Illinois Supreme Court to Consider Union Appeal of Ruling Requiring Public Arbitration of Police Disciplinary Cases

Today, the Supreme Court of Illinois allowed the Petition for Leave to Appeal filed by the Fraternal Order of Police challenging the August 8, 2025, Appellate Court ruling requiring that arbitration proceedings for the most serious police disciplinary cases be open to the public. Oral arguments are expected to take place next year.

As I reported at last week's Police Board meeting, this litigation has brought to a standstill consideration of the vast majority of cases in which the recommendation is to discharge the accused officer from the Chicago Police Department. In fact, twenty-one Police Board discharge cases are on hold because the accused officer has elected arbitration. These cases include charges of unjustified police shootings (8 cases), domestic violence (5 cases), excessive force (2 cases), and illegal searches (1 case). There can be no Police Board hearings regarding these cases without the consent of the accused officer, and there will be no arbitration hearings regarding these cases until there is agreement on an arbitration process that complies with a court order.

Four discharge cases are moving forward at the Police Board, two because the accused CPD members are supervisors (not FOP members) and two because the accused police officers elected to have a Police Board hearing rather than wait for arbitration.

The Police Board will continue to closely monitor the litigation and will keep the public informed with the most up-to-date information as the case progresses. Once the Supreme Court issues its decision, we look forward to the Fraternal Order of Police and the City working expeditiously to finalize an arbitration process.

Until then, I encourage any police officer facing serious misconduct charges to elect to have their case heard by the Police Board. The Board has resolved, and will continue to resolve, cases in an expeditious and fair manner, guided by the facts and the law.

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