65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-17
2021 Illinois Compiled Statutes|Chapter 65 - MUNICIPALITIES|65 ILCS 5/ - Illinois Municipal Code.|Article 10 - Employees And Employment

 (from Ch. 24, par. 10-2.1-17)Sec. 10-2.1-17. Removal or discharge; investigation of charges;  retirement.  Except as hereinafter provided, no officer or member of the fire  or police department of any municipality subject to this Division 2.1 shall be  removed or discharged except for cause, upon written charges, and after an  opportunity to be heard in his own defense.  The hearing shall be as hereinafter provided, unless the employer and the  labor organization representing the person have negotiated an alternative or  supplemental form of due process based upon impartial arbitration as a term of  a collective bargaining agreement.  Such                bargaining shall be mandatory unless the parties mutually agree otherwise.  Any such alternative agreement shall be permissive.If the chief of the fire department or the chief of the police department or  both of them are appointed in the manner provided by ordinance, they may be  removed or discharged by the appointing authority.  In such case the appointing  authority shall file with the corporate authorities the reasons for such  removal or discharge, which removal or discharge shall not become effective  unless confirmed by a majority vote of the corporate authorities.  The board of  fire and police commissioners shall conduct a fair and impartial hearing of  the charges, to be commenced within 30 days of the filing thereof, which  hearing may be continued from time to time.  In case an officer or member  is found guilty, the board may discharge him, or may suspend him not  exceeding 30 days without pay.  The board may suspend any officer or  member pending the hearing with or without pay, but not to exceed 30  days.  If the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners determines that the  charges are not sustained, the officer or member shall be reimbursed for  all wages withheld, if any.  In the conduct of this hearing, each member  of the board shall have power to administer oaths and affirmations, and  the board shall have power to secure by its subpoena both the attendance  and testimony of witnesses and the production of books and papers  relevant to the hearing.The age for retirement of policemen or firemen in the service of any  municipality which adopts this Division 2.1 is 65 years, unless the  Council or Board of Trustees shall by ordinance provide for an earlier  retirement age of not less than 60 years.The provisions of the Administrative Review Law, and all amendments and  modifications thereof, and the rules  adopted pursuant thereto, shall apply to and govern all proceedings for  the judicial review of final administrative decisions of the board of  fire and police commissioners hereunder.  The term "administrative  decision" is defined as in Section 3-101 of the Code of Civil Procedure.Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prevent the chief of  the fire department or the chief of the police department from  suspending without pay a member of his  department for a period of not  more than 5 calendar days, but he  shall notify the board in writing of such  suspension.  The hearing shall be as hereinafter provided, unless the employer and the  labor organization representing the person have negotiated an alternative or  supplemental form of due process based upon impartial arbitration as a term of  a collective bargaining agreement.  Such          bargaining shall be         mandatory unless the parties mutually agree otherwise.  Any such alternative agreement shall be permissive.Any policeman or fireman so suspended may appeal to the board of fire and  police commissioners for a review of the suspension within 5 calendar days  after such suspension, and upon such appeal, the board may sustain the action  of the chief of the department, may reverse it with instructions that the man  receive his  pay for the period involved, or may suspend the officer for an  additional period of not more than 30 days or discharge him, depending upon  the facts presented.       (Source: P.A. 95-356, eff. 8-23-07.)