Commission Members

Section 3500.10  Commission Members a) The Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission consists of 8 voting primary members as follows: 1) One retired Circuit Court Judge. 2) One former prosecuting attorney. 3) One law school professor. 4) One who is engaged in the practice of criminal defense law. 5) Three members of the public who are not attorneys and who are not officers or employees of the judicial branch . The three Commissioners described in this subsection (a)(5) shall be known as the "Public Member Commissioners". 6) One former public defender. b) The members of the Commission shall be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Members may be re-appointed for additional terms, as provided for under Section 25 of the Act. [775 ILCS 40/20(a)] c) The Governor also appoints alternate Commission members for the primary Commission members he or she has appointed to serve in the event of scheduling conflicts, conflicts of interest, disability, or other disqualification arising in a particular case. Where an alternate member is called upon to serve in a particular place, the alternate member shall vote in the place of, and otherwise exercise the same powers as, the member which he or she is replacing. The alternate member shall have the same qualifications for appointment as the original primary member. In making the appointments, the Governor makes a good faith effort to appoint members with different perspectives of the justice system.  The Governor also considers geographical location, genders and racial diversity in making the appointments. [775 ILCS 40/20(a-1)] d)         Any alternate Public Member Commissioner may substitute for any indisposed or disqualified primary Public Member Commissioner. In the event that two or more alternate Public Member Commissioners are available at a meeting to vote in the place of an indisposed or disqualified primary Public Member Commissioner, the alternate Public Member Commissioner with greatest seniority on the Commission shall vote in place of the indisposed or disqualified primary Public Member Commissioner. Seniority shall be defined by the filing date on the governor's letter to the Secretary of State's Office appointing the alternate Public Member Commissioner. In the event of equal seniority between the available alternate Public Member Commissioners, the alternate Public Member Commissioner who is alphabetically first shall vote in place of the indisposed or disqualified primary Public Member Commissioner.