Raised Bill No. 6583 would allow the CHRO executive director to issue a release of jurisdiction, at the request of the complainant, if a request for reconsideration is pending. The bill would also extend to the executive director permissive authority to reopen a previously closed complaint upon receipt of a written request for reopening and provide the standards for reopening a previously closed matter. CHRO has a significant number of pending requests for reconsideration of complaints dismissed at the Merit Assessment Review level. By statute, the executive director must act upon reconsideration requests within 90 days of the dismissal of the complaint.
Complainants often ask for a release of jurisdiction after they have asked for reconsideration.
Once a reconsideration request is pending, the executive director does not have clear authority to issue a release. The executive director only has the authority to issue a release of jurisdiction if the complainant does not file a request for reconsideration. Last year, the General Assembly passed Public Act 00-199, which allows the Commission to reopen previously closed complaints in the interest of justice. This bill proposes to remove the six-year window to request that a complaint be reopened, which is no longer applicable, and extends the discretion to reopen a complaint to the executive director. Additionally, the bill would provide the standards to be used to determine whether a closed complaint should be reopened.