MUNI CODE-ADMIN ADJUDICATION, the official text

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1   AN ACT concerning local government.

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

3 represented in the General Assembly:

4   Section 5. The Illinois Municipal Code is amended by

5 changing Section 1-2.1-4 as follows:

6   (65 ILCS 5/1-2.1-4)

7   Sec. 1-2.1-4. Code hearing units; powers of hearing

8 officers.

9   (a) An ordinance establishing a system of administrative

10 adjudication, pursuant to this Division, shall provide for a

11 code hearing unit within an existing agency or as a separate

12 agency in the municipal government. The ordinance shall

13 establish the jurisdiction of a code hearing unit that is

14 consistent with this Division. The "jurisdiction" of a code

15 hearing unit refers to the particular code violations that it

16 may adjudicate.

17  (b) Adjudicatory hearings shall be presided over by

18 hearing officers. The powers and duties of a hearing officer

19 shall include:

20  (1) hearing testimony and accepting evidence that is

21  relevant to the existence of the code violation;

22  (2) issuing subpoenas directing witnesses to appear

23  and give relevant testimony at the hearing, upon the
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1   request of the parties or their representatives;

2   (3) preserving and authenticating the record of the

3   hearing and all exhibits and evidence introduced at the

4   hearing;

5   (4) issuing a determination, based on the evidence

6   presented at the hearing, of whether a code violation

7   exists. The determination shall be in writing and shall

8   include a written finding of fact, decision, and order

9   including the fine, penalty, or action with which the

10  defendant must comply; and

11  (5) imposing penalties consistent with applicable code

12  provisions and assessing costs upon finding a party liable

13  for the charged violation, except, however, that in no

14  event shall the hearing officer have authority to (i)

15  impose a penalty of incarceration, or (ii) impose a fine

16  in excess of $50,000, or at the option of the

17  municipality, such other amount not to exceed the maximum

18  amount established by the Mandatory Arbitration System as

19  prescribed by the Rules of the Illinois Supreme Court from

20  time to time for the judicial circuit in which the

21  municipality is located. The maximum monetary fine under

22  this item (5), shall be exclusive of costs of enforcement

23  or costs imposed to secure compliance with the

24  municipality's ordinances and shall not be applicable to

25  cases to enforce the collection of any tax imposed and

26  collected by the municipality; and
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1   (6) entering orders prohibiting further code

2   violations or compelling the remediation of existing code

3   violations within a specified time and authorizing the

4   municipality to take all necessary steps to remediate code

5   violations.

6   (c) Prior to conducting administrative adjudication

7 proceedings, administrative hearing officers shall have

8 successfully completed a formal training program which

9 includes the following:

10  (1) instruction on the rules of procedure of the

11  administrative hearings which they will conduct;

12  (2) orientation to each subject area of the code

13  violations that they will adjudicate;

14  (3) observation of administrative hearings; and

15  (4) participation in hypothetical cases, including

16  ruling on evidence and issuing final orders.

17  In addition, every administrative hearing officer must be

18 an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois

19 for at least 3 years. A person who has served as a judge in

20 Illinois is not required to fulfill the requirements of items

21 (1) through (4) of this subsection.

22  (d) A proceeding before a code hearing unit shall be

23 instituted upon the filing of a written pleading by an

24 authorized official of the municipality.

25 (Source: P.A. 102-65, eff. 7-9-21.)