50 ILCS 705/6.1

(50 ILCS 705/6.1)

Sec. 6.1. Decertification of full-time and part-time police officers.

(a) The Board must review police officer conduct and records to ensure that no police officer is certified or provided a valid waiver if that police officer has been convicted of, or entered a plea of guilty to, a felony offense under the laws of this State or any other state which if committed in this State would be punishable as a felony. The Board must also ensure that no police officer is certified or provided a valid waiver if that police officer has been convicted of, or entered a plea of guilty to, on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of 1999 of any misdemeanor specified in this Section or if committed in any other state would be an offense similar to Section 11-1.50, 11-6, 11-9.1, 11-14, 11-17, 11-19, 12-2, 12-15, 16-1, 17-1, 17-2, 28-3, 29-1, 31-1, 31-6, 31-7, 32-4a, or 32-7 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, to subdivision (a)(1) or (a)(2)(C) of Section 11-14.3 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, or subsection (a) of Section 17-32 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the Criminal Code of 2012, or to Section 5 or 5.2 of the Cannabis Control Act. The Board must appoint investigators to enforce the duties conferred upon the Board by this Act.

(b) It is the responsibility of the sheriff or the chief executive officer of every local law enforcement agency or department within this State to report to the Board any arrest, conviction, or plea of guilty of any officer for an offense identified in this Section.

(c) It is the duty and responsibility of every full-time and part-time police officer in this State to report to the Board within 30 days, and the officer's sheriff or chief executive officer, of his or her arrest, conviction, or plea of guilty for an offense identified in this Section. Any full-time or part-time police officer who knowingly makes, submits, causes to be submitted, or files a false or untruthful report to the Board must have his or her certificate or waiver immediately decertified or revoked.

(d) Any person, or a local or State agency, or the Board is immune from liability for submitting, disclosing, or releasing information of arrests, convictions, or pleas of guilty in this Section as long as the information is submitted, disclosed, or released in good faith and without malice. The Board has qualified immunity for the release of the information.

(e) Any full-time or part-time police officer with a certificate or waiver issued by the Board who is convicted of, or entered a plea of guilty to, any offense described in this Section immediately becomes decertified or no longer has a valid waiver. The decertification and invalidity of waivers occurs as a matter of law. Failure of a convicted person to report to the Board his or her conviction as described in this Section or any continued law enforcement practice after receiving a conviction is a Class 4 felony.

(f) The Board's investigators are peace officers and have all the powers possessed by policemen in cities and by sheriff's, and these investigators may exercise those powers anywhere in the State. An investigator shall not have peace officer status or exercise police powers unless he or she successfully completes the basic police training course mandated and approved by the Board or the Board waives the training requirement by reason of the investigator's prior law enforcement experience, training, or both. The Board shall not waive the training requirement unless the investigator has had a minimum of 5 years experience as a sworn officer of a local, State, or federal law enforcement agency.

(g) The Board must request and receive information and assistance from any federal, state, or local governmental agency as part of the authorized criminal background investigation. The Department of State Police must process, retain, and additionally provide and disseminate information to the Board concerning criminal charges, arrests, convictions, and their disposition, that have been filed before, on, or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly against a basic academy applicant, law enforcement applicant, or law enforcement officer whose fingerprint identification cards are on file or maintained by the Department of State Police. The Federal Bureau of Investigation must provide the Board any criminal history record information contained in its files pertaining to law enforcement officers or any applicant to a Board certified basic law enforcement academy as described in this Act based on fingerprint identification. The Board must make payment of fees to the Department of State Police for each fingerprint card submission in conformance with the requirements of paragraph 22 of Section 55a of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois.

(h) A police officer who has been certified or granted a valid waiver shall also be decertified or have his or her waiver revoked upon a determination by the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel that he or she, while under oath, has knowingly and willfully made false statements as to a material fact going to an element of the offense of murder. If an appeal is filed, the determination shall be stayed.

(1) In the case of an acquittal on a charge of murder, a verified complaint may be filed:

(A) by the defendant; or

(B) by a police officer with personal knowledge of perjured testimony.

The complaint must allege that a police officer, while under oath, knowingly and willfully made false statements as to a material fact going to an element of the offense of murder. The verified complaint must be filed with the Executive Director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board within 2 years of the judgment of acquittal.

(2) Within 30 days, the Executive Director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board shall review the verified complaint and determine whether the verified complaint is frivolous and without merit, or whether further investigation is warranted. The Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board shall notify the officer and the Executive Director of the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel of the filing of the complaint and any action taken thereon. If the Executive Director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board determines that the verified complaint is frivolous and without merit, it shall be dismissed. The Executive Director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board has sole discretion to make this determination and this decision is not subject to appeal.

(i) If the Executive Director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board determines that the verified complaint warrants further investigation, he or she shall refer the matter to a task force of investigators created for this purpose. This task force shall consist of 8 sworn police officers: 2 from the Illinois State Police, 2 from the City of Chicago Police Department, 2 from county police departments, and 2 from municipal police departments. These investigators shall have a minimum of 5 years of experience in conducting criminal investigations. The investigators shall be appointed by the Executive Director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board. Any officer or officers acting in this capacity pursuant to this statutory provision will have statewide police authority while acting in this investigative capacity. Their salaries and expenses for the time spent conducting investigations under this paragraph shall be reimbursed by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board.

(j) Once the Executive Director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board has determined that an investigation is warranted, the verified complaint shall be assigned to an investigator or investigators. The investigator or investigators shall conduct an investigation of the verified complaint and shall write a report of his or her findings. This report shall be submitted to the Executive Director of the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel.

Within 30 days, the Executive Director of the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel shall review the investigative report and determine whether sufficient evidence exists to conduct an evidentiary hearing on the verified complaint. If the Executive Director of the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel determines upon his or her review of the investigatory report that a hearing should not be conducted, the complaint shall be dismissed. This decision is in the Executive Director's sole discretion, and this dismissal may not be appealed.

If the Executive Director of the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel determines that there is sufficient evidence to warrant a hearing, a hearing shall be ordered on the verified complaint, to be conducted by an administrative law judge employed by the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel. The Executive Director of the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel shall inform the Executive Director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board and the person who filed the complaint of either the dismissal of the complaint or the issuance of the complaint for hearing. The Executive Director shall assign the complaint to the administrative law judge within 30 days of the decision granting a hearing.

(k) In the case of a finding of guilt on the offense of murder, if a new trial is granted on direct appeal, or a state post-conviction evidentiary hearing is ordered, based on a claim that a police officer, under oath, knowingly and willfully made false statements as to a material fact going to an element of the offense of murder, the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel shall hold a hearing to determine whether the officer should be decertified if an interested party requests such a hearing within 2 years of the court's decision. The complaint shall be assigned to an administrative law judge within 30 days so that a hearing can be scheduled.

At the hearing, the accused officer shall be afforded the opportunity to:

(1) Be represented by counsel of his or her own choosing;

(2) Be heard in his or her own defense;

(3) Produce evidence in his or her defense;

(4) Request that the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel compel the attendance of witnesses and production of related documents including but not limited to court documents and records.

Once a case has been set for hearing, the verified complaint shall be referred to the Department of Professional Regulation. That office shall prosecute the verified complaint at the hearing before the administrative law judge. The Department of Professional Regulation shall have the opportunity to produce evidence to support the verified complaint and to request the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of related documents, including, but not limited to, court documents and records. The Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel shall have the power to issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of and testimony of witnesses and the production of related documents including, but not limited to, court documents and records and shall have the power to administer oaths.

The administrative law judge shall have the responsibility of receiving into evidence relevant testimony and documents, including court records, to support or disprove the allegations made by the person filing the verified complaint and, at the close of the case, hear arguments. If the administrative law judge finds that there is not clear and convincing evidence to support the verified complaint that the police officer has, while under oath, knowingly and willfully made false statements as to a material fact going to an element of the offense of murder, the administrative law judge shall make a written recommendation of dismissal to the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel. If the administrative law judge finds that there is clear and convincing evidence that the police officer has, while under oath, knowingly and willfully made false statements as to a material fact that goes to an element of the offense of murder, the administrative law judge shall make a written recommendation so concluding to the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel. The hearings shall be transcribed. The Executive Director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board shall be informed of the administrative law judge's recommended findings and decision and the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel's subsequent review of the recommendation.

(l) An officer named in any complaint filed pursuant to this Act shall be indemnified for his or her reasonable attorney's fees and costs by his or her employer. These fees shall be paid in a regular and timely manner. The State, upon application by the public employer, shall reimburse the public employer for the accused officer's reasonable attorney's fees and costs. At no time and under no circumstances will the accused officer be required to pay his or her own reasonable attorney's fees or costs.

(m) The accused officer shall not be placed on unpaid status because of the filing or processing of the verified complaint until there is a final non-appealable order sustaining his or her guilt and his or her certification is revoked. Nothing in this Act, however, restricts the public employer from pursuing discipline against the officer in the normal course and under procedures then in place.

(n) The Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel shall review the administrative law judge's recommended decision and order and determine by a majority vote whether or not there was clear and convincing evidence that the accused officer, while under oath, knowingly and willfully made false statements as to a material fact going to the offense of murder. Within 30 days of service of the administrative law judge's recommended decision and order, the parties may file exceptions to the recommended decision and order and briefs in support of their exceptions with the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel. The parties may file responses to the exceptions and briefs in support of the responses no later than 15 days after the service of the exceptions. If exceptions are filed by any of the parties, the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel shall review the matter and make a finding to uphold, vacate, or modify the recommended decision and order. If the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel concludes that there is clear and convincing evidence that the accused officer, while under oath, knowingly and willfully made false statements as to a material fact going to an element of the offense murder, the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel shall inform the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board and the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board shall revoke the accused officer's certification. If the accused officer appeals that determination to the Appellate Court, as provided by this Act, he or she may petition the Appellate Court to stay the revocation of his or her certification pending the court's review of the matter.

(o) None of the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel's findings or determinations shall set any precedent in any of its decisions decided pursuant to the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act by the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel or the courts.

(p) A party aggrieved by the final order of the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel may apply for and obtain judicial review of an order of the Illinois Labor Relations Board State Panel, in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Review Law, except that such judicial review shall be afforded directly in the Appellate Court for the district in which the accused officer resides. Any direct appeal to the Appellate Court shall be filed within 35 days from the date that a copy of the decision sought to be reviewed was served upon the party affected by the decision.

(q) Interested parties. Only interested parties to the criminal prosecution in which the police officer allegedly, while under oath, knowingly and willfully made false statements as to a material fact going to an element of the offense of murder may file a verified complaint pursuant to this Section. For purposes of this Section, "interested parties" shall be limited to the defendant and any police officer who has personal knowledge that the police officer who is the subject of the complaint has, while under oath, knowingly and willfully made false statements as to a material fact going to an element of the offense of murder.

(r) Semi-annual reports. The Executive Director of the Illinois Labor Relations Board shall submit semi-annual reports to the Governor, President, and Minority Leader of the Senate, and to the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives beginning on June 30, 2004, indicating:

(1) the number of verified complaints received since the date of the last report;

(2) the number of investigations initiated since the date of the last report;

(3) the number of investigations concluded since the date of the last report;

(4) the number of investigations pending as of the reporting date;

(5) the number of hearings held since the date of the last report; and

(6) the number of officers decertified since the date of the last report.

(Source: P.A. 101-187, eff. 1-1-20.)