Section Newsletters

Articles From Jenette M. Schwemler

New rules for vacancies in municipal offices By Jenette M. Schwemler Local Government Law, January 2008 House Bill 962 amends the Illinois Municipal Code provisions regarding eligibility for election or appointment and vacancies in elective offices.
Who is in charge of determining disability for police officers—Pension boards or witnesses? By Jenette M. Schwemler Local Government Law, September 2007 For more than 15 years, Illinois appellate courts have been struggling with the interpretation of section 3-115 of the Illinois Pension Code regarding the requirement of a pension applicant to submit three certificates of disability to the pension board in order to receive benefits.
High-speed pursuits after Scott v. Harris By Jenette M. Schwemler Local Government Law, August 2007 This article examines the reasoning behind the Supreme Court’s decision, as well as implications it has on current policies and procedures involving high-speed pursuits.
E-Mail Retention Policies and the Local Records Act By Richard G. Flood & Jenette M. Schwemler Administrative Law, July 2007 While many have leapt to the conclusion that the Local Records Act requires preservation of anything and everything dealing with public business that happens to enter or leave a municipally owned computer, reading the statute three times, as Supreme Court Justice John Roberts suggests, reveals a quite different intent.
E-mail retention policies and The Local Retention Act By Richard G. Flood & Jenette M. Schwemler Local Government Law, March 2007 Recent interpretations of the Local Records Act, broadly construing the meaning of “public records” for purposes of formalizing retention policies, beg for the imposition of Supreme Court Justice John Roberts’ three rules of statutory construction: “Read the Statute, Read the Statute, Read the Statute.”
The elusive concept of “special risk” in relation to line of duty pension benefits for police officers By Jenette M. Schwemler Local Government Law, October 2005 This article summarizes the evolution of the definitions of “act of duty” and “special risk” and how the courts apply those concepts in reviewing awards and denials of line of duty benefits.

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