Public Act 098-0995

HB4741 Enrolled LRB098 16875 JLK 51948 b

AN ACT concerning local government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,

represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Fire Protection District Act is amended by

changing Section 16.06b as follows:

(70 ILCS 705/16.06b)

Sec. 16.06b. Original appointments; full-time fire

department.

(a) Applicability. Unless a commission elects to follow the

provisions of Section 16.06c, this Section shall apply to all

original appointments to an affected full-time fire

department. Existing registers of eligibles shall continue to

be valid until their expiration dates, or up to a maximum of 2

years after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the

97th General Assembly.

Notwithstanding any statute, ordinance, rule, or other law

to the contrary, all original appointments to an affected

department to which this Section applies shall be administered

in a no less stringent manner than the manner provided for in

this Section. Provisions of the Illinois Municipal Code, Fire

Protection District Act, fire district ordinances, and rules

adopted pursuant to such authority and other laws relating to

initial hiring of firefighters in affected departments shall

continue to apply to the extent they are compatible with this

Section, but in the event of a conflict between this Section

and any other law, this Section shall control.

A fire protection district that is operating under a court

order or consent decree regarding original appointments to a

full-time fire department before the effective date of this

amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly is exempt from the

requirements of this Section for the duration of the court

order or consent decree.

(b) Original appointments. All original appointments made

to an affected fire department shall be made from a register of

eligibles established in accordance with the processes

required by this Section. Only persons who meet or exceed the

performance standards required by the Section shall be placed

on a register of eligibles for original appointment to an

affected fire department.

Whenever an appointing authority authorizes action to hire

a person to perform the duties of a firefighter or to hire a

firefighter-paramedic to fill a position that is a new position

or vacancy due to resignation, discharge, promotion, death, the

granting of a disability or retirement pension, or any other

cause, the appointing authority shall appoint to that position

the person with the highest ranking on the final eligibility

list. If the appointing authority has reason to conclude that

the highest ranked person fails to meet the minimum standards

for the position or if the appointing authority believes an

alternate candidate would better serve the needs of the

department, then the appointing authority has the right to pass

over the highest ranked person and appoint either: (i) any

person who has a ranking in the top 5% of the register of

eligibles or (ii) any person who is among the top 5 highest

ranked persons on the list of eligibles if the number of people

who have a ranking in the top 5% of the register of eligibles

is less than 5 people.

Any candidate may pass on an appointment once without

losing his or her position on the register of eligibles. Any

candidate who passes a second time may be removed from the list

by the appointing authority provided that such action shall not

prejudice a person's opportunities to participate in future

examinations, including an examination held during the time a

candidate is already on the fire district's register of

eligibles.

The sole authority to issue certificates of appointment

shall be vested in the board of fire commissioners, or board of

trustees serving in the capacity of a board of fire

commissioners. All certificates of appointment issued to any

officer or member of an affected department shall be signed by

the chairperson and secretary, respectively, of the commission

upon appointment of such officer or member to the affected

department by action of the commission. Each person who accepts

a certificate of appointment and successfully completes his or

her probationary period shall be enrolled as a firefighter and

as a regular member of the fire department.

For the purposes of this Section, "firefighter" means any

person who has been prior to, on, or after the effective date

of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly appointed

to a fire department or fire protection district or employed by

a State university and sworn or commissioned to perform

firefighter duties or paramedic duties, or both, except that

the following persons are not included: part-time

firefighters; auxiliary, reserve, or voluntary firefighters,

including paid-on-call firefighters; clerks and dispatchers or

other civilian employees of a fire department or fire

protection district who are not routinely expected to perform

firefighter duties; and elected officials.

(c) Qualification for placement on register of eligibles.

The purpose of establishing a register of eligibles is to

identify applicants who possess and demonstrate the mental

aptitude and physical ability to perform the duties required of

members of the fire department in order to provide the highest

quality of service to the public. To this end, all applicants

for original appointment to an affected fire department shall

be subject to examination and testing which shall be public,

competitive, and open to all applicants unless the district

shall by ordinance limit applicants to residents of the

district, county or counties in which the district is located,

State, or nation. Districts may establish educational,

emergency medical service licensure, and other pre-requisites

for participation in an examination or for hire as a

firefighter. Any fire protection district may charge a fee to

cover the costs of the application process.

Residency requirements in effect at the time an individual

enters the fire service of a district cannot be made more

restrictive for that individual during his or her period of

service for that district, or be made a condition of promotion,

except for the rank or position of fire chief and for no more

than 2 positions that rank immediately below that of the chief

rank which are appointed positions pursuant to the Fire

Department Promotion Act.

No person who is 35 years of age or older shall be eligible

to take an examination for a position as a firefighter unless

the person has had previous employment status as a firefighter

in the regularly constituted fire department of the district,

except as provided in this Section. The age limitation does not

apply to:

(1) any person previously employed as a full-time

firefighter in a regularly constituted fire department of

(i) any municipality or fire protection district located in

Illinois, (ii) a fire protection district whose

obligations were assumed by a municipality under Section 21

of the Fire Protection District Act, or (iii) a

municipality whose obligations were taken over by a fire

protection district, or

(2) any person who has served a fire district as a

regularly enrolled volunteer, paid-on-call, or part-time

firefighter for the 5 years immediately preceding the time

that the district begins to use full-time firefighters to

provide all or part of its fire protection service; or .

(3) any person who turned 35 while serving as a member

of the active or reserve components of any of the branches

of the Armed Forces of the United States or the National

Guard of any state, whose service was characterized as

honorable or under honorable, if separated from the

military, and is currently under the age of 40.

No person who is under 21 years of age shall be eligible

for employment as a firefighter.

No applicant shall be examined concerning his or her

political or religious opinions or affiliations. The

examinations shall be conducted by the commissioners of the

district or their designees and agents.

No district shall require that any firefighter appointed to

the lowest rank serve a probationary employment period of

longer than one year of actual active employment, which may

exclude periods of training, or injury or illness leaves,

including duty related leave, in excess of 30 calendar days.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section, the

probationary employment period limitation may be extended for a

firefighter who is required, as a condition of employment, to

be a certified paramedic, during which time the sole reason

that a firefighter may be discharged without a hearing is for

failing to meet the requirements for paramedic certification.

In the event that any applicant who has been found eligible

for appointment and whose name has been placed upon the final

eligibility register provided for in this Section has not been

appointed to a firefighter position within one year after the

date of his or her physical ability examination, the commission

may cause a second examination to be made of that applicant's

physical ability prior to his or her appointment. If, after the

second examination, the physical ability of the applicant shall

be found to be less than the minimum standard fixed by the

rules of the commission, the applicant shall not be appointed.

The applicant's name may be retained upon the register of

candidates eligible for appointment and when next reached for

certification and appointment that applicant may be again

examined as provided in this Section, and if the physical

ability of that applicant is found to be less than the minimum

standard fixed by the rules of the commission, the applicant

shall not be appointed, and the name of the applicant shall be

removed from the register.

(d) Notice, examination, and testing components. Notice of

the time, place, general scope, merit criteria for any

subjective component, and fee of every examination shall be

given by the commission, by a publication at least 2 weeks

preceding the examination: (i) in one or more newspapers

published in the district, or if no newspaper is published

therein, then in one or more newspapers with a general

circulation within the district, or (ii) on the fire protection

district's Internet website. Additional notice of the

examination may be given as the commission shall prescribe.

The examination and qualifying standards for employment of

firefighters shall be based on: mental aptitude, physical

ability, preferences, moral character, and health. The mental

aptitude, physical ability, and preference components shall

determine an applicant's qualification for and placement on the

final register of eligibles. The examination may also include a

subjective component based on merit criteria as determined by

the commission. Scores from the examination must be made

available to the public.

(e) Mental aptitude. No person who does not possess at

least a high school diploma or an equivalent high school

education shall be placed on a register of eligibles.

Examination of an applicant's mental aptitude shall be based

upon a written examination. The examination shall be practical

in character and relate to those matters that fairly test the

capacity of the persons examined to discharge the duties

performed by members of a fire department. Written examinations

shall be administered in a manner that ensures the security and

accuracy of the scores achieved.

(f) Physical ability. All candidates shall be required to

undergo an examination of their physical ability to perform the

essential functions included in the duties they may be called

upon to perform as a member of a fire department. For the

purposes of this Section, essential functions of the job are

functions associated with duties that a firefighter may be

called upon to perform in response to emergency calls. The

frequency of the occurrence of those duties as part of the fire

department's regular routine shall not be a controlling factor

in the design of examination criteria or evolutions selected

for testing. These physical examinations shall be open,

competitive, and based on industry standards designed to test

each applicant's physical abilities in the following

dimensions:

(1) Muscular strength to perform tasks and evolutions

that may be required in the performance of duties including

grip strength, leg strength, and arm strength. Tests shall

be conducted under anaerobic as well as aerobic conditions

to test both the candidate's speed and endurance in

performing tasks and evolutions. Tasks tested may be based

on standards developed, or approved, by the local

appointing authority.

(2) The ability to climb ladders, operate from heights,

walk or crawl in the dark along narrow and uneven surfaces,

and operate in proximity to hazardous environments.

(3) The ability to carry out critical, time-sensitive,

and complex problem solving during physical exertion in

stressful and hazardous environments. The testing

environment may be hot and dark with tightly enclosed

spaces, flashing lights, sirens, and other distractions.

The tests utilized to measure each applicant's

capabilities in each of these dimensions may be tests based on

industry standards currently in use or equivalent tests

approved by the Joint Labor-Management Committee of the Office

of the State Fire Marshal.

Physical ability examinations administered under this

Section shall be conducted with a reasonable number of proctors

and monitors, open to the public, and subject to reasonable

regulations of the commission.

(g) Scoring of examination components. Appointing

authorities may create a preliminary eligibility register. A

person shall be placed on the list based upon his or her

passage of the written examination or the passage of the

written examination and the physical ability component.

Passage of the written examination means a score that is at or

above the median score for all applicants participating in the

written test. The appointing authority may conduct the physical

ability component and any subjective components subsequent to

the posting of the preliminary eligibility register.

The examination components for an initial eligibility

register shall be graded on a 100-point scale. A person's

position on the list shall be determined by the following: (i)

the person's score on the written examination, (ii) the person

successfully passing the physical ability component, and (iii)

the person's results on any subjective component as described

in subsection (d).

In order to qualify for placement on the final eligibility

register, an applicant's score on the written examination,

before any applicable preference points or subjective points

are applied, shall be at or above the median score. The local

appointing authority may prescribe the score to qualify for

placement on the final eligibility register, but the score

shall not be less than the median score.

The commission shall prepare and keep a register of persons

whose total score is not less than the minimum fixed by this

Section and who have passed the physical ability examination.

These persons shall take rank upon the register as candidates

in the order of their relative excellence based on the highest

to the lowest total points scored on the mental aptitude,

subjective component, and preference components of the test

administered in accordance with this Section. No more than 60

days after each examination, an initial eligibility list shall

be posted by the commission. The list shall include the final

grades of the candidates without reference to priority of the

time of examination and subject to claim for preference credit.

Commissions may conduct additional examinations, including

without limitation a polygraph test, after a final eligibility

register is established and before it expires with the

candidates ranked by total score without regard to date of

examination. No more than 60 days after each examination, an

initial eligibility list shall be posted by the commission

showing the final grades of the candidates without reference to

priority of time of examination and subject to claim for

preference credit.

(h) Preferences. The following are preferences:

(1) Veteran preference. Persons who were engaged in the

military service of the United States for a period of at

least one year of active duty and who were honorably

discharged therefrom, or who are now or have been members

on inactive or reserve duty in such military or naval

service, shall be preferred for appointment to and

employment with the fire department of an affected

department.

(2) Fire cadet preference. Persons who have

successfully completed 2 years of study in fire techniques

or cadet training within a cadet program established under

the rules of the Joint Labor and Management Committee

(JLMC), as defined in Section 50 of the Fire Department

Promotion Act, may be preferred for appointment to and

employment with the fire department.

(3) Educational preference. Persons who have

successfully obtained an associate's degree in the field of

fire service or emergency medical services, or a bachelor's

degree from an accredited college or university may be

preferred for appointment to and employment with the fire

department.

(4) Paramedic preference. Persons who have obtained

certification as an Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic

(EMT-P) may be preferred for appointment to and employment

with the fire department of an affected department

providing emergency medical services.

(5) Experience preference. All persons employed by a

district who have been paid-on-call or part-time certified

Firefighter II, certified Firefighter III, State of

Illinois or nationally licensed EMT-B or EMT-I, licensed

paramedic, or any combination of those capacities may be

awarded up to a maximum of 5 points. However, the applicant

may not be awarded more than 0.5 points for each complete

year of paid-on-call or part-time service. Applicants from

outside the district who were employed as full-time

firefighters or firefighter-paramedics by a fire

protection district or municipality for at least 2 years

may be awarded up to 5 experience preference points.

However, the applicant may not be awarded more than one

point for each complete year of full-time service.

Upon request by the commission, the governing body of

the district or in the case of applicants from outside the

district the governing body of any other fire protection

district or any municipality shall certify to the

commission, within 10 days after the request, the number of

years of successful paid-on-call, part-time, or full-time

service of any person. A candidate may not receive the full

amount of preference points under this subsection if the

amount of points awarded would place the candidate before a

veteran on the eligibility list. If more than one candidate

receiving experience preference points is prevented from

receiving all of their points due to not being allowed to

pass a veteran, the candidates shall be placed on the list

below the veteran in rank order based on the totals

received if all points under this subsection were to be

awarded. Any remaining ties on the list shall be determined

by lot.

(6) Residency preference. Applicants whose principal

residence is located within the fire department's

jurisdiction may be preferred for appointment to and

employment with the fire department.

(7) Additional preferences. Up to 5 additional

preference points may be awarded for unique categories

based on an applicant's experience or background as

identified by the commission.

(8) Scoring of preferences. The commission shall give

preference for original appointment to persons designated

in item (1) by adding to the final grade that they receive

5 points for the recognized preference achieved. The

commission shall determine the number of preference points

for each category except (1). The number of preference

points for each category shall range from 0 to 5. In

determining the number of preference points, the

commission shall prescribe that if a candidate earns the

maximum number of preference points in all categories, that

number may not be less than 10 nor more than 30. The

commission shall give preference for original appointment

to persons designated in items (2) through (7) by adding

the requisite number of points to the final grade for each

recognized preference achieved. The numerical result thus

attained shall be applied by the commission in determining

the final eligibility list and appointment from the

eligibility list. The local appointing authority may

prescribe the total number of preference points awarded

under this Section, but the total number of preference

points shall not be less than 10 points or more than 30

points.

No person entitled to any preference shall be required to

claim the credit before any examination held under the

provisions of this Section, but the preference shall be given

after the posting or publication of the initial eligibility

list or register at the request of a person entitled to a

credit before any certification or appointments are made from

the eligibility register, upon the furnishing of verifiable

evidence and proof of qualifying preference credit. Candidates

who are eligible for preference credit shall make a claim in

writing within 10 days after the posting of the initial

eligibility list, or the claim shall be deemed waived. Final

eligibility registers shall be established after the awarding

of verified preference points. All employment shall be subject

to the commission's initial hire background review including,

but not limited to, criminal history, employment history, moral

character, oral examination, and medical and psychological

examinations, all on a pass-fail basis. The medical and

psychological examinations must be conducted last, and may only

be performed after a conditional offer of employment has been

extended.

Any person placed on an eligibility list who exceeds the

age requirement before being appointed to a fire department

shall remain eligible for appointment until the list is

abolished, or his or her name has been on the list for a period

of 2 years. No person who has attained the age of 35 years

shall be inducted into a fire department, except as otherwise

provided in this Section.

The commission shall strike off the names of candidates for

original appointment after the names have been on the list for

more than 2 years.

(i) Moral character. No person shall be appointed to a fire

department unless he or she is a person of good character; not

a habitual drunkard, a gambler, or a person who has been

convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude.

However, no person shall be disqualified from appointment to

the fire department because of the person's record of

misdemeanor convictions except those under Sections 11-6,

11-7, 11-9, 11-14, 11-15, 11-17, 11-18, 11-19, 12-2, 12-6,

12-15, 14-4, 16-1, 21.1-3, 24-3.1, 24-5, 25-1, 28-3, 31-1,

31-4, 31-6, 31-7, 32-1, 32-2, 32-3, 32-4, 32-8, and subsections

1, 6, and 8 of Section 24-1 of the Criminal Code of 1961 or the

Criminal Code of 2012, or arrest for any cause without

conviction thereon. Any such person who is in the department

may be removed on charges brought for violating this subsection

and after a trial as hereinafter provided.

A classifiable set of the fingerprints of every person who

is offered employment as a certificated member of an affected

fire department whether with or without compensation, shall be

furnished to the Illinois Department of State Police and to the

Federal Bureau of Investigation by the commission.

Whenever a commission is authorized or required by law to

consider some aspect of criminal history record information for

the purpose of carrying out its statutory powers and

responsibilities, then, upon request and payment of fees in

conformance with the requirements of Section 2605-400 of the

State Police Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois,

the Department of State Police is authorized to furnish,

pursuant to positive identification, the information contained

in State files as is necessary to fulfill the request.

(j) Temporary appointments. In order to prevent a stoppage

of public business, to meet extraordinary exigencies, or to

prevent material impairment of the fire department, the

commission may make temporary appointments, to remain in force

only until regular appointments are made under the provisions

of this Section, but never to exceed 60 days. No temporary

appointment of any one person shall be made more than twice in

any calendar year.

(k) A person who knowingly divulges or receives test

questions or answers before a written examination, or otherwise

knowingly violates or subverts any requirement of this Section,

commits a violation of this Section and may be subject to

charges for official misconduct.

A person who is the knowing recipient of test information

in advance of the examination shall be disqualified from the

examination or discharged from the position to which he or she

was appointed, as applicable, and otherwise subjected to

disciplinary actions.

(Source: P.A. 97-251, eff. 8-4-11; 97-898, eff. 8-6-12;

97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon

becoming law.