A new law will limit the actions a municipal employer can take against a police officer seeking disability benefits and elevate the role the police pension fund board will play in determining whether officers who have recovered from disability are fit for duty as they are returned immediately to the municipal payroll. On August 9, 2024, Governor Pritzker signed into …

by Kelli Melin Effective August 9, 2024, out-of-school suspension notice templates have been simplified. Under Public Act 103-0896, the template for a four-day out-of-school suspension no longer exists. Rather, school districts must now use the out-of-school suspension template previously used for a suspension of five or more days for out-of-school suspensions of four or more days. The School Code continues …

by Maureen A. Lemon The U.S. Department of Education has recently unveiled the updated final regulations for Title IX. The Final Rule becomes effective August 1, 2024, and reinforces your school district’s obligation to safeguard against sex discrimination. Final Rule Summary. Here are 2 key takeaways: Enhanced Protections: The new regulations expand the protections against sex-based harassment while imposing new …

by John E. Motylinski  Ever since the Illinois General Assembly enacted provisions to allow firefighters to combine creditable service from two or more fire departments or fire districts, firefighters have used this flexibility with their pensions to seek new opportunities within the fire service for advancement and improved salary or benefits. However, as the Illinois Appellate Court recently ruled, the …

by Shawn P. Flaherty and John E. Motylinski The Decennial Committees on Local Government Efficiency Act (P.A. 102-1088; 50 ILCS 70/1 et seq.) became effective in June 2022. The Act requires fire protection districts, among other units of local government, to form a committee to study the topic of efficiency once every ten years. Below is a list of required …

by: Megan Lamb As we have previously shared, Illinois enacted the Decennial Committees on Local Government Efficiency Act in June of 2022. 50 ILCS 70/1, et. seq. The Act requires covered “governmental units” to create a committee every ten years that is tasked with (1) studying how efficiently the local government is operating, and (2) submitting a written report to …

by Maureen Anichini Lemon Under the School Administrator Reporting of Mental Health Clear and Present Danger Determinations Law, 430 ILCS 66/105, school principals and designees must notify the Illinois State Police Office of Firearms Safety (ISP) within 24 hours of determining that a student poses a clear and present danger to himself, herself, or others. This determination may be based …

On November 15, 2022, the Illinois Appellate Court for the Third Judicial District issued a decision in Robert Cammacho Jr., et al. v. City of Joliet, 2022 IL App (3d) 210591-U, and ruled that the City of Joliet lacked jurisdiction to enforce overweight vehicle ordinance through administrative adjudication. Background The City enacted Ordinance 19-21, which provides: “[u]nless authorized in this …

By James G. Wargo and Bradley Michalowski On July 12, 2022, Governor Pritzker issued Executive Order 2022-16, which removes EMS personnel from the Governor’s previously issued COVID-19 vaccination and testing mandate issued on September 3, 2021. This most recent executive order re-issued and modifies Executive Orders 2020-12 (issued March 24, 2020) and 2021-22 (issued September 3, 2021) and became effective …

By Meganne Trela Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Illinois has been operating under a disaster proclamation from Governor J.B. Pritzker. The disaster proclamation has since served as the basis for local government entities to hold their public meetings entirely by remote means under the newly enacted Section 7(e) of the Open Meetings Act (“OMA”) (5 ILCS 120/7(e)). On …