65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-6.3
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.
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.
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:
No person who is under 21 years of age shall be eligible for employment as a firefighter.
No applicant shall be examined concerning his or her political or religious opinions or affiliations. The examinations shall be conducted by the commissioners of the municipality or their designees and agents.
No municipality shall require that any firefighter appointed to the lowest rank serve a probationary employment period of longer than one year of actual active employment, which may exclude periods of training, or injury or illness leaves, including duty related leave, in excess of 30 calendar days. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section, the probationary employment period limitation may be extended for a firefighter who is required, as a condition of employment, to be a licensed paramedic, during which time the sole reason that a firefighter may be discharged without a hearing is for failing to meet the requirements for paramedic licensure.
In the event that any applicant who has been found eligible for appointment and whose name has been placed upon the final eligibility register provided for in this Section has not been appointed to a firefighter position within one year after the date of his or her physical ability examination, the commission may cause a second examination to be made of that applicant's physical ability prior to his or her appointment. If, after the second examination, the physical ability of the applicant shall be found to be less than the minimum standard fixed by the rules of the commission, the applicant shall not be appointed. The applicant's name may be retained upon the register of candidates eligible for appointment and when next reached for certification and appointment that applicant may be again examined as provided in this Section, and if the physical ability of that applicant is found to be less than the minimum standard fixed by the rules of the commission, the applicant shall not be appointed, and the name of the applicant shall be removed from the register.
The examination and qualifying standards for employment of firefighters shall be based on: mental aptitude, physical ability, preferences, moral character, and health. The mental aptitude, physical ability, and preference components shall determine an applicant's qualification for and placement on the final register of eligibles. The examination may also include a subjective component based on merit criteria as determined by the commission. Scores from the examination must be made available to the public.
The tests utilized to measure each applicant's capabilities in each of these dimensions may be tests based on industry standards currently in use or equivalent tests approved by the Joint Labor-Management Committee of the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
Physical ability examinations administered under this Section shall be conducted with a reasonable number of proctors and monitors, open to the public, and subject to reasonable regulations of the commission.
The examination components for an initial eligibility register shall be graded on a 100-point scale. A person's position on the list shall be determined by the following: (i) the person's score on the written examination, (ii) the person successfully passing the physical ability component, and (iii) the person's results on any subjective component as described in subsection (d).
In order to qualify for placement on the final eligibility register, an applicant's score on the written examination, before any applicable preference points or subjective points are applied, shall be at or above the minimum score as set by the commission. The local appointing authority may prescribe the score to qualify for placement on the final eligibility register, but the score shall not be less than the minimum score set by the commission.
The commission shall prepare and keep a register of persons whose total score is not less than the minimum score for passage and who have passed the physical ability examination. These persons shall take rank upon the register as candidates in the order of their relative excellence based on the highest to the lowest total points scored on the mental aptitude, subjective component, and preference components of the test administered in accordance with this Section. No more than 60 days after each examination, an initial eligibility list shall be posted by the commission. The list shall include the final grades of the candidates without reference to priority of the time of examination and subject to claim for preference credit.
Commissions may conduct additional examinations, including without limitation a polygraph test, after a final eligibility register is established and before it expires with the candidates ranked by total score without regard to date of examination. No more than 60 days after each examination, an initial eligibility list shall be posted by the commission showing the final grades of the candidates without reference to priority of time of examination and subject to claim for preference credit.
Upon request by the commission, the governing body of the municipality or in the case of applicants from outside the municipality the governing body of any fire protection district or any other municipality shall certify to the commission, within 10 days after the request, the number of years of successful paid-on-call, part-time, or full-time service of any person. A candidate may not receive the full amount of preference points under this subsection if the amount of points awarded would place the candidate before a veteran on the eligibility list. If more than one candidate receiving experience preference points is prevented from receiving all of their points due to not being allowed to pass a veteran, the candidates shall be placed on the list below the veteran in rank order based on the totals received if all points under this subsection were to be awarded. Any remaining ties on the list shall be determined by lot.
No person entitled to any preference shall be required to claim the credit before any examination held under the provisions of this Section, but the preference may be given after the posting or publication of the initial eligibility list or register at the request of a person entitled to a credit before any certification or appointments are made from the eligibility register, upon the furnishing of verifiable evidence and proof of qualifying preference credit. Candidates who are eligible for preference credit may make a claim in writing within 10 days after the posting of the initial eligibility list, or the claim may be deemed waived. Final eligibility registers may be established after the awarding of verified preference points. However, apprentice preference credit earned subsequent to the establishment of the final eligibility register may be applied to the applicant's score upon certification by the Joint Apprenticeship Committee to the commission and the rank order of candidates on the final eligibility register shall be adjusted accordingly. All employment shall be subject to the commission's initial hire background review, including, but not limited to, criminal history, employment history, moral character, oral examination, and medical and psychological examinations, all on a pass-fail basis. The medical and psychological examinations must be conducted last, and may only be performed after a conditional offer of employment has been extended.
Any person placed on an eligibility list who exceeds the age requirement before being appointed to a fire department shall remain eligible for appointment until the list is abolished, or his or her name has been on the list for a period of 2 years. No person who has attained the age of 35 years shall be inducted into a fire department, except as otherwise provided in this Section.
The commission shall strike off the names of candidates for original appointment after the names have been on the list for more than 2 years.
A classifiable set of the fingerprints of every person who is offered employment as a certificated member of an affected fire department whether with or without compensation, shall be furnished to the Illinois State Police and to the Federal Bureau of Investigation by the commission.
Whenever a commission is authorized or required by law to consider some aspect of criminal history record information for the purpose of carrying out its statutory powers and responsibilities, then, upon request and payment of fees in conformance with the requirements of Section 2605-400 of the Illinois State Police Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois, the Illinois State Police is authorized to furnish, pursuant to positive identification, the information contained in State files as is necessary to fulfill the request.
A person who is the knowing recipient of test information in advance of the examination shall be disqualified from the examination or discharged from the position to which he or she was appointed, as applicable, and otherwise subjected to disciplinary actions.
65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-6.3