Bill Text: IL HB4791 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Illinois Municipal Code and the Fire Protection District Act. Provides that a person shall not be appointed as the chief, the acting chief, the department head, or a position, by whatever title, that is responsible for day-to-day operations of a fire department or fire protection district for greater than 180 days unless he or she possesses certification that meets the National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 1001, Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications, Fire Fighter II job performance requirements; certification that meets the National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 1021, Standard for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications, Fire Officer II job performance requirements (rather than Office of the State Fire Marshal Firefighter Basic Certification or Firefighter II Certification; Office of the State Fire Marshal Fire Officer I and II Certifications).

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-04-26 - Tabled [HB4791 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-HB4791-Introduced.html

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100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2017 and 2018 HB4791 Introduced , by Rep. Carol Sente SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
65 ILCS 5/10-1-7.3
65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-4 from Ch. 24, par. 10-2.1-4
70 ILCS 705/16.04b
Amends the Illinois Municipal Code and the Fire Protection District Act. Provides that a person shall not be appointed as the chief, the acting chief, the department head, or a position, by whatever title, that is responsible for day-to-day operations of a fire department or fire protection district for greater than 180 days unless he or she possesses certification that meets the National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 1001, Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications, Fire Fighter II job performance requirements; certification that meets the National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 1021, Standard for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications, Fire Officer II job performance requirements (rather than Office of the State Fire Marshal Firefighter Basic Certification or Firefighter II Certification; Office of the State Fire Marshal Fire Officer I and II Certifications).
LRB100 18393 MJP 33604 b
A BILL FOR
HB4791 LRB100 18393 MJP 33604 b
AN ACT concerning safety.
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 10-1-7.3 and 10-2.1-4 as follows:
(65 ILCS 5/10-1-7.3)
Sec. 10-1-7.3. Appointment of fire chief. Notwithstanding
any other provision in this Division, after the effective date
of this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly, a person
shall not be appointed as the chief, the acting chief, the
department head, or a position, by whatever title, that is
responsible for day-to-day operations of a fire department for
greater than 180 days unless he or she possesses the following
qualifications and certifications:
(1) Certification that meets the National Fire
Protection Association's NFPA 1001, Standard for Fire
Fighter Professional Qualifications, Fire Fighter II job
performance requirements; certification that meets the
National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 1021, Standard
for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications, Fire Officer
II job performance requirements Office of the State Fire
Marshal Firefighter Basic Certification or Firefighter II
Certification; Office of the State Fire Marshal Fire

HB4791 - 2 - LRB100 18393 MJP 33604 b
Officer I and II Certifications; and an associate degree in
fire science or a bachelor's degree from an accredited
university or college; or
(2) a minimum of 10 years' experience as a firefighter
at the fire department in the jurisdiction making the
appointment.
This Section applies to fire departments that employ
firefighters hired under Section 10-1-7.1 or 10-1-7.2 of this
Division.
(Source: P.A. 100-425, eff. 8-25-17.)
(65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-4) (from Ch. 24, par. 10-2.1-4)
Sec. 10-2.1-4. Fire and police departments; appointment of
members; certificates of appointments. The board of fire and
police commissioners shall appoint all officers and members of
the fire and police departments of the municipality, including
the chief of police and the chief of the fire department,
unless the council or board of trustees shall by ordinance as
to them otherwise provide; except as otherwise provided in this
Section, and except that in any municipality which adopts or
has adopted this Division 2.1 and also adopts or has adopted
Article 5 of this Code, the chief of police and the chief of
the fire department shall be appointed by the municipal
manager, if it is provided by ordinance in such municipality
that such chiefs, or either of them, shall not be appointed by
the board of fire and police commissioners.

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If the chief of the fire department or the chief of the
police department or both of them are appointed in the manner
provided by ordinance, they may be removed or discharged by the
appointing authority. In such case the appointing authority
shall file with the corporate authorities the reasons for such
removal or discharge, which removal or discharge shall not
become effective unless confirmed by a majority vote of the
corporate authorities.
After August 25, 2017 (the effective date of Public Act
100-425) this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly, a
person shall not be appointed as the chief, the acting chief,
the department head, or a position, by whatever title, that is
responsible for day-to-day operations of a fire department for
greater than 180 days unless he or she possesses the following
qualifications and certifications:
(1) Certification that meets the National Fire
Protection Association's NFPA 1001, Standard for Fire
Fighter Professional Qualifications, Fire Fighter II job
performance requirements; certification that meets the
National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 1021, Standard
for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications, Fire Officer
II job performance requirements Office of the State Fire
Marshal Firefighter Basic Certification or Firefighter II
Certification; Office of the State Fire Marshal Fire
Officer I and II Certifications; and an associate degree in
fire science or a bachelor's degree from an accredited

HB4791 - 4 - LRB100 18393 MJP 33604 b
university or college; or
(2) a minimum of 10 years' experience as a firefighter
at the fire department in the jurisdiction making the
appointment.
This paragraph applies to fire departments that employ
firefighters hired under the provisions of this Division.
If a member of the department is appointed chief of police
or chief of the fire department prior to being eligible to
retire on pension, he shall be considered as on furlough from
the rank he held immediately prior to his appointment as chief.
If he resigns as chief or is discharged as chief prior to
attaining eligibility to retire on pension, he shall revert to
and be established in whatever rank he currently holds, except
for previously appointed positions, and thereafter be entitled
to all the benefits and emoluments of that rank, without regard
as to whether a vacancy then exists in that rank.
All appointments to each department other than that of the
lowest rank, however, shall be from the rank next below that to
which the appointment is made except as otherwise provided in
this Section, and except that the chief of police and the chief
of the fire department may be appointed from among members of
the police and fire departments, respectively, regardless of
rank, unless the council or board of trustees shall have by
ordinance as to them otherwise provided. A chief of police or
the chief of the fire department, having been appointed from
among members of the police or fire department, respectively,

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shall be permitted, regardless of rank, to take promotional
exams and be promoted to a higher classified rank than he
currently holds, without having to resign as chief of police or
chief of the fire department.
The sole authority to issue certificates of appointment
shall be vested in the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners
and all certificates of appointments issued to any officer or
member of the fire or police department of a municipality shall
be signed by the chairman and secretary respectively of the
board of fire and police commissioners of such municipality,
upon appointment of such officer or member of the fire and
police department of such municipality by action of the board
of fire and police commissioners. After being selected from the
register of eligibles to fill a vacancy in the affected
department, each appointee shall be presented with his or her
certificate of appointment on the day on which he or she is
sworn in as a classified member of the affected department.
Firefighters who were not issued a certificate of appointment
when originally appointed shall be provided with a certificate
within 10 days after making a written request to the
chairperson of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners. In
any municipal fire department that employs full-time
firefighters and is subject to a collective bargaining
agreement, a person who has not qualified for regular
appointment under the provisions of this Division 2.1 shall not
be used as a temporary or permanent substitute for classified

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members of a municipality's fire department or for regular
appointment as a classified member of a municipality's fire
department unless mutually agreed to by the employee's
certified bargaining agent. Such agreement shall be considered
a permissive subject of bargaining. Municipal fire departments
covered by the changes made by Public Act 95-490 this
amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly that are using
non-certificated employees as substitutes immediately prior to
June 1, 2008 (the effective date of Public Act 95-490) this
amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly may, by mutual
agreement with the certified bargaining agent, continue the
existing practice or a modified practice and that agreement
shall be considered a permissive subject of bargaining. A home
rule unit may not regulate the hiring of temporary or
substitute members of the municipality's fire department in a
manner that is inconsistent with this Section. This Section is
a limitation under subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII
of the Illinois Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home
rule units of powers and functions exercised by the State.
The term "policemen" as used in this Division does not
include auxiliary police officers except as provided for in
Section 10-2.1-6.
Any full-time full time member of a regular fire or police
department of any municipality which comes under the provisions
of this Division or adopts this Division 2.1 or which has
adopted any of the prior Acts pertaining to fire and police

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commissioners, is a city officer.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, the
Chief of Police of a department in a non-home rule municipality
of more than 130,000 inhabitants may, without the advice or
consent of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, appoint
up to 6 officers who shall be known as deputy chiefs or
assistant deputy chiefs, and whose rank shall be immediately
below that of Chief. The deputy or assistant deputy chiefs may
be appointed from any rank of sworn officers of that
municipality, but no person who is not such a sworn officer may
be so appointed. Such deputy chief or assistant deputy chief
shall have the authority to direct and issue orders to all
employees of the Department holding the rank of captain or any
lower rank. A deputy chief of police or assistant deputy chief
of police, having been appointed from any rank of sworn
officers of that municipality, shall be permitted, regardless
of rank, to take promotional exams and be promoted to a higher
classified rank than he currently holds, without having to
resign as deputy chief of police or assistant deputy chief of
police.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, a
non-home rule municipality of 130,000 or fewer inhabitants,
through its council or board of trustees, may, by ordinance,
provide for a position of deputy chief to be appointed by the
chief of the police department. The ordinance shall provide for
no more than one deputy chief position if the police department

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has fewer than 25 full-time police officers and for no more
than 2 deputy chief positions if the police department has 25
or more full-time police officers. The deputy chief position
shall be an exempt rank immediately below that of Chief. The
deputy chief may be appointed from any rank of sworn, full-time
officers of the municipality's police department, but must have
at least 5 years of full-time service as a police officer in
that department. A deputy chief shall serve at the discretion
of the Chief and, if removed from the position, shall revert to
the rank currently held, without regard as to whether a vacancy
exists in that rank. A deputy chief of police, having been
appointed from any rank of sworn full-time officers of that
municipality's police department, shall be permitted,
regardless of rank, to take promotional exams and be promoted
to a higher classified rank than he currently holds, without
having to resign as deputy chief of police.
No municipality having a population less than 1,000,000
shall require that any firefighter appointed to the lowest rank
serve a probationary employment period of longer than one year.
The limitation on periods of probationary employment provided
in Public Act 86-990 this amendatory Act of 1989 is an
exclusive power and function of the State. Pursuant to
subsection (h) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois
Constitution, a home rule municipality having a population less
than 1,000,000 must comply with this limitation on periods of
probationary employment, which is a denial and limitation of

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home rule powers. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in
this Section, the probationary employment period limitation
may be extended for a firefighter who is required, as a
condition of employment, to be a licensed paramedic, during
which time the sole reason that a firefighter may be discharged
without a hearing is for failing to meet the requirements for
paramedic licensure.
To the extent that this Section or any other Section in
this Division conflicts with Section 10-2.1-6.3 or 10-2.1-6.4,
then Section 10-2.1-6.3 or 10-2.1-6.4 shall control.
(Source: P.A. 100-252, eff. 8-22-17; 100-425, eff. 8-25-17;
revised 10-3-17.)
Section 10. The Fire Protection District Act is amended by
changing Section 16.04b as follows:
(70 ILCS 705/16.04b)
Sec. 16.04b. Appointment of fire chief. Notwithstanding
any other provision in this Act, after the effective date of
this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly, a person
shall not be appointed as the chief, the acting chief, the
department head, or a position, by whatever title, that is
responsible for day-to-day operations of a fire protection
district for greater than 180 days unless he or she possesses
the following qualifications and certifications:
(1) Certification that meets the National Fire

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Protection Association's NFPA 1001, Standard for Fire
Fighter Professional Qualifications, Fire Fighter II job
performance requirements; certification that meets the
National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 1021, Standard
for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications, Fire Officer
II job performance requirements Office of the State Fire
Marshal Firefighter Basic Certification or Firefighter II
Certification; Office of the State Fire Marshal Fire
Officer I and II Certifications; and an associate degree in
fire science or a bachelor's degree from an accredited
university or college; or
(2) a minimum of 10 years' experience as a firefighter
in the fire protection district of the jurisdiction making
the appointment.
This Section applies to fire protection districts that
employ firefighters hired under the provisions of this Act.
(Source: P.A. 100-425, eff. 8-25-17.)