70 ILCS 705/4.01

Current through Public Act 103-1052

Section 70 ILCS 705/4.01 - Five-member boards

(a) Any appointed board of trustees of a fire protection district may provide for the establishment of a 5-member board of trustees by adopting an ordinance to that effect. An appointed board of trustees shall also be increased to a 5-member board upon the adoption of a proposition to increase the board as provided in subsection (b) of this Section. When such an ordinance or proposition has been adopted, the appropriate appointing authority shall, within 60 days of the date of the adoption of the ordinance or proposition, appoint 2 additional trustees to the board of trustees, one to hold office for 2 years and one to hold office for 3 years from the first Monday of May next after their appointment and until their successors are appointed and have qualified. The lengths of the terms of these 2 additional members shall be determined by lot at the first meeting of the board of trustees held after the 2 additional members take office. The 3 trustees already holding office in the district shall continue to hold office for the remainder of their respective terms. Thereafter, on or before the second Monday in April of each year the appropriate appointing authority shall appoint one trustee or 2 trustees, as shall be necessary to maintain a 5-member board of trustees, whose terms shall be for 3 years commencing the first Monday in May of the year in which they are respectively appointed.

(b) Upon presentation to an elected or appointed 3-member board of trustees of a petition, signed by not less than 5% of the electors of the district governed by the board, requesting that a proposition to increase the board of trustees to a 5-member board be submitted to the electors of the district, the secretary of the board of trustees shall certify the proposition to the appropriate election authorities who shall submit the proposition at a regular election in accordance with the general election law. The general election law shall apply to and govern the election. The proposition shall be in substantially the following form:

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"Shall the number of trustees of the Fire Protection District be increased from 3 to 5?"

YES

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NO

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If a majority of the votes cast on the proposition are in the affirmative, the board of trustees of the district shall thereafter be increased to a 5-member board and the 2 additional trustees shall be elected or appointed as provided by this Section.

(c) Any appointed board of trustees of a fire protection district that has established a 5-member board of trustees by ordinance under subsection (a) may provide for a return to a 3-member board of trustees by adopting an ordinance to that effect. The terms of the 5 persons serving on the board at the time of the adoption of the ordinance shall be terminated upon the adoption of the ordinance, except that they shall continue to serve until the 3-member board under this subsection (c) has been selected and qualified. The appropriate appointing authority shall appoint the 3-member board within 60 days after the adoption of the ordinance. The appointments shall be made under Section 4. Persons serving on the 5-member board shall be eligible for appointment to the 3-member board under this subsection (c).

(d) Beginning on August 17, 1990, and ending 3 years after that date, in the case of a fire protection district board of trustees in a county with a population of more than 400,000 but less than 450,000, according to the 1980 general census, created under Section 4, subsection (a), paragraph (3) of this Act that has established a 5-member board of trustees under this Section a petition for the redress of a trustee, charging the trustee with palpable omission of duty or nonfeasance in office, signed by not less than 5% of the electors of the district may be presented to the township supervisor or the presiding officer of the county board, as appropriate. Upon receipt of the petition, the township supervisor or presiding officer of the county board, as appropriate, shall preside over a hearing on the matter of the requested redress. The hearing shall be held not less than 14 nor more than 30 days after receipt of the petition. In the case of a fire protection district trustee appointed by the presiding officer of the county board, the presiding officer shall appoint at least 4 but not more than 8 members of the county board, a majority of whom shall reside in a county board district in which the fire protection district is wholly or partially located, to serve as the hearing panel. In the case of a fire protection district trustee appointed by the board of town trustees, the township supervisor and 2 other town trustees appointed by the supervisor shall serve as the hearing panel. Within 30 days after the hearing, the panel shall issue a statement of its findings concerning the charges against the trustee, based upon the evidence presented at the hearing, and may make to the fire protection district any recommendations deemed appropriate.

(e) In a district governed by an elected or appointed 5-member board, upon presentation of a petition, signed by not less than 5% of the electors of the district governed by the board, requesting that a proposition to decrease the board of trustees to a 3-member board be submitted to the electors of the district, the secretary of the board of trustees shall certify the proposition to the appropriate election authorities who shall submit the proposition at a regular election in accordance with the general election law. The general election law shall apply to and govern the election.

The election authority must submit the question in substantially the following form:

Shall the number of trustees of the fire protection district be decreased from 5 to 3 members?

The election authority must record the votes as "Yes" or "No".

If a majority of the votes cast on the proposition are in the affirmative, the board of trustees of the district shall be decreased to a 3-member board. The terms of the 5 persons serving on the board at the time of the reduction of the number of members to 3 shall terminate upon certification of the election results, except that they shall continue to serve until the 3-member board is appointed and qualified or elected and qualified.

In the case of an appointed board, the appointing authority shall within 60 days after the certification of the election results, appoint 3 trustees to the board with terms starting the first Monday in May next following the election where the decrease in the board's size is approved. The terms of the appointed trustees shall be determined by lot at the first board meeting following the election. One trustee shall have a term of 3 years, one trustee shall have a term of 2 years, and one trustee shall have a term of one year. Thereafter, all terms shall be for 3 years.

In the case of an elected board, 3 trustees shall be elected at the next election at which fire protection district trustees are to be elected under the general election law. The terms of the trustees shall be determined by lot at the first board meeting following the election. One elected trustee shall have a term of 6 years, one trustee shall have a term of 4 years, and one trustee shall have a term of 2 years. Thereafter, the terms of all elected trustees shall be 6 years.

70 ILCS 705/4.01

P.A. 86-1179; 87-712.

Amended by P.A. 096-1349,§ 5, eff. 7/28/2010.