on the board of a not-for-profit 
corporation that is interested in a contract, work, or business 
of the fire protection district:
        (1) If the trustee is appointed by the governing body 
    of the fire protection district to represent the interests 
    of the district on a not-for-profit corporation's board, 
    then the trustee may actively vote on matters involving 
    either that board or the fire protection district, at any 
    time, so long as the membership on the not-for-profit board 
    is not a paid position, except that the trustee may be 
    reimbursed by the not-for-profit board for expenses 
    incurred as the result of membership on the not-for-profit 
    board.
        (2) If the trustee is not appointed to the board of a 
    not-for-profit corporation by the governing body of the 
    fire protection district, then the trustee may continue to 
    serve; however, the trustee shall abstain from voting on 
    any proposition before the governing body of the fire 
    protection district directly involving the not-for-profit 
    corporation and, for those matters, shall not be counted as 
    present for the purposes of a quorum of the governing body 
    of the fire protection district. 
(Source: P.A. 95-866, eff. 1-1-09.)

 
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law. 
  


Effective Date:  7/14/2010