(A) Complaints. In all cases where the Sheriff desires to discipline a member of the County Police Department beyond measures prescribed by § 33.005(A), he or she shall file with the Merit Commission a written complaint in quintuplicate, setting forth a plain and concise statement of the facts upon which the complaint is based and the specific section or sections of §§ 33.002 through 33.015 which the accused member is charged with violating.
(B) Notification of hearing.
(1) On receipt of a complaint from the Sheriff, the Merit Commission will send a letter to the accused member enclosing a copy of the complaint. The letter shall advise of the filing of the complaint and set forth the time and place of hearing of the charges contained in the complaint. The letter shall be sent by registered or by certified mail, return receipts requested, at the residence address of the member shown on the face of the complaint. Delivery of the letter to his or her residence, as shown by the return receipt, shall constitute service of the complaint on the accused member.
(2) A copy of the letter shall be mailed to the Sheriff and shall constitute notice to him or her of the time and place of the hearing on the complaint.
(C) Hearings on charges.
(1) All hearings shall be public.
(2) At the time and place of hearing, the Sheriff and the accused member may be represented by counsel if they desire.
(3) All proceedings before the Merit Commission during the hearing shall be recorded.
(4) The record of hearings will not be transcribed unless requested by the Merit Commission or by any party interested in the hearing. The cost of the transcript shall be borne by the person requesting it.
(5) All witnesses shall be sworn by the Chairperson or another member of the Merit Commission prior to testifying.
(6) The Merit Commission will first hear the witnesses substantiating the charges which have been made. Thereafter, the accused member may present and examine those witnesses whom he or she desires the Commission to hear. All parties shall have the right to cross-examine witnesses presented by the opposite party. The Commission shall have the right to examine and to recall witnesses.
(D) Decision on charges. After the Merit Commission has made its finding and determined its order, it shall mail to the accused member by registered or by certified mail, return receipt requested, a notice of the finding and order of the Commission. A copy of the notice shall be mailed to the Sheriff.
(E) Subpoena.
(1) The Sheriff and the accused member, or their respective counsel, may, at any time before the hearing, apply to the Merit Commission for a subpoena directed to specific persons requiring their appearance at the hearing and, if necessary, requiring them to produce at the hearing books, papers, records and any other things that may be relevant to the hearing. The application shall specify the names and addresses of the persons to be subpoenaed and the documents and things which they are to be required to produce. The requested subpoena will be issued.
(2) A subpoena issued by the Merit Commission may be served by any adult person designated by the party requesting the subpoena. A subpoena will not be issued for anyone residing outside the state.
(3) Any request for continuance by reason of inability to serve the subpoena shall be filed in the office of the Merit Commission at least five days before the date set for the hearing.
(F) Filing of papers. All papers may be filed with the Merit Commission by mailing them to the County Police Department Merit Commission at its address in Joliet, Illinois. All papers may also be filed by delivering them to the Commission’s office in Joliet, Illinois personally or by messenger. For the purpose of these procedures, rules and regulations, the filing date of any paper shall be the date it was received in the Commission’s office, in the event the paper is delivered personally or by messenger. In the event a paper is forwarded by mail, then the filing date shall be the date which is postmarked on the envelope containing the paper.
(G) Form of papers.
(1) All papers filed in any proceeding shall be typewritten or printed and shall be on one side of the paper only.
(2) If typewritten, the lines shall be double spaced, except that long quotations may be single spaced and indented.
(3) All papers shall not be larger than eight and one-half inches wide by 11 inches long and shall have inside margins of not less than one inch.
(4) The original of all papers filed shall be signed in ink by the party filing the paper or by his or her counsel.
(5) If papers are filed by an attorney, his or her name and address shall appear thereon.
(H) Continuance of hearing. No hearing shall be continued at the request of any of the parties thereto or their counsel, unless the request is made orally to the Chairperson of the Merit Commission or in writing at the Commission’s offices in Joliet, at least ten days before the date for which the hearing is scheduled.
(1980 Code, § 33.06) (1966 pp. 21—24, adopted 1- -1966) (Sup. Rec. Bk. 237, pp. 92—93)