97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
HC0039

 

Introduced , by Rep. Dwight Kay

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
ILCON Art. VI, Sec. 7
ILCON Art. VI, Sec. 11
ILCON Art. VI, Sec. 12

    Proposes to amend the Judiciary Article of the Illinois Constitution. Provides that, whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of Supreme, Appellate, or Circuit Judge by death, resignation, retirement, removal, or upon the conclusion of the judge's term without retention in office, the Governor shall fill that vacancy by appointing one of 3 qualified persons who are nominated by a nonpartisan judicial commission. Creates separate nonpartisan judicial commissions for the Supreme Court, for each Judicial District, and for each Judicial Circuit. Sets forth the membership of the commissions. Effective upon being declared adopted in accordance with Section 7 of the Illinois Constitutional Amendment Act.


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HC0039LRB097 20523 HLH 66079 e

1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
2
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

 
3    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
4NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
5SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that there shall be submitted to the
6electors of the State for adoption or rejection at the general
7election next occurring at least 6 months after the adoption of
8this resolution a proposition to amend Sections 7, 11, and 12
9of Article VI of the Illinois Constitution as follows:
 
10
ARTICLE VI
11
THE JUDICIARY

12    (ILCON Art. VI, Sec. 7)
13SECTION 7. JUDICIAL CIRCUITS
14    (a) The State shall be divided into Judicial Circuits
15consisting of one or more counties. The First Judicial District
16shall constitute a Judicial Circuit. The Judicial Circuits
17within the other Judicial Districts shall be as provided by
18law. Circuits composed of more than one county shall be compact
19and of contiguous counties. The General Assembly by law may
20provide for the division of a circuit for the purpose of
21selection of Circuit Judges and for the selection of Circuit
22Judges from the circuit at large.
23    (b) Each Judicial Circuit shall have one Circuit Court with

 

 

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1such number of Circuit Judges as provided by law. Unless
2otherwise provided by law, there shall be at least one Circuit
3Judge from each county. In the First Judicial District, unless
4otherwise provided by law, Cook County, Chicago, and the area
5outside Chicago shall be separate units for the selection of
6Circuit Judges, with at least twelve chosen at large from the
7area outside Chicago and at least thirty-six chosen at large
8from Chicago.
9    (c) Circuit Judges in each circuit shall select by secret
10ballot a Chief Judge from their number to serve at their
11pleasure. Subject to the authority of the Supreme Court, the
12Chief Judge shall have general administrative authority over
13his court, including authority to provide for divisions,
14general or specialized, and for appropriate times and places of
15holding court.
16(Source: Illinois Constitution.)
 
17    (ILCON Art. VI, Sec. 11)
18SECTION 11. ELIGIBILITY FOR OFFICE
19    No person shall be eligible to be a Judge or Associate
20Judge unless he is a United States citizen, a licensed
21attorney-at-law of this State, and a resident of the unit from
22which he is selected which selects him. No change in the
23boundaries of a unit shall affect the tenure in office of a
24Judge or Associate Judge incumbent at the time of such change.
25(Source: Illinois Constitution.)
 

 

 

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1    (ILCON Art. VI, Sec. 12)
2SECTION 12. SELECTION ELECTION AND RETENTION
3    (a) Supreme, Appellate and Circuit Judges shall be
4nominated as provided in this Section. at primary elections or
5by petition. Judges shall be elected at general or judicial
6elections as the General Assembly shall provide by law. A
7person eligible for the office of Judge may cause his name to
8appear on the ballot as a candidate for Judge at the primary
9and at the general or judicial elections by submitting
10petitions. The General Assembly shall prescribe by law the
11requirements for petitions.
12    (b) The office of a Judge shall be vacant upon his death,
13resignation, retirement, removal, or upon the conclusion of his
14term without retention in office. Whenever an additional
15Appellate or Circuit Judge is authorized by law, the office
16shall be filled in the manner provided for filling a vacancy in
17that office.
18    (c) Nonpartisan judicial commissions whose duty it shall be
19to nominate and submit to the Governor names of persons for
20appointment as provided in subsection (c-5) are hereby
21established and shall be organized on the following basis: (i)
22for vacancies in the office of Supreme Court Judge, there shall
23be one such commission; (ii) for vacancies in the office
24Appellate Court Judge, there shall be one such commission for
25each Judicial District; and (iii) for vacancies in the office

 

 

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1of Circuit Judge there shall be one such commission for each
2Judicial Circuit. Each commission shall consist of 4 attorneys
3and 4 non-attorneys. The 4 attorney members for the Supreme
4Court judicial commission shall be selected by the attorneys
5who are licensed to practice law in this State. The 4 attorney
6members of each Appellate or Circuit Court judicial commission
7shall be selected by the attorneys who are licensed to practice
8law in this State and who reside within the appropriate
9District or Circuit. The 4 non-attorney members of each
10judicial commission shall be appointed as follows: one member
11appointed by the President of the Senate; one member appointed
12by the Minority Leader of the Senate; one member appointed by
13the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and one member
14appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of
15Representatives. Vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired
16term by the appointing authority. A person is not eligible to
17serve on a commission if he or she (i) is a federal, State, or
18local elected official and receives compensation for services
19rendered as an elected official or (ii) holds any office or
20official position in a political party. Service in the State
21Militia or Armed Forces of the United States for a period of
22time determined by Supreme Court rule does not disqualify a
23person from service on a commission. Each member of a judicial
24commission shall be subject to ethics and economic disclosure
25requirements as provided by law. Members of judicial
26commissions shall serve for terms of 6 years. No member may be

 

 

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1appointed or reappointed to a judicial commission for a period
2of 3 years after the expiration of his or her 6-year term. No
3member may serve on more than one judicial commission at a
4time. No member of a judicial commission may be appointed to
5judicial office while serving on a commission or for a period
6of 3 years after his or her term on the commission has ended.
7Each commission shall select a chairperson from among its
8members. The chairperson shall serve as chairperson for a term
9of 3 years or until the expiration of his or her term of office
10as a member, whichever occurs sooner. A commission may conduct
11investigations, meetings, and hearings, and may employ staff
12members as necessary to perform its duties. The members of any
13commission established under this subsection shall receive no
14salary or other compensation for their services, but they shall
15be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred while actually
16engaged in the discharge of their official duties from moneys
17appropriated for that purpose. All such commissions shall be
18administered, and all elections provided for under this
19subsection shall be held and regulated, under such rules as the
20Supreme Court shall promulgate.
21    (c-5) Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of Supreme,
22Appellate, or Circuit Judge, the Administrative Director of the
23Illinois Courts shall promptly notify the applicable
24nonpartisan judicial commission established under subsection
25(c) of this Section. Within 60 days after receiving that
26notice, the commission shall submit to the Governor a list of 3

 

 

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1nominees who are qualified for review by the commission.
2Nominations shall be submitted to the Governor only upon
3concurrence of not less than two-thirds of all members of the
4commission. The list shall be in alphabetical order. The
5Governor shall make the list public. Not less than 28 days nor
6more than 56 days after receiving the list, the Governor shall
7fill the vacancy by appointing one of the 3 nominees. If the
8Governor fails to appoint any of the nominees within 56 days
9after the list of nominees is submitted, the nonpartisan
10judicial commission making the nomination shall appoint one of
11the nominees to fill the vacancy. As used in this subsection,
12"qualified for review by the commission" means that the
13nominee, by his or her character, temperament, professional
14aptitude, experience, and commitment to equal justice under the
15law, is deemed by the commission to be well qualified to fit
16the vacancy. All such qualified persons have the right to be
17considered for selection by the commission free from
18discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, national
19ancestry, or gender. A commission may not include on its list
20of 3 nominees any person who is on another list submitted to
21the Governor to fill a vacancy in the same judicial office. A
22vacancy occurring in the office of Supreme, Appellate or
23Circuit Judge shall be filled as the General Assembly may
24provide by law. In the absence of a law, vacancies may be
25filled by appointment by the Supreme Court. A person appointed
26to fill a vacancy 60 or more days prior to the next primary

 

 

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1election to nominate Judges shall serve until the vacancy is
2filled for a term at the next general or judicial election. A
3person appointed to fill a vacancy less than 60 days prior to
4the next primary election to nominate Judges shall serve until
5the vacancy is filled at the second general or judicial
6election following such appointment.
7    (d) Not less than six months before the general election
8preceding the expiration of his term of office, a Supreme,
9Appellate or Circuit Judge who has been appointed or elected to
10that office may file in the office of the Secretary of State a
11declaration of candidacy to succeed himself. The Secretary of
12State, not less than 63 days before the election, shall certify
13the Judge's candidacy to the proper election officials. The
14names of Judges seeking retention shall be submitted to the
15electors, separately and without party designation, on the sole
16question whether each Judge shall be retained in office for
17another term. The retention elections shall be conducted at
18general elections in the appropriate Judicial District, for
19Supreme and Appellate Judges, and in the circuit for Circuit
20Judges. The affirmative vote of three-fifths of the electors
21voting on the question shall elect the Judge to the office for
22a term commencing on the first Monday in December following his
23election.
24    (e) A law reducing the number of Appellate or Circuit
25Judges shall be without prejudice to the right of the Judges
26affected to seek retention in office. A reduction shall become

 

 

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1effective when a vacancy occurs in the affected unit.
2(Source: Illinois Constitution.)
 
3
SCHEDULE
4    This Constitutional Amendment takes effect upon being
5declared adopted in accordance with Section 7 of the Illinois
6Constitutional Amendment Act.