Legal updates

May 28, 2025

On May 21, 2025, the Illinois House of Representatives voted 88 to 18 in favor of

Senate Bill 1701, which would revise the legal ability of Illinois law enforcement

employers to argue that mid-level police ranks qualify as “supervisors” within the

meaning of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act (“IPLRA”). The Senate previously

approved the bill, so SB 1701 is now headed to Governor Pritzker, who is expected to

sign it into law.

Since the mid-1980’s, the IPLRA has included a less stringent test for proving

supervisory status in the police context. For police officers, employers historically have

been excused from proving the so-called “preponderance prong” of the test for

supervisory status. Instead, it has been enough for employers to show that police

officers possess some minimal amount of supervisory authority, even if that authority is

rarely exercised. In part because of this less stringent test, many mid-level police ranks

(e.g., sergeants and lieutenants) remain non-union to this day.

All that may soon change if Governor Pritzker signs SB 1701 into law. Among

other things, the bill will modify the traditional police supervisory test by creating new

per se categories of supervisory and non-supervisory personnel. One per se

supervisory category will be something called a “permanent rank.” Specifically, if an

officer is appointed to a “permanent rank” (which is defined as a rank that is “not subject

to promotional testing pursuant to Division 1 or Division 2.1 of the Illinois Municipal

Code”), that officer will be considered a “supervisor” pursuant to Section 3(r) of the

IPLRA. This may benefit home rule units due to their inherent ability to transfer the

promotional authority of civil service commissions and boards of fire and police

commissioners to individual management officials like village/city managers and police

chiefs.

By contrast, SB 1701 will create a per se “non-supervisory” category of police

officers who are in “rank[s] for which the police officer must complete a written test

pursuant to Division 1 or Division 2.1 of the Illinois Municipal Code in order to be

employed in that rank.” This provision means that non-home rule communities (which

must strictly comply with the Municipal Code) could no longer argue that mid-level

police ranks who are subject to promotional written exams can be supervisors under the

IPLRA.

Law enforcement employers obviously will need to carefully consider the impact

of SB 1701 on how they structure and assign work to their mid-level police ranks. The

good news is that if SB 1701 is signed into law, it will not take effect until July 1, 2026.

That should allow employers an opportunity to assess and/or adjust the job duties of

their mid-level police ranks, including possibly the prospect of taking advantage of

alternative statutory exceptions found in the IPLRA.

If SB 1701 is signed into law, Clark Baird Smith LLP plans to schedule a client

webinar to provide insight and options for addressing the broader ramifications of SB

1701 on Illinois law enforcement employers. In the meantime, please contact a CBS

attorney for more information about SB 1701.