98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB2247

 

Introduced , by Rep. Patrick J. Verschoore

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
70 ILCS 705/6  from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 26

    Amends the Fire Protection District Act. Provides that no person shall be appointed to the position of fire chief who has been convicted of a felony in Illinois or convicted in another jurisdiction for conduct that would be a felony under Illinois law, or convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude. Effective immediately.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Fire Protection District Act is amended by
5changing Section 6 as follows:
 
6    (70 ILCS 705/6)  (from Ch. 127 1/2, par. 26)
7    Sec. 6. Board of trustees; powers.
8    (a) The trustees shall constitute a board of trustees for
9the district for which they are appointed, which board of
10trustees is declared to be the corporate authority of the fire
11protection district, and shall exercise all of the powers and
12control all the affairs and property of such district.
13    The board of trustees at their initial meeting and at their
14first meeting following the commencement of the term of any
15trustee shall elect one of their number as president and one of
16their number as secretary and shall elect a treasurer for the
17district, who may be one of the trustees or may be any other
18citizen of the district and who shall hold office during the
19pleasure of the board and who shall give such bond as may be
20required by the board.
21    (b) Except as otherwise provided in Sections 16.01 through
2216.18, the board may appoint and enter into a multi-year
23contract not exceeding 3 years with a fire chief and may

 

 

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1appoint any firemen that may be necessary for the district, who
2shall hold office during the pleasure of the board and who
3shall give any bond that the board may require. No person shall
4be appointed to the position of fire chief who has been
5convicted of a felony in Illinois or convicted in another
6jurisdiction for conduct that would be a felony under Illinois
7law, or convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude. The
8board may prescribe the duties and fix the compensation of all
9the officers and employees of the fire protection district.
10    (c) A member of the board of trustees of a fire protection
11district may be compensated as follows: in a district having
12fewer than 4 full time paid firemen, a sum not to exceed $1,000
13per annum; in a district having more than 3 but less than 10
14full time paid firemen, a sum not to exceed $1,500 per annum;
15in a district having either 10 or more full time paid firemen,
16a sum not to exceed $2,000 per annum. In addition, fire
17districts that operate an ambulance service pursuant to
18authorization by referendum, as provided in Section 22, may pay
19trustees an additional annual compensation not to exceed 50% of
20the amount otherwise authorized herein. The additional
21compensation shall be an administrative expense of the
22ambulance service and shall be paid from revenues raised by the
23ambulance tax levy. In addition, any trustee of a fire
24protection district who completes a training program on fire
25protection district administration approved by the Office of
26the State Fire Marshal may receive additional compensation

 

 

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1above the compensation otherwise provided in this Section. The
2additional compensation shall be equal to 50% of such other
3compensation. In order to continue to receive the additional
4compensation, the trustee must attend annual training approved
5by the Office of the State Fire Marshal on a continuing basis
6thereafter.
7    (d) The trustees also have the express power to execute a
8note or notes and to execute a mortgage or trust deed to secure
9the payment of such note or notes; such trust deed or mortgage
10shall cover real estate, or some part thereof, or personal
11property owned by the district and the lien of the mortgage
12shall apply to the real estate or personal property so
13mortgaged by the district, and the proceeds of the note or
14notes may be used in the acquisition of personal property or of
15real estate or in the erection of improvements on such real
16estate.
17    The trustees have express power to purchase either real
18estate or personal property to be used for the purposes of the
19fire protection district through contracts which provide for
20the consideration for such purchase to be paid through
21installments to be made at stated intervals during a certain
22period of time, but, in no case, shall such contracts provide
23for the consideration to be paid during a period of time in
24excess of 25 years.
25    (e) The trustees have express power to provide for the
26benefit of its employees, volunteer firemen and paid firemen,

 

 

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1group life, health, accident, hospital and medical insurance,
2or any combination thereof; and to pay for all or any portion
3of the premiums on such insurance. Such insurance may include
4provisions for employees who rely on treatment by spiritual
5means alone through prayer for healing in accord with the
6tenets and practice of a well recognized religious
7denomination.
8    (f) To encourage continued service with the district, the
9board of trustees has the express power to award monetary
10incentives, not to exceed $240 per year, to volunteer
11firefighters of the district based on the length of service. To
12be eligible for the incentives, the volunteer firefighters must
13have at least 5 years of service with the district. The amount
14of the incentives may not be greater than 2% of the annual levy
15amount when all incentive awards are combined.
16    (g) The board of trustees has express power to change the
17corporate name of the fire protection district by ordinance,
18provided that notification of any change is given to the
19circuit clerk and the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
20    (h) The board of trustees may impose reasonable civil
21penalties on individuals who repeatedly cause false fire
22alarms.
23    (i) The board of trustees has full power to pass all
24necessary ordinances, and rules and regulations for the proper
25management and conduct of the business of the board of trustees
26of the fire protection district for carrying into effect the

 

 

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1objects for which the district was formed.
2(Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 95-799, eff. 1-1-09;
396-1000, eff. 7-2-10.)
 
4    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
5becoming law.