Bill Text: IL HB4673 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Election Code. Provides that no judge or former judge may submit his or her candidacy for a vacancy in a judicial office by any method other than seeking retention in his or her office, unless that judge or former judge is seeking judicial office in a higher or lower court or he or she has not served as an elected or appointed judge for at least 2 years.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-04-22 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB4673 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2015-HB4673-Introduced.html

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99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2015 and 2016 HB4673 Introduced , by Rep. Charles E. Meier SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
10 ILCS 5/7A-1 from Ch. 46, par. 7A-1
Amends the Election Code. Provides that no judge or former judge may submit his or her candidacy for a vacancy in a judicial office by any method other than seeking retention in his or her office, unless that judge or former judge is seeking judicial office in a higher or lower court or he or she has not served as an elected or appointed judge for at least 2 years.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning elections.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing Section
7A-1 as follows:
(10 ILCS 5/7A-1) (from Ch. 46, par. 7A-1)
Sec. 7A-1. Any Supreme, Appellate or Circuit Judge who has
been elected to that office and who seeks to be retained in
that office under subsection (d) of Section 12 of Article VI of
the Constitution shall file a declaration of candidacy to
succeed himself or herself in the office of the Secretary of
State not less than 6 months before the general election
preceding the expiration of his term of office. No judge or
former judge may submit his or her candidacy for a vacancy in a
judicial office by any method other than seeking retention in
his or her office, unless that judge or former judge is seeking
judicial office in a higher or lower court or he or she has not
served as elected or appointed judge for at least 2 years.
Within 3 business days thereafter, the Secretary of State shall
certify to the State Board of Elections the names of all
incumbent judges who were eligible to stand for retention at
the next general election but failed to timely file a
declaration of candidacy to succeed themselves in office or,

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having timely filed such a declaration, withdrew it. The State
Board of Elections may rely upon the certification from the
Secretary of State (a) to determine when vacancies in judicial
office exist and (b) to determine the judicial positions for
which elections will be held. The Secretary of State, not less
than 63 days before the election, shall certify the Judge's
candidacy to the proper election officials. The names of Judges
seeking retention shall be submitted to the electors,
separately and without party designation, on the sole question
whether each Judge shall be retained in office for another
term. The retention elections shall be conducted at general
elections in the appropriate Judicial District, for Supreme and
Appellate Judges, and in the circuit for Circuit Judges. The
affirmative vote of three-fifths of the electors voting on the
question shall elect the Judge to the office for a term
commencing on the first Monday in December following his or her
election.
Upon certification of a Judge's candidacy for retention by
the Secretary of State, the judicial candidate may file a
written request with the Secretary of State for redaction of
the judicial candidate's home address information from the
candidate's declaration of candidacy for retention. After
receipt of the candidate's written request, the Secretary of
State shall redact or cause redaction of the judicial
candidate's home address from the candidate's declaration of
candidacy for retention within 5 business days. For the

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purposes of this subsection, "home address" has the meaning as
defined in Section 1-10 of the Judicial Privacy Act.
(Source: P.A. 96-886, eff. 1-1-11; 97-847, eff. 9-22-12.)