Bill Text: IL SB2778 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Amends the Counties Code. Provides that a deputy sheriff applicant who is a veteran and who was discharged honorably or generally under honorable conditions no later than 6 months before applying may request examination to occur before the next scheduled examination date and, if requested, shall be examined no later than 2 weeks following receipt of the application. Provides that, once the applicant passes the examination and all other requirements to be on an eligibility list, the applicant shall be immediately placed on the eligibility list. Provides that nothing in the provisions waives eligibility for the applicant to receive military preference points during the application process or employment.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-04-26 - Added Alternate Chief Co-Sponsor Rep. Lance Yednock [SB2778 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB2778-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning local government.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing
Sections 3-7008 and 3-8010 and by adding Section 3-6008.5 as
follows:
(55 ILCS 5/3-6008.5 new)
Sec. 3-6008.5. Veteran testing. An applicant who is a
veteran, as that term is defined in 38 U.S.C. 101(2), who was
discharged honorably or generally under honorable conditions
no later than 6 months before applying may request examination
to occur before the next scheduled examination date and, if
requested, may be examined as soon as possible prior to the
next examination date following receipt of the application.
Once the applicant passes the examination and all other
requirements to be on an eligibility list, the applicant shall
be immediately placed on the eligibility list. Nothing in this
Section waives eligibility for the applicant to receive
military preference points during the application process or
employment.
(55 ILCS 5/3-7008) (from Ch. 34, par. 3-7008)
Sec. 3-7008. Appointments. The appointment of deputy

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sheriffs in the Police Department, full-time deputy sheriffs
not employed as county police officers or county corrections
officers and of employees in the Department of Corrections
shall be made from those applicants who have been certified by
the Board as being qualified for appointment. Certification
for appointment in one department shall not constitute
certification for appointment in another department.
Certification may be made at any point prior to appointment
and may be made in conjunction with the Sheriff's application
process. All persons so appointed shall, at the time of their
appointment, be not less than 21 years of age, or 20 years of
age and have successfully completed 2 years of law enforcement
studies at an accredited college or university. Any person
appointed subsequent to successful completion of 2 years of
such law enforcement studies shall not have power of arrest,
nor shall he or she be permitted to carry firearms, until he or
she reaches 21 years of age. Any person appointed shall be a
citizen of the United States, an individual who is legally
authorized to work in the United States under federal law and
is authorized under federal law to obtain, carry, or purchase
or otherwise possess a firearm, or an individual against whom
immigration action has been deferred by the U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services under the federal Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA) process and who is authorized under
federal law to obtain, carry, or purchase or otherwise possess
a firearm. In addition, all persons so appointed shall be not

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more than the maximum age limit fixed by the Board from time to
time, be of sound mind and body, be of good moral character,
have not been convicted of a crime which the Board considers to
be detrimental to the applicant's ability to carry out his or
her duties, possess such prerequisites of training, education
and experience as the Board may from time to time prescribe,
and shall be required to pass successfully mental, physical,
psychiatric and other tests and examinations as may be
prescribed by the Board. Preference shall be given in such
appointments to persons who have honorably served in the
military or naval services of the United States. All
appointees shall serve a probationary period of 12 months and
during that period may be discharged at the will of the
Sheriff. However, civil service employees of the house of
correction who have certified status at the time of the
transfer of the house of correction to the County Department
of Corrections are not subject to this probationary period,
and they shall retain their job titles, such tenure privileges
as are now enjoyed and any subsequent title changes shall not
cause reduction in rank or elimination of positions.
An applicant who is a veteran, as that term is defined in
38 U.S.C. 101(2), who was discharged honorably or generally
under honorable conditions no later than 6 months before
applying may request examination to occur before the next
scheduled examination date and, if requested, may be examined
as soon as possible prior to the next examination date

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following receipt of the application. Once the applicant
passes the examination and all other requirements to be on an
eligibility list, the applicant shall be immediately placed on
the eligibility list. Nothing in this paragraph waives
eligibility for the applicant to receive military preference
points during the application process or employment.
(Source: P.A. 103-357, eff. 1-1-24.)
(55 ILCS 5/3-8010) (from Ch. 34, par. 3-8010)
Sec. 3-8010. Certification of applicants. The appointment
of all personnel subject to the jurisdiction of the Merit
Commission shall be made by the sheriff from those applicants
who have been certified by the Commission as being qualified
for appointment. A Commission may, by its rules and
regulations, set forth the minimum requirements for
appointment to any position. In addition, the Commission's
review of any application may include examinations,
investigations or any other method consistent with recognized
merit principles, which in the judgment of the Commission is
reasonable and practical for any particular classification.
Different examining procedures may be set for the examinations
in different classifications but all examinations in the same
classification shall be uniform. However, the Merit Commission
may by regulation provide that applicants who have served with
another sheriff's office, a police department, or any other
law enforcement agency, or who are graduate law enforcement

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