65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-6.3 — Illinois Code / Chapter 65 / Act 5 / Section 10-2.1-6.3
Section 10-2.1-6.3
Status: in_force

(65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-6.3) Sec. 10-2.1-6.3. Original appointments; full-time fire department. (a) Applicability. Unless a commission elects to follow the provisions of Section 10-2.1-6.4, 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 August 4, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-251). 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 the manner provided for in this Section. Provisions of the Illinois Municipal Code, municipal 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 home rule or non-home rule municipality may not administer its fire department process for original appointments in a manner that is less stringent than this Section. This Section is a limitation under subsection (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution on the concurrent exercise by home rule units of the powers and functions exercised by the State. A municipality that is operating under a court order or consent decree regarding original appointments to a full-time fire department before August 4, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-251) is exempt from the requirements of this Section for the duration of the court order or consent decree. Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection (a), this Section does not apply to a municipality with more than 1,000,000 inhabitants. (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 established by this Section. Only persons who meet or exceed the performance standards required by this 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 municipality's register of eligibles. The sole authority to issue certificates of appointment shall be vested in the board of fire and police 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 board upon appointment of such officer or member to the affected department by action of the board. After being selected from the register of eligibles to fill a vacancy in the affected department, each appointee shall be presented with his or her certificate of appointment on the day on which he or she is sworn in as a classified member of the affected department. Firefighters who were not issued a certificate of appointment when originally appointed shall be provided with a certificate within 10 days after making a written request to the chairperson of the board of fire and police commissioners. 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 August 4, 2011 (the effective date of Public Act 97-251) 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 municipality shall by ordinance limit applicants to residents of the municipality, county or counties in which the municipality is located, State, or nation. Any examination and testing procedure utilized under subsection (e) of this Section shall be supported by appropriate validation evidence and shall comply with all applicable State and federal laws. Municipalities may establish educational, emergency medical service licensure, and other prerequisites for participation in an examination or for hire as a firefighter. Any municipality 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 municipality cannot be made more restrictive for that individual during his or her period of service for that municipality, 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 municipality, 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