Illinois Statutes Chapter 70. Special Districts § 3020/15. Board of trustees; creation; term; bond; quorum; disqualification; elections; redistricting of wards

(a) A board of trustees shall be created consisting of 3 members for the government, control, and management of the affairs and business of the sanitary district organized under this Act.

(b) The initial trustees shall be selected by the members of the General Assembly whose legislative districts encompass any portion of the district. Each of the trustees shall live within the sanitary district. The terms of the initial trustees shall expire on the first Monday in May, 1995.

Within 60 days after appointment, the initial trustees shall divide the sanitary district into 3 wards that are compact, contiguous, and substantially equal in population for the purpose of electing trustees from those wards.

(c) At the general election immediately preceding the expiration of any trustee's term, an election shall be held within the ward represented by the trustee to choose a successor to serve from the first Monday in May following the election until a successor trustee is elected and qualified. The candidate receiving the most votes in an election shall be elected for a term commencing immediately after the expiration of the term of the outgoing trustee.

(d) The initial board of trustees elected at the first election of trustees shall determine by lot at their first meeting the lengths of their terms. One trustee and his or her successors shall serve terms of 2 years, 4 years, and 2 years. The other 2 trustees and their successors shall each serve 4-year terms.

The first board of trustees elected after each decennial federal census shall also determine by lot at their first meeting the lengths of their terms. One trustee and his or her successors shall serve terms of 4 years, 4 years, and 2 years; the second trustee and his or her successors shall serve terms of 4 years, 2 years, and 4 years; the third trustee and his or her successors shall serve terms of 2 years, 4 years, and 4 years.

(e) If a vacancy occurs on the board of trustees, the remaining trustees shall within 60 days appoint a trustee residing within the ward for which the vacancy exists. The appointed trustee shall hold office until the next regular election at which trustees of the sanitary district are elected.

(f) In 2001 and every 10 years thereafter, following each decennial federal census, the board of trustees shall proceed to divide the sanitary district into wards of approximately equal population for the purpose of electing trustees therefrom, and one trustee shall be elected from each of these wards on the date of the next regular county election. However, no ward shall contain less than 25% of the total population of the district. The territory of each ward shall be composed of contiguous territory in as compact form as practicable. The boundaries of the respective wards shall be set, however, so that the boundaries do not divide individual incorporated cities, towns, villages, or precincts unless division is necessary to prevent a ward from violating the minimum population requirement set forth above.

(g) A majority of the board of trustees shall constitute a quorum, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day. No trustee or employee of a district shall have a direct or indirect interest in any contract, work, or business of the district or the sale of any article, the expense, price, or consideration of which is paid by the district; nor in the purchase of any real estate or property belonging to the district or which shall be sold for taxes or assessments, or by virtue of legal process at the suit of the district. Nothing in this Section shall be construed as prohibiting the appointment or election of any person as trustee or employee whose only interest in the district is as owner of real estate in the district or of contributing to the payment of taxes levied by the district. The trustees shall have the power to provide and adopt a corporate seal for the district.