HB3971 Summary

• Removes blanket conviction-based prohibitions on municipal office eligibility, instead allowing individuals convicted of felonies, bribery, perjury, or infamous crimes to hold office unless their conviction stands or restoration is denied.

• Creates a new ineligibility category for individuals convicted of felonies, bribery, perjury, or infamous crimes committed on or after the bill's effective date while serving as a public official, making them ineligible for local or constitutional offices until sentence completion and eligibility restoration.

• Allows convicted individuals to restore eligibility to hold office through conviction reversal under the Officials Convicted of Infamous Crimes Act or through a restoration process under the Election Code following sentence completion.

• Applies changes to the Illinois Municipal Code, Unified Code of Corrections, Officials Convicted of Infamous Crimes Act, and Election Code provisions governing officer eligibility.

• Removes language requiring convicted individuals to obtain gubernatorial pardon or restoration of rights to become eligible for office, replacing it with eligibility restoration provisions in the Election Code.