Bill Proposes Solution for Library District Board Vacancies
The Illinois General Assembly has reconvened for the Fall 2022 Veto Session. While this session is traditionally an opportunity for legislators to check the veto power of the Governor, it also gives the General Assembly time to consider new bills.
One of the new bills introduced in the Illinois Senate is SB 4232, which would amend the Public Library District Act of 1991 (Act) to provide an extension for filling vacant trustee positions on boards of library districts across the State but only for vacancies that occurred prior to May 27, 2022 that have not yet been filled.
Under the current version of the Act, when an appointed library district board has a vacancy, the other trustees on the board have 90 days to fill the vacant position. If the board fails to do so, the responsibility is passed to the State Librarian, who has 60 days to appoint an individual to the board. If the State Librarian does not fill the vacancy in this time, the vacant position must be filled at the next regularly scheduled election.
SB 4232 would give the State Librarian a renewed period of 60 days to fill longtime vacancies (those declared prior to May 27, 2022) in library districts across the State, rather than the vacancies being placed on the ballot for election. While the bill has very limited applicability, it could have interesting consequences for affected library districts in the spring of 2023 elections. We will update our readers as the bill makes its way through the General Assembly.
Post Authored by Erin Monforti & Julie Tappendorf, Ancel Glink
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