Rep. Deborah Conroy

Filed: 3/13/2013

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2377

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2377 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The Downstate Forest Preserve District Act is
5amended by changing Section 3c as follows:
 
6    (70 ILCS 805/3c)
7    Sec. 3c. Elected board of commissioners in certain
8counties. If the boundaries of a district are co-extensive with
9the boundaries of a county having a population of more than
10800,000 but less than 3,000,000, all commissioners of the
11forest preserve district shall be elected from the same
12districts as members of the county board beginning with the
13general election held in 2002 and each succeeding general
14election. One commissioner shall be elected from each district.
15At their first meeting after their election in 2002 and
16following each subsequent decennial reapportionment of the

 

 

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1county under Division 2-3 of the Counties Code, the elected
2commissioners shall publicly by lot divide themselves into 2
3groups, as equal in size as possible. Commissioners from the
4first group shall serve for terms of 2, 4, and 4 years; and
5commissioners from the second group shall serve terms of 4, 4,
6and 2 years. Beginning with the general election in 2002, the
7president of the board of commissioners of the forest preserve
8district shall be elected by the voters of the county, rather
9than by the commissioners. The president shall be a resident of
10the county and shall be elected throughout the county for a
114-year term without having been first elected as commissioner
12of the forest preserve district. Each commissioner shall be a
13resident of the county board district from which he or she was
14elected not later than the date of the commencement of the term
15of office. The term of office for the president and
16commissioners elected under this Section shall commence on the
17first Monday of the month following the month of election.
18Neither a commissioner nor the president of the board of
19commissioners of that forest preserve district shall serve
20simultaneously as member or chairman of the county board. No
21person shall seek election to both the forest preserve
22commission and the county board at the same election. The
23president, with the advice and consent of the board of
24commissioners shall appoint a secretary, treasurer, and such
25other officers as deemed necessary by the board of
26commissioners, which officers need not be members of the board

 

 

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1of commissioners. The president shall have the powers and
2duties as specified in Section 12 of this Act.
3    Candidates for president and commissioner shall be
4candidates of established political parties.
5    If a vacancy in the office of president or commissioner
6occurs, other than by expiration of the president's or
7commissioner's term, the forest preserve district board of
8commissioners shall declare that a vacancy exists and
9notification of the vacancy shall be given to the county
10central committee of each established political party within 3
11business days after the occurrence of the vacancy. If the
12vacancy occurs in the office of forest preserve district
13commissioner, the president of the board of commissioners
14shall, within 60 days after the date of the vacancy, with the
15advice and consent of other commissioners then serving, appoint
16a person to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term. The
17appointee shall be affiliated with the same political party as
18the commissioner in whose office the vacancy occurred and be a
19resident of such district. If a vacancy in the office of
20president occurs, other than by expiration of the president's
21term, the remaining members of the board of commissioners
22shall, within 60 days after the vacancy, appoint one of the
23commissioners to serve as president for the remainder of the
24unexpired term. In that case, the office of the commissioner
25who is appointed to serve as president shall be deemed vacant
26and shall be filled within 60 days by appointment of the

 

 

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1president with the advice and consent of the other forest
2preserve district commissioners. The commissioner who is
3appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of president shall be
4affiliated with the same political party as the person who
5occupied the office of president prior to the vacancy. A person
6appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of president or
7commissioner shall establish his or her party affiliation by
8his or her record of voting in primary elections or by holding
9or having held an office in an established political party
10organization before the appointment. If the appointee has not
11voted in a party primary election or is not holding or has not
12held an office in an established political party organization
13before the appointment, the appointee shall establish his or
14her political party affiliation by his or her record of
15participating in an established political party's nomination
16or election caucus. If, however, more than 28 months remain in
17the unexpired term of a commissioner or the president, the
18appointment shall be until the next general election, at which
19time the vacated office of commissioner or president shall be
20filled by election for the remainder of the term.
21Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, if a vacancy occurs
22after the last day provided in Section 7-12 of the Election
23Code for filing nomination papers for the office of president
24of a forest preserve district where that office is elected as
25provided for in this Section, or as set forth in Section 7-61
26of the Election Code, a vacancy in nomination shall be filled

 

 

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1by the passage of a resolution by the nominating committee of
2the affected political party within the time periods specified
3in the Election Code. The nominating committee shall consist of
4the chairman of the county central committee and the township
5chairmen of the affected political party. All other vacancies
6in nomination shall be filled in accordance with the provisions
7of the Election Code.
8    The president and commissioners elected under this Section
9may be reimbursed for their reasonable expenses actually
10incurred in performing their official duties under this Act in
11accordance with the provisions of Section 3a. The reimbursement
12paid under this Section shall be paid by the forest preserve
13district.
14    Compensation for the president and the forest preserve
15commissioners elected under this Section shall be established
16by the board of commissioners of the forest preserve district.
17Upon the petition of at least 500 persons who are registered
18voters of a county in which a forest preserve district is
19located, as determined on the date registration closed before
20the regular election next preceding the last day on which the
21petition may be filed, the county board shall certify and cause
22to be submitted to the voters of the county at the next general
23election the question of the whether the president and forest
24preserve district commissioners shall serve without
25compensation.
26    A signature on a petition shall not be valid or counted in

 

 

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1considering the petition unless the form requirements are
2complied with and the date of each signature is less than 90
3days before the last day for filing the petition. The statement
4of the person who circulates the petition must include an
5attestation (i) indicating the dates on which that sheet was
6circulated, (ii) indicating the first and last date on which
7that sheet was circulated, or (iii) certifying that none of the
8signatures on the sheet was signed more than 90 days before the
9last day for filing the petition. The petition must be filed at
10least 180 days prior to the next general election.
11    The proposition shall be in substantially the following
12form:
13        Shall the president and forest preserve district
14    commissioners of (name of forest preserve district) serve
15    without compensation on and after (date)?
16    The votes shall be recorded as "Yes" and "No".
17    If a majority of the votes cast are in favor of the
18proposition, the president and forest preserve commissioners
19shall, on and after the date provided in the referendum, serve
20without compensation.
21    This Section does not apply to a forest preserve district
22created under Section 18.5 of the Conservation District Act.
23(Source: P.A. 94-617, eff. 8-18-05; 94-900, eff. 6-22-06.)
 
24    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
25becoming law.".