IL Pre-Oath Compliance Checklist v2

**Audit purpose:** Identify every requirement an Illinois school-board member-elect is legally required to have completed, filed, sworn to, certified, or had verified BEFORE the district may lawfully administer their oath of office and seat them on the board — together with the controlling authority, verifying entity, evidence the district should retain, and the common gap.

**Important threshold finding:** Illinois has no single state agency charged with confirming, before the oath is administered, that a member-elect actually meets all statutory eligibility requirements. Verification is fragmented across the local election authority, the county clerk, the regional superintendent, and the district itself — and several requirements have **no mandated verifier at all**. Districts therefore frequently lack a single "pre-oath compliance file," which is the structural gap that produces the "we don't have it" FOIA responses.

1. Constitutional & Statutory Eligibility (must be true on date of election)

| U.S. citizen | Ill. Const. art. XIII, §1 (loyalty); art. III §1 (suffrage); reinforced via 105 ILCS 5/10-10 | Election authority at registration; **NO independent pre-oath verification by district** | Voter registration record; candidate's affirmation in Statement of Candidacy | Districts rarely keep a citizenship attestation in member file. Candidate self-certifies; no audit. |

| Registered voter in the school district | 105 ILCS 5/10-10 | Local election authority (e.g., Cook County Clerk for D230) when accepting nominating petitions | Election authority records; nominating petition certified by EA | District does not retain a copy of the voter-registration verification. |

| Resident of the state **and** of the school district for at least 1 year immediately preceding election | 105 ILCS 5/10-10 | Local election authority on petition challenge; **NO independent district verification** | Address attested on Statement of Candidacy; petition challenge record if any | One-year residency rarely documented in board file. Disputes only surface through petition challenges. |

| Not removed from a school board (or other officer disqualification) under § 3-14.28 / § 1B-4 reinstatement rules | 105 ILCS 5/10-10 (cross-ref. to 3-14.28, 1B-4) | None mandated | None | **NO verifier; pure honor system.** |

| Not a "child sex offender" as defined in 720 ILCS 5/11-9.3 | 105 ILCS 5/10-10 | None mandated; not a fingerprint-eligible position under 5/10-21.9 | None routinely retained | **NO verifier; pure honor system.** This is the most-cited accountability gap. |

**Citation note:** the user's prompt references "105 ILCS 5/10-3" for the seven-prong disqualification list. The currently effective eligibility-and-disqualification section for elected school directors/board members is **105 ILCS 5/10-10** (with the corresponding Article 34 / Article 32 / Article 33 analogs for Chicago and other district types). Section 10-3 in current code addresses "removal from office" rather than initial eligibility. The audit should cite **5/10-10** as the live anchor and treat older "10-3" references as legacy.

2. Candidacy Filings (with the local election authority — Cook County Clerk for D230)

All filings are made with the local election authority (county clerk, board of election commissioners, or in some cases the regional superintendent) under the Illinois Election Code's nonpartisan/consolidated provisions, 10 ILCS 5/Art. 7 and Art. 10.

| Statement of Candidacy (Form P-1A, school board nonpartisan) — sworn/notarized | 10 ILCS 5/7-10; 10 ILCS 5/10-5 | Election authority on receipt; objections via electoral board | Original filed with EA; certified copy obtainable by district | Districts do not pull a certified copy into the member's pre-oath file. |

| Nominating petitions with valid signatures (50 signatures minimum or 10% of voters, whichever is less, in most districts) | 10 ILCS 5/7-10; 105 ILCS 5/9-10 | Election authority; objector via Municipal Officers Electoral Board | Original at EA | No district-retained copy. |

| **Loyalty Oath** (Form P-1C) — **optional**; not enforceable post-*Communist Party v. SACB* / *Cole v. Richardson*, but Illinois still prints the form. | 10 ILCS 5/7-10.1 | EA accepts if filed | At EA | Frequently omitted by candidate; lawful to omit. |

| Statement of Economic Interests **receipt** filed with nominating papers (the SEI itself is filed with County Clerk) | 5 ILCS 420/4A-105 through 4A-106; tied into 10 ILCS 5/10-5 | County Clerk issues receipt; EA confirms receipt with petition | Receipt at EA; SEI at County Clerk | District does not file-stamp or retain copy of SEI or receipt. Late filing = late penalty under 4A-107 ($15 plus $100/day after May 15 of subsequent annual cycle). |

3. Statutory Disqualifications — 105 ILCS 5/10-10 (the live eligibility section)

Verbatim (paraphrased — consult full text at ilga.gov for binding language) the disqualifications/qualifications for non-Chicago boards are:

3. Must be a resident of the State and the territory of the district for at least 1 year immediately preceding election (or appointment).

6. May not have been removed from a school board for cause within the prior period unless reinstated as provided by statute.

(Some district variants add: not currently incarcerated, not in default on certain governmental debts under 5 ILCS 430/, etc. Article 34 (Chicago) and Article 33 (CPS subdistrict councils) impose additional rules.)

- No state agency is statutorily charged with confirming compliance with items 1, 3, 5, 6, or 7 BEFORE the oath is administered.

- The local election authority verifies item 4 (voter registration) at petition filing.

- The district's duty is essentially zero beyond receiving the oath. ISBE has no statutory pre-oath verification role.

- Practical effect: a person who is a registered sex offender and lies on the Statement of Candidacy can — and historically has — been seated; removal is post-hoc via quo warranto (under 735 ILCS 5/18-101) or referral to the State's Attorney.

**Recommended local-district pre-oath form:** a "10-10 self-attestation" signed under penalty of perjury, listing each prong. Most districts **do not** maintain such a form, and this is the single most reproducible audit finding.

4. Oath of Office

| Required oath text | Ill. Const. art. XIII §3 (constitutional baseline) + 105 ILCS 5/10-16.5 (school-board specific form) | "I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of member of the Board of Education (or Board of School Directors) of [district name], in accordance with the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Illinois, and the laws of the State of Illinois, to the best of my ability." |

| Statutory section | **105 ILCS 5/10-16.5** | "Each school board member, before taking his or her seat on the board, shall take an oath of office…" |

| Who administers | "As determined by the board." Conventionally: outgoing board president, secretary, sitting judge, notary, or other officer authorized to administer oaths. | No state-mandated administrator. |

| Timeframe | The School Code does NOT prescribe a specific day-count. The Election Code (**10 ILCS 5/25-2**) treats refusal or neglect to take the oath "within the time prescribed by law, or, if no time is prescribed, within 30 days from the date of receipt of certificate of election or appointment" as creating a **vacancy by failure to qualify**. Cross-reference 105 ILCS 5/10-16.5 (seat is not assumed until oath taken) and consolidated-election seating practice (typically the organization meeting within 28 days of the canvass certification). | **30-day failure-to-qualify rule** is the practical hard deadline. |

| Filing / recording | School Code does not specify a registry; IASB guidance treats the signed oath as a permanent record retained by the board secretary and entered in the minutes of the organization meeting. Local Records Act (50 ILCS 205/) makes oath a permanent record. | Should be filed in district minutes AND retained as a permanent record. |

| Consequence of refusal/neglect | 10 ILCS 5/25-2 — **office becomes vacant**. Board fills vacancy under 105 ILCS 5/10-10. | Vacancy must be declared. |

5. Mandatory Trainings (post-election; some have hard pre-/post-oath milestones)

| **PDLT — Professional Development Leadership Training** (4 hrs) | 105 ILCS 5/10-16a (PA 97-8); reinforced PA 99-0692 | Within **1 year** of being elected or appointed (initial); thereafter, periodic update every term ; PERA-component once per evaluator | ISBE-approved provider (IASB, ROEs, ICSAs) | Certificate of completion filed with board secretary | District retains certificates inconsistently; ISBE does **not** track or enforce. |

| **Open Meetings Act training** | 5 ILCS 120/1.05(b) | Within **90 days after taking the oath** | AG Public Access Counselor electronic training (school-board members may use IASB-sponsored equivalent under § 1.05(b) for Art. 23 organizations) | PAC-issued certificate; member's signed acknowledgment | Most-cited FOIA gap. Frequent response: "we don't have it." PAC does not affirmatively enforce. |

| **FOIA training (FOIA Officer)** — required for the designated FOIA officer, not all members | 5 ILCS 140/3.5(b) | Within **30 days** of designation; **annually** thereafter | AG PAC electronic training | PAC certificate | Required for at least one district officer (often the superintendent or a designee). District should retain. |

| **PERA Evaluator Training** | 105 ILCS 5/24A-3; 23 Ill. Adm. Code Part 50/51 | Required of any board member who will participate in dismissal-related fact-finding regarding tenured teachers (NOT simply for evaluating the superintendent; per ISBE guidance the superintendent evaluation is unchanged by PERA, but board members participating in § 24-12 tenured-teacher dismissal proceedings must be PERA-pre-qualified) | ISBE-approved providers | ISBE-issued ELIS record of completion | Often misunderstood; many boards assume no PERA training is ever needed. |

| **Sexual harassment prevention training** | 5 ILCS 430/70-5 (Local Government Employee/Officer requirements as amended by PA 100-554); IHRA 775 ILCS 5/2-109(B) | **Annually** | IDHR-approved curriculum or AG-approved program | Annual certificate | Often not extended to board members; districts default to employee-only training. |

| **Mandated reporter (DCFS) training** | 325 ILCS 5/4; 105 ILCS 5/10-23.12 | Required of "school personnel" with student contact. Board members are **not** categorically "school personnel," but any member acting in a personnel-investigations role should complete. | DCFS web-based training | DCFS certificate | Rarely tracked for board members; gap when member sits on personnel committees. |

| **Trauma-informed practices** | 105 ILCS 5/10-22.39 (amended PA 102-197 / PA 102-638); ISBE rules under 23 Ill. Adm. Code Part 1.420 (school-personnel-focused) | Recommended for board members; mandatory only for licensed personnel | ISBE-approved providers | Certificate | Not currently a hard pre-seat requirement for members. |

6. Ethics Statements & Annual Filings

| **Annual Statement of Economic Interests** | 5 ILCS 420/4A-101 through 4A-107 | **May 1** of each year | County Clerk of county where district seat is located | Member-elect must have a current SEI on file as a precondition of candidacy and annually thereafter. Late filings trigger penalties. Districts seldom retain copies; County Clerk holds originals. |

| **Conflict-of-interest disclosure (contract interest)** | 105 ILCS 5/22-5 (educational materials authorship); 105 ILCS 5/10-9 / 50 ILCS 105/3 (Public Officer Prohibited Activities Act for contract interests); 105 ILCS 5/3-15.5 (regional superintendent monitoring) | At any time interest arises; abstention and disclosure on the record | District board minutes; statement filed with board secretary | Rarely a standing pre-oath file; surfaces only by issue. |

| **Acknowledgment of receipt of board policy manual / ethics policy / employee handbook** | 5 ILCS 430/70-5 (ethics ordinance/resolution requirement); locally adopted under IASB PRESS series (notably 2:80, 2:100, 2:105, 2:120, 2:125, 2:200) | At seating | Board secretary | Frequently missing — top FOIA gap. |

| **Adoption of sexual harassment policy by ordinance/resolution** (entity-level, not member-level) | 5 ILCS 430/70-5 (PA 100-554) | Within 60 days of effective date / continually maintained | District records | Policy on file but acknowledgments by members often not retained. |

7. Insurance / Fidelity Bonds

| **School treasurer bond** | **105 ILCS 5/8-2** (treasurer's bond — penalty no less than 10% of moneys under custody, filed with Regional Superintendent); see also Article 19 for bonded indebtedness officer duties | Required of the **treasurer** (in dual-board / township-trustee Class II units, this is a separate office; in Class I unit districts, often the board-appointed treasurer or business manager). |

| Bond approval | 105 ILCS 5/8-2 / 5/8-3 | Filed with and examined by Regional Superintendent of Schools, who endorses approval. |

| Officers handling funds (president/secretary/treasurer; sometimes board members on finance committee) | 105 ILCS 5/10-15 (note: 10-15 governs duties of the board president/secretary/clerk including their signing authority; the bond requirement is at 8-2/8-3) | District should maintain certificates of insurance and bond endorsements as permanent records. |

| Director and Officer (D&O) / public-officials liability | Discretionary; tort immunity under 745 ILCS 10/ | Industry standard; districts typically carry through Illinois School District Agency (ISDA), CLIC, or similar JIF. |

**Citation correction:** The user's outline cites 105 ILCS 5/10-15 for the treasurer bond. The operative bond statute is **105 ILCS 5/8-2** (with cross-references in 5/8-3 to 5/8-15). 105 ILCS 5/10-15 addresses board officer duties.

8. Background Check / Fingerprinting / Sex-Offender Registry

| Fingerprint-based criminal history check | 105 ILCS 5/10-21.9 and 5/34-18.5 | **Applies to employees only.** Board members are NOT required to be fingerprinted under these sections. |

| Self-attestation that member is not a "child sex offender" per 720 ILCS 5/11-9.3 | 105 ILCS 5/10-10 (eligibility prong) | Yes — but no agency verifies; honor system. |

| Cross-check against Illinois Sex Offender Registry (ISP) | 730 ILCS 150/ (registry exists); 730 ILCS 152/ (public access) | **Not a mandated pre-oath check.** Audit can perform free public-registry lookup but the district has NO statutory duty to do so. |

This is **the most consequential accountability gap.** A registered child sex offender is statutorily ineligible (5/10-10) but the law obliges no one to verify before swearing-in.

9. Continuing Fiduciary Obligations Once Seated (audit-trail items)

| Comply with Open Meetings Act (notice, agenda, minutes, closed-session recording) | 5 ILCS 120/ entire act | Posted agendas (48 hrs), minutes, verbatim recordings of closed sessions (§ 2.06(a)) for at least 18 months |

| Designate at least one FOIA Officer | 5 ILCS 140/3.5(a) | Written designation; PAC training certificate; annual training renewal |

| Annual approval of audit | 105 ILCS 5/3-7; 5/17-1 et seq. | Adopted audit, filed with ISBE |

| Annual approval of budget | 105 ILCS 5/17-1 | Adopted budget posted, filed with County Clerk and ISBE |

| Annual approval of tax levy | 35 ILCS 200/18-15; 105 ILCS 5/17-11 | Truth-in-Taxation compliance docs; certified levy filed with County Clerk |

| Annual sexual harassment training certifications | 5 ILCS 430/70-5 | Certificates |

| OMA member training (one-time, w/in 90 days of oath) | 5 ILCS 120/1.05(b) | PAC certificate or Art. 23 (IASB) equivalent certificate |

| PDLT (one-time, w/in 1 year of election) | 105 ILCS 5/10-16a | IASB / ISBE-approved provider certificate |

10. District-Level Evidence the Audit Should Look For

The following items are what an audit (or FOIA request) should expect to find in the personnel/board-officer file for each seated member:

1. Certified copy of election results / certificate of election from the local election authority (Cook County Clerk for D230). Authority: 10 ILCS 5/22-17.

2. Signed oath of office (105 ILCS 5/10-16.5) — original or certified copy filed with board minutes; permanent record under Local Records Act (50 ILCS 205/).

3. Statement of Candidacy / SEI receipt (member-supplied or pulled from EA).

4. Annual Statement of Economic Interests receipt (one per year of service) — 5 ILCS 420/4A.

5. OMA training certificate dated within 90 days of oath — 5 ILCS 120/1.05.

6. PDLT certificate dated within 1 year of first oath — 105 ILCS 5/10-16a.

7. PERA training certificate if member has participated in tenured-teacher dismissal proceedings — 105 ILCS 5/24A-3.

8. FOIA training certificate if member is the designated FOIA officer — 5 ILCS 140/3.5.

10. Acknowledgment of receipt of: Board Policy Manual; Code of Conduct/Ethics Policy; OMA/FOIA cheat-sheet; Conflict-of-Interest policy.

11. A 10-10 self-attestation (recommended best practice — most districts do NOT have this; this is the single best audit recommendation).

13. Treasurer's bond (if member is treasurer or signing officer) — 105 ILCS 5/8-2.

11. Required-Document vs. FOIA-Response Gap Chart

Likelihood the district actually has the document on file (based on common FOIA responses):

| Certified election results | 10 ILCS 5/22-17 | Usually has — from EA | LOW |

| Treasurer's bond | 105 ILCS 5/8-2 | Should have; sometimes filed only at ROE | MED |

| Loyalty oath (optional) | 10 ILCS 5/7-10.1 | Often skipped — lawful | n/a |

12. Statutory Citations Index (Alphabetized with ILGA Links)

- 5 ILCS 120/ — Open Meetings Act. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=84&ChapterID=2

- 5 ILCS 120/1.05 — training requirement. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=000501200K1.05

- 5 ILCS 140/ — Freedom of Information Act. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=85&ChapterID=2

- 5 ILCS 420/ — Illinois Governmental Ethics Act. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=129&ChapterID=2

- 5 ILCS 430/ — State Officials & Employees Ethics Act. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2529&ChapterID=2

- 5 ILCS 430/70-5 — Local-government ethics & sexual-harassment training/policy.

- 10 ILCS 5/ — Election Code. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ChapterID=3&ActID=170

- 105 ILCS 5/ — School Code. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ChapterID=17&ActID=1005

- 105 ILCS 5/10-10 — Eligibility & disqualification of school-board members (citizenship, age 18, registered voter, 1-year residency, not a school trustee, not child sex offender). https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=010500050K10-10

- 105 ILCS 5/10-16.5 — Oath of office for school-board members. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=010500050K10-16.5

- 105 ILCS 5/10-16a — Professional Development Leadership Training (PDLT) — 4 hours within 1 year of election.

- 105 ILCS 5/10-21.9 — Fingerprint criminal-history check (employees only).

- 325 ILCS 5/4 — Abused & Neglected Child Reporting Act (mandated reporter).

- 775 ILCS 5/2-109(B) — Illinois Human Rights Act (harassment training cross-ref).

- 23 Ill. Adm. Code Part 1, 50, 51 — ISBE rules implementing PDLT, PERA, SOPPA, trauma-informed practices.

Appendix A — Accountability Gap Summary (What NO Illinois Agency Verifies Pre-Oath)

These are the items where statutory eligibility exists but no entity is mandated to confirm it before the oath is administered. This is the audit's most important finding cluster.

1. U.S. citizenship under 105 ILCS 5/10-10 — no pre-oath verification by district, ISBE, EA, or ROE.

2. One-year residency in the state and district — verified only if challenged via electoral board within petition-objection window; not re-verified pre-oath.

3. Not a "child sex offender" — no fingerprint requirement (5/10-21.9 covers employees, not members); no mandated registry check.

5. PDLT, OMA, PERA, sexual harassment, FOIA, mandated reporter trainings — each has a statutory deadline, but ISBE and AG-PAC do not affirmatively enforce or audit district compliance; districts self-certify only when asked.

6. Annual SEI — late filings trigger penalties at the County Clerk level, but no mechanism prevents seating of a non-filer who later cures by paying penalty.

7. Acknowledgment of board policy / ethics manual — entirely a local-policy matter; no state floor.

8. Conflict-of-interest disclosure — only triggered by member self-reporting at the time of a transaction; no annual affirmative-disclosure requirement comparable to state-officer COI under 5 ILCS 430.

**Bottom-line audit recommendation:** Districts should adopt a "Pre-Oath Compliance Packet" that includes a 105 ILCS 5/10-10 self-attestation, citizenship/residency affirmations, copies of the certificate of election and SEI receipt, written acknowledgment of policy manual, and a calendared training tracker — and retain the packet as a permanent record under 50 ILCS 205/. The absence of such a packet is itself the gap.

Illinois Pre-Oath Compliance Checklist for School-Board Members

1. Constitutional & Statutory Eligibility (must be true on date of election)

2. Candidacy Filings (with the local election authority — Cook County Clerk for D230)

3. Statutory Disqualifications — 105 ILCS 5/10-10 (the live eligibility section)

4. Oath of Office

5. Mandatory Trainings (post-election; some have hard pre-/post-oath milestones)

6. Ethics Statements & Annual Filings

7. Insurance / Fidelity Bonds

8. Background Check / Fingerprinting / Sex-Offender Registry

9. Continuing Fiduciary Obligations Once Seated (audit-trail items)

10. District-Level Evidence the Audit Should Look For

11. Required-Document vs. FOIA-Response Gap Chart

12. Statutory Citations Index (Alphabetized with ILGA Links)

Appendix A — Accountability Gap Summary (What NO Illinois Agency Verifies Pre-Oath)