Bill Text: IL HB2377 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Engrossed

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Amends a Section of the Downstate Forest Preserve District Act. Provides that the president and forest preserve commissioners in DuPage County elected on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly shall serve without compensation. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-04-12 - Third Reading - Short Debate - Lost 048-060-000 [HB2377 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-HB2377-Engrossed.html

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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 Section 3c 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 same
districts as members of the county board beginning with the
general election held in 2002 and each succeeding general
election. One commissioner shall be elected from each district.
At their first meeting after their election in 2002 and
following each subsequent decennial reapportionment of the
county under Division 2-3 of the Counties Code, 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. Beginning with the general election in 2002, the
president of the board of commissioners of the forest preserve

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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 county 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. The
president, with the advice and consent of the board of
commissioners shall appoint a secretary, treasurer, and such
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

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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 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

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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
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.

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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 prior to the effective
date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly shall
be established by the board of commissioners of the forest
preserve district. The president and forest preserve
commissioners elected under this Section on or after the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General
Assembly shall serve without compensation.
This Section does not apply to a forest preserve district
created under Section 18.5 of the Conservation District Act.
(Source: P.A. 94-617, eff. 8-18-05; 94-900, eff. 6-22-06.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.