Bill Text: IL HB4240 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Downstate Forest Preserve District Act. Restores language concerning how the terms of elected commissioners are to be determined for a forest preserve district having boundaries that are coextensive with the boundaries of a county having a population of more than 800,000 but less than 3,000,000. Specifies that the changes made by the amendatory Act are to be deemed to have been in continuous effect since November 15, 2021 (the effective date of the Public Act that deleted language concerning how the terms of elected commissioners of such a district are to be determined) and are to remain in effect until lawfully repealed. Provides that all actions that were taken on or after 2021 and before the effective date of the amendatory Act by a downstate forest preserve district or any other person and that are consistent with or in reliance on the changes made by the amendatory Act are validated. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-05 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB4240 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB4240-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB4240 Introduced , by Rep. Jenn Ladisch Douglass SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
70 ILCS 805/3c
70 ILCS 805/3c-1
70 ILCS 805/3c-2 new
Amends the Downstate Forest Preserve District Act. Restores language concerning how the terms of elected commissioners are to be determined for a forest preserve district having boundaries that are coextensive with the boundaries of a county having a population of more than 800,000 but less than 3,000,000. Specifies that the changes made by the amendatory Act are to be deemed to have been in continuous effect since November 15, 2021 (the effective date of the Public Act that deleted language concerning how the terms of elected commissioners of such a district are to be determined) and are to remain in effect until lawfully repealed. Provides that all actions that were taken on or after 2021 and before the effective date of the amendatory Act by a downstate forest preserve district or any other person and that are consistent with or in reliance on the changes made by the amendatory Act are validated. Effective immediately.
LRB103 35317 AWJ 65365 b
A BILL FOR
HB4240 LRB103 35317 AWJ 65365 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 Downstate Forest Preserve District Act is
amended by changing Sections 3c and 3c-1 and by adding Section
3c-2 as follows:
(70 ILCS 805/3c)
Sec. 3c. Elected board of commissioners in certain
counties. If the boundaries of a district are co-extensive
with the boundaries of a county having a population of more
than 800,000 but less than 3,000,000, all commissioners of the
forest preserve district shall be elected from the number of
districts as determined by the forest preserve district board
of commissioners. Such a forest preserve district is a
separate and distinct legal entity, and its board members are
elected separate and apart from the elected county
commissioners. Upon its formation, or as a result of decennial
reapportionment, such a forest preserve district shall adopt a
district map determining the boundary lines of each district.
That map shall be adjusted and reapportioned subject to the
same decennial reapportionment process stated in Section 3c-1.
No more than one commissioner shall be elected from each
district. At their first meeting after election in 2022 and at

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their first meeting after election next following each
subsequent decennial reapportionment of the county under
Section 3c-1, the elected commissioners shall publicly, by
lot, divide themselves into 2 groups, as equal in size as
possible. Commissioners from the first group shall serve for
terms of 2, 4, and 4 years, and commissioners from the second
group shall serve terms of 4, 4, and 2 years. The president of
the board of commissioners of the forest preserve district
shall be elected by the voters of the county, rather than by
the commissioners. The president shall be a resident of the
county and shall be elected throughout the county for a 4-year
term without having been first elected as commissioner of the
forest preserve district. Each commissioner shall be a
resident of the forest preserve board district from which he
or she was elected not later than the date of the commencement
of the term of office. The term of office for the president and
commissioners elected under this Section shall commence on the
first Monday of the month following the month of election.
Neither a commissioner nor the president of the board of
commissioners of that forest preserve district shall serve
simultaneously as member or chairman of the county board. No
person shall seek election to both the forest preserve
commission and the county board at the same election, nor
shall they be eligible to hold both offices at the same time.
The president, with the advice and consent of the board of
commissioners shall appoint a secretary, treasurer, and such

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other officers as deemed necessary by the board of
commissioners, which officers need not be members of the board
of commissioners. The president shall have the powers and
duties as specified in Section 12 of this Act.
Candidates for president and commissioner shall be
candidates of established political parties.
If a vacancy in the office of president or commissioner
occurs, other than by expiration of the president's or
commissioner's term, the forest preserve district board of
commissioners shall declare that a vacancy exists and
notification of the vacancy shall be given to the county
central committee of each established political party within 3
business days after the occurrence of the vacancy. If the
vacancy occurs in the office of forest preserve district
commissioner, the president of the board of commissioners
shall, within 60 days after the date of the vacancy, with the
advice and consent of other commissioners then serving,
appoint a person to serve for the remainder of the unexpired
term. The appointee shall be affiliated with the same
political party as the commissioner in whose office the
vacancy occurred and be a resident of such district. If a
vacancy in the office of president occurs, other than by
expiration of the president's term, the remaining members of
the board of commissioners shall, within 60 days after the
vacancy, appoint one of the commissioners to serve as
president for the remainder of the unexpired term. In that

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case, the office of the commissioner who is appointed to serve
as president shall be deemed vacant and shall be filled within
60 days by appointment of the president with the advice and
consent of the other forest preserve district commissioners.
The commissioner who is appointed to fill a vacancy in the
office of president shall be affiliated with the same
political party as the person who occupied the office of
president prior to the vacancy. A person appointed to fill a
vacancy in the office of president or commissioner shall
establish his or her party affiliation by his or her record of
voting in primary elections or by holding or having held an
office in an established political party organization before
the appointment. If the appointee has not voted in a party
primary election or is not holding or has not held an office in
an established political party organization before the
appointment, the appointee shall establish his or her
political party affiliation by his or her record of
participating in an established political party's nomination
or election caucus. If, however, more than 28 months remain in
the unexpired term of a commissioner or the president, the
appointment shall be until the next general election, at which
time the vacated office of commissioner or president shall be
filled by election for the remainder of the term.
Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, if a vacancy occurs
after the last day provided in Section 7-12 of the Election
Code for filing nomination papers for the office of president

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of a forest preserve district where that office is elected as
provided for in this Section, or as set forth in Section 7-61
of the Election Code, a vacancy in nomination shall be filled
by the passage of a resolution by the nominating committee of
the affected political party within the time periods specified
in the Election Code. The nominating committee shall consist
of the chairman of the county central committee and the
township chairmen of the affected political party. All other
vacancies in nomination shall be filled in accordance with the
provisions of the Election Code.
The president and commissioners elected under this Section
may be reimbursed for their reasonable expenses actually
incurred in performing their official duties under this Act in
accordance with the provisions of Section 3a. The
reimbursement paid under this Section shall be paid by the
forest preserve district.
Compensation for the president and the forest preserve
commissioners elected under this Section shall be established
by the board of commissioners of the forest preserve district.
This Section does not apply to a forest preserve district
created under Section 18.5 of the Conservation District Act.
(Source: P.A. 102-668, eff. 11-15-21.)
(70 ILCS 805/3c-1)
Sec. 3c-1. Reapportionment plan for forest preserve
districts under Section 3c.

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(a) Beginning in 2021, the The Downstate Forest Preserve
District board of commissioners shall develop an apportionment
plan and specify the number of districts. Each district shall
have one commissioner. Each such district:
(1) shall be substantially equal in population to each
other district; and
(2) shall be comprised of contiguous territory, as
nearly compact as practicable; and
(3) shall be created in such a manner so that no
precinct shall be divided between 2 or more districts,
insofar as is practicable.
(b) The president of the board of commissioners of a
Downstate Forest Preserve District may develop a reappointment
plan and that plan, as presented or as amended, shall be
presented to the board by the third Wednesday in May in the
year after a federal decennial census year for approval in
accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of this
Section. If the president presents a plan to the board by the
third Wednesday in May, the board shall conduct at least one
public hearing to receive comments and to discuss the
apportionment plan. That hearing shall be held at least 6 days
but not more than 21 days before the board may consider
adopting the plan, and the public shall be given notice by
publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the
district of the hearing at least 6 days in advance of the
hearing. The president of the board of commissioners shall

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have access to the federal decennial census available to the
board.
(c) For the reapportionment in calendar year 2021, the
president of the board of commissioners may develop and
present (or redevelop and represent) to the board by the third
Wednesday in November of 2021 an apportionment plan. If a plan
is presented, the board shall conduct at least one hearing on
the proposed plan before it may be adopted. That hearing shall
be held at least 6 days but not more than 21 days before the
board may consider adopting the plan, and the public shall be
given notice by publication in a newspaper of general
circulation in the district of the hearing at least 6 days in
advance of the hearing.
(d) After each decennial census, the Downstate Forest
Preserve District board is not obligated to reapportion the
districts if existing districts are within a 10% population
deviation from each other based on the results of the
decennial census.
(e) As used in this Section, "Downstate Forest Preserve
District" means a district described in Section 3c.
(Source: P.A. 102-668, eff. 11-15-21.)
(70 ILCS 805/3c-2 new)
Sec. 3c-2. Continuous effect of provisions; validation.
The General Assembly declares that the changes made to
Sections 3c and 3c-1 by this amendatory Act of the 103rd

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General Assembly shall be deemed to have been in continuous
effect since November 15, 2021 (the effective date of Public
Act 102-688) and shall continue to be in effect until they are
lawfully repealed. All actions that were taken on or after
2021 and before the effective date of this amendatory Act of
the 103rd General Assembly by a downstate forest preserve
district or any other person and that are consistent with or in
reliance on the changes made to Sections 3c and 3c-1 by this
amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly are hereby
validated.