Archive for the ‘Article 8 - General Provisions’ Category
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
A person convicted of a felony, bribery, perjury, vote fraud, election fraud, official misconduct or other infamous crime shall be ineligible to hold an office created by this Constitution. A person removed from office by impeachment or recalled by the voters shall be ineligible to hold office. Eligibility may be restored as provided by law but no sooner than a period of 20 years after the offense was committed.
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Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
All candidates for or holders of state offices and all members of a Commission or Board created by this Constitution shall file a verified statement of their economic interests, as provided by law. The General Assembly by law may impose a similar requirement upon candidates for, or holders of, offices in units of local government and school districts. Statements shall be filed annually with the Secretary of State and shall be available for inspection by the public. The General Assembly by law shall prescribe a reasonable time for filing the statement. Failure to file a statement within the time prescribed shall result in ineligibility for, or forfeiture of, office. This Section shall not be construed as limiting the authority of any branch of government to establish and enforce ethical standards for that branch.
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Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
Each prospective holder of a State office or other State position created by this Constitution, before taking office, shall take and subscribe to the following oath or affirmation:
“I do solemnly swear (affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Illinois, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of …. to the best of my ability.”
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Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
Sovereign immunity in this State is abolished.
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Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
(a) Membership in any pension or retirement system of the State, any unit of local government or school district, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, shall be an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired.
(b) The employer component of pension contributions shall be paid by the employing agency out of their own budget and the same agency shall be responsible for any shortfalls in the contributions. An officer responsible for the pension system or any employee-member of the pension system may file suit in any court of this state under this section as a cause of action to compel a state agency to contribute the full amount due the pension system in the event that the employing agency fails to do so.
(c) Besides reasonable regulation to ensure the stability of the pension system, the benefits, rate of contribution, employer match and other benefits shall be negotiated between the employees, their union representatives if applicable, and the employing state agency. The General Assembly shall have no power to increase or decrease benefits in the pension system.
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Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
(a) The right of the people to the information on the activities of the government is essential to the proper functioning of the state. Any records created or maintained by any governmental body in the state must be produced upon request by any individual except in the cases provided by law but limited to cases where disclosure would cause a significant governmental or public harm. The requirement to disclose is generally presumed and the burden of proof against disclosure is on the governmental body. In the case a legitimate need exists to restrict information, only the protected information shall be withheld by redaction and with a detailed statement explaining the reason of the redaction.
(b) All purchases, expenditures, budgets, statements of economic interest or conflict of interest statements, contracts or any other financial records shall be published online and available without request to any interested individual within 7 days of the document being generated or the funds being transferred.
(c) Any intentional withholding of information that is subject to disclosure or the use of flippant, frivolous or malicious means to delay, obstruct or coerce an individual from receiving information subject to disclosure shall be considered a case of official misconduct prosecutable as provided by law.
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Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
(a) The General Assembly shall provide by law what conduct shall construe Official Misconduct including but not limited to: bribery, perjury, extortion, fraud, obstruction of justice, obstruction of freedom of information, nepotism and patronage.
(b) Any citizen of the State of Illinois shall be entitled to petition the state’s attorney in his or her jurisdiction to investigate or prosecute a public official or employee for official misconduct given sufficient evidence to justify such an investigation or prosecution. A state’s attorney shall have 30 days with which to make a decision on such a petition. Should a state’s attorney decline to investigate or prosecute, a citizen of the State of Illinois shall be entitled to prosecute the case directly. The Supreme Court of the State of Illinois shall provide rules to accommodate private citizens filing and prosecuting criminal actions against government officials or employees.
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