97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
SB1358

 

Introduced 2/8/2011, by Sen. Carole Pankau

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
70 ILCS 805/3c

    Amends the Downstate Forest Preserve District Act. Provides that, beginning with the general election in 2012 and each succeeding general election, a forest preserve district shall be divided into 6 districts and one commissioner of the forest preserve district shall be elected from each district that is co-extensive with a county with a population of more than 800,000 but less than 3,000,000 (now, commissioners of the forest preserve district are elected from the same districts as members of the county board). Provides that by July 1, 2011 and each 10 years thereafter, the board of commissioners of a forest preserve district shall develop an apportionment plan for the district. Sets forth the requirements for the apportionment plan. Provides that, if any forest preserve district fails to complete the reapportionment of its district by July 1 in 2011 or any 10 years thereafter, the county clerk of that county shall convene the county apportionment commission to develop the apportionment plan. Sets forth the requirements for filing an apportionment plan. Provides that, if no apportionment plan is filed, then the commissioners of the forest preserve district shall be elected at large in the district. Effective immediately.


LRB097 08361 RLJ 48488 b

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB1358LRB097 08361 RLJ 48488 b

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 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.
9    (a) This Section applies only if If the boundaries of a
10district are co-extensive with the boundaries of a county
11having a population of more than 800,000 but less than
123,000,000.
13    All , all commissioners of the forest preserve district
14shall be elected from the same districts as members of the
15county board beginning with the general election held in 2002
16and each succeeding general election through 2010. One
17commissioner shall be elected from each district. At their
18first meeting after their election in 2002 and following each
19subsequent decennial reapportionment of the county under
20Division 2-3 of the Counties Code, the elected commissioners
21shall publicly by lot divide themselves into 2 groups, as equal
22in size as possible.
23    Beginning with the general election held in 2012 and each

 

 

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1succeeding general election, the forest preserve district
2shall be divided into 6 districts. One commissioner shall be
3elected from each district. At their first meeting after their
4election in 2012 and following each subsequent decennial
5reapportionment as required under subsection (b), the elected
6commissioners shall publicly by lot divide themselves into 2
7equal groups.
8    Commissioners from the first group shall serve for terms of
92, 4, and 4 years; and commissioners from the second group
10shall serve terms of 4, 4, and 2 years. Beginning with the
11general election in 2002, the president of the board of
12commissioners of the forest preserve district shall be elected
13by the voters of the county, rather than by the commissioners.
14The president shall be a resident of the county and shall be
15elected throughout the county for a 4-year term without having
16been first elected as commissioner of the forest preserve
17district. Each commissioner shall be a resident of the county
18board district from which he or she was elected not later than
19the date of the commencement of the term of office. The term of
20office for the president and commissioners elected under this
21Section shall commence on the first Monday of the month
22following the month of election. Neither a commissioner nor the
23president of the board of commissioners of that forest preserve
24district shall serve simultaneously as member or chairman of
25the county board. No person shall seek election to both the
26forest preserve commission and the county board at the same

 

 

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1election. The president, with the advice and consent of the
2board of commissioners shall appoint a secretary, treasurer,
3and such other officers as deemed necessary by the board of
4commissioners, which officers need not be members of the board
5of commissioners. The president shall have the powers and
6duties as specified in Section 12 of this Act.
7    Candidates for president and commissioner shall be
8candidates of established political parties.
9    (b) By July 1, 2011 and each 10 years thereafter, the board
10of commissioners shall develop an apportionment plan whereby
11each district:
12        (1) shall be substantially equal in population;
13        (2) shall be comprised of contiguous territory, as
14    nearly compact as practical;
15        (3) may divide townships or municipalities only when
16    necessary to conform to the population requirement of item
17    (1) of this subsection (b); and
18        (4) shall be created in such a manner so that no
19    precinct shall be divided between 2 or more districts,
20    insofar as is practical.
21    If any forest preserve district fails to complete the
22reapportionment of its district by July 1 in 2011 or any 10
23years thereafter, the county clerk of that county shall convene
24the county apportionment commission as defined in item (b) of
25Section 2-3001 of the Counties Code. Three members of the
26county apportionment commission shall constitute a quorum, but

 

 

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1a majority of all the members must vote affirmatively on any
2determination made by the county apportionment commission. The
3county apportionment commission shall adopt rules for its
4procedure. The county apportionment commission shall develop
5an apportionment plan for the district in the manner provided
6by this Section. The county apportionment commission shall
7submit its apportionment plan by October 1 in the year that it
8is convened, except that the circuit court, for good cause
9shown, may grant an extension of time, not exceeding a total of
1060 days, within which such a plan may be submitted.
11    The apportionment plan developed by the forest preserve
12district board of commissioners or the county apportionment
13commission, as the case may be, must be filed in the office of
14the county clerk by the time required by this subsection (b).
15The county clerk shall promptly forward copies of that plan to
16the president of the forest preserve district board of
17commissioners and shall keep other copies of the plan available
18for distribution free of charge to any registered voter of the
19district requesting a copy. If no apportionment plan is filed
20with the county clerk as required by this Section, the
21commissioners of the forest preserve district board shall be
22elected at large in the district.
23    (c) If a vacancy in the office of president or commissioner
24occurs, other than by expiration of the president's or
25commissioner's term, the forest preserve district board of
26commissioners shall declare that a vacancy exists and

 

 

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

 

 

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1or having held an office in an established political party
2organization before the appointment. If the appointee has not
3voted in a party primary election or is not holding or has not
4held an office in an established political party organization
5before the appointment, the appointee shall establish his or
6her political party affiliation by his or her record of
7participating in an established political party's nomination
8or election caucus. If, however, more than 28 months remain in
9the unexpired term of a commissioner or the president, the
10appointment shall be until the next general election, at which
11time the vacated office of commissioner or president shall be
12filled by election for the remainder of the term.
13Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, if a vacancy occurs
14after the last day provided in Section 7-12 of the Election
15Code for filing nomination papers for the office of president
16of a forest preserve district where that office is elected as
17provided for in this Section, or as set forth in Section 7-61
18of the Election Code, a vacancy in nomination shall be filled
19by the passage of a resolution by the nominating committee of
20the affected political party within the time periods specified
21in the Election Code. The nominating committee shall consist of
22the chairman of the county central committee and the township
23chairmen of the affected political party. All other vacancies
24in nomination shall be filled in accordance with the provisions
25of the Election Code.
26    (d) The president and commissioners elected under this

 

 

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1Section may be reimbursed for their reasonable expenses
2actually incurred in performing their official duties under
3this Act in accordance with the provisions of Section 3a. The
4reimbursement paid under this Section shall be paid by the
5forest preserve district.
6    Compensation for the president and the forest preserve
7commissioners elected under this Section shall be established
8by the board of commissioners of the forest preserve district.
9    (e) This Section does not apply to a forest preserve
10district created under Section 18.5 of the Conservation
11District Act.
12(Source: P.A. 94-617, eff. 8-18-05; 94-900, eff. 6-22-06.)
 
13    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
14becoming law.