A Few Laws Taking Effect January 1st

A Few Laws Taking Effect January 1st

  Wednesday, January 02, 2019    Julie Tappendorf

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More than 250 new laws took effect yesterday (January 1, 2019). A few of these will affect local governments, some of which are summarized below:

New Police Training Laws

• P.A. 100-910 expands the sexual assault training requirements for police officers to include victim sensitivity training.
• P.A. 100-984 requires the Law Enforcement Training Standards Board to develop a program for school resource officers (SROs), including training requirements.
• P.A. 100-970 requires all police departments to adopt written policies for the internal review of officer-involved shootings.

Government Employees 

• P.A. 100-895 prohibits government employers from entering into or extending/amending contracts that would pay out more than 20 weeks of severance payments. The new law also prohibits payment of severance when the employee has been fired for misconduct.
• P.A. 10-1094 amends the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act to require employers to reimburse necessary expenditures or losses incurred by employees within the employee's scope of employment and directly related to services performed for the employer.

Fire Chief Qualifications

• P.A. 100-1126 modifies the qualifications for the appointment of municipal fire chiefs.

Township Officers

• P.A. 100-868 prohibits elected and appointed township officials from simultaneously holding any other employment with the township.

School Laws

• P.A. 100-996 requires active shooter/threat school safety drills to be conducted within 90 days of the start of the school year.
• P.A. 100-1055 adds new requirements for the oath sworn by school board members taking office.
• P.A. 100-800 provides that if a school board has to fill a vacancy for lack of candidates in a particular area of the district, the board must first put a proposition on the ballot at the next general election to elect school board members "at large."

Social Media

• P.A. 100-1000 expands the stalking law to include sending unwanted messages via social media.