Kooistra v. Board of Trustees of the Sycamore Police Pension Fund

2025 IL App (2d) 240787
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedNovember 14, 2025
Docket2-24-0787
StatusPublished

This text of 2025 IL App (2d) 240787 (Kooistra v. Board of Trustees of the Sycamore Police Pension Fund) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kooistra v. Board of Trustees of the Sycamore Police Pension Fund, 2025 IL App (2d) 240787 (Ill. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

2025 IL App (2d) 240787 No. 2-24-0787 Opinion filed November 14, 2025 ______________________________________________________________________________

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

SECOND DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________

SHAWN KOOISTRA, ) Appeal from the Circuit Court ) of De Kalb County. Plaintiff-Appellant, ) ) v. ) No. 24-MR-44 ) THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE ) SYCAMORE POLICE PENSION FUND, ) Honorable ) Bradley J. Waller, Defendant-Appellee. ) Judge, Presiding. ______________________________________________________________________________

JUSTICE SCHOSTOK delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Presiding Justice Kennedy and Justice McLaren concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION

¶1 In this administrative action, the circuit court of De Kalb County affirmed the decision of

defendant, Board of Trustees of the Sycamore Police Pension Fund (Board), denying plaintiff,

Shawn Kooistra, membership in the Sycamore Police Pension Fund. We also affirm the Board’s

decision.

¶2 I. BACKGROUND

¶3 Plaintiff was hired by the Roselle Police Department on March 4, 1997, and retired from

that department in his final role as deputy chief of police on January 2, 2024. On January 3, 2024,

he began receiving a retirement pension. On January 4, 2024, plaintiff was hired as a patrol officer 2025 IL App (2d) 240787

for the Sycamore Police Department and subsequently applied for membership in the Sycamore

Police Pension Fund.

¶4 On January 18, 2024, the Board met to discuss, in part, plaintiff’s application. The minutes

from the meeting indicated that, prior to plaintiff being hired, Sycamore’s chief of police informed

plaintiff that the legal opinion of the attorneys for Sycamore’s police pension fund was that

plaintiff could participate in a defined contribution plan but was not eligible to participate in the

pension fund. The Board had also been advised by an attorney that, pursuant to section 3-124.1(b)

of the Illinois Pension Code (40 ILCS 5/3-124.1(b) (West 2022)), plaintiff could not participate in

Sycamore’s police pension fund. The Board ultimately denied plaintiff’s application, finding that

he could only participate in a defined contribution plan established by Sycamore.

¶5 Minutes from the Board’s next regular meeting, held on April 18, 2024, indicate that the

Board voted to adopt and publish its decision to deny plaintiff’s application. Plaintiff was present

at the meeting. The Board’s published decision stated that the denial was based on its interpretation

of section 3-124.1(b) of the Pension Code (id.). Under that section, the Board concluded that,

because plaintiff was receiving pension payments from the Roselle Police Pension Fund and had

reentered active service with the Sycamore Police Department after January 1, 2019, he could

continue receiving his Roselle pension payments but was only eligible to participate in Sycamore’s

defined contribution plan—not its pension fund.

¶6 On May 6, 2024, plaintiff filed a one-count complaint for administrative review of the

Board’s decision. He alleged that the Board’s denial of his application for membership in

Sycamore’s police pension fund was against the manifest weight of the evidence and based on an

erroneous interpretation of the Pension Code. Plaintiff requested that the Board’s decision be

reversed and that he be admitted as a member into Sycamore’s police pension fund.

-2- 2025 IL App (2d) 240787

¶7 On October 4, 2024, plaintiff filed a brief in support of his complaint for administrative

review, raising three arguments. First, he asserted that the Board misinterpreted section 3-124.1(b)

of the Pension Code, arguing that the provision applies only to officers who first joined the police

force and became members of a pension fund after January 1, 2019. Since he first became a

member of a pension fund when he was hired by the Roselle Police Department in 1994, he

contended that section 3-124.1(b) did not apply to him.

¶8 Second, plaintiff argued that, if section 3-124.1(b) were applied as interpreted by the Board,

it would violate the pension protection clause of the Illinois Constitution. See Ill. Const. 1970, art.

XIII, § 5 (stating that “[m]embership in any pension or retirement system of the State *** shall be

an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or

impaired”). Plaintiff noted that under section 3-111(c) of the Pension Code (40 ILCS 5/3-111(c)

(West 2022)), he was entitled to participate in two pension funds, and he argued that the legislature

could not impair his eligibility for a second pension.

¶9 Finally, plaintiff asserted that the Board deprived him of his constitutional right to due

process by denying his application for membership without conducting a hearing or affording him

an opportunity to be heard. He claimed that, despite making a timely application and attending

Board meetings in an attempt to be heard, he was not given the opportunity to testify, present

evidence, cross-examine witnesses, or create a sufficient record.

¶ 10 In response, the Board argued that it properly interpreted the relevant statutory provisions

and did not err in denying plaintiff’s application. The Board further contended that section 3-111(c)

of the Pension Code (id.) did not apply to plaintiff because it pertains only to officers who have

service in two defined benefit plans at the time of retirement. The Board noted that plaintiff, at the

time of his retirement, had earned a pension only from the Roselle Police Department. The Board

-3- 2025 IL App (2d) 240787

also argued that plaintiff did not have a legitimate claim to a second pension and, therefore, was

not entitled to procedural due process in the Board’s proceedings. Alternatively, it asserted that,

even if due process were required, plaintiff was not deprived of it because both Board meetings

were properly posted in compliance with the Open Meetings Act (5 ILCS 120/1 et seq. (West

2022)), and the public—including plaintiff—had the opportunity to attend and speak. The Board

noted that plaintiff attended the April 2024 meeting, was given an opportunity to speak, but chose

not to do so. In support, the Board attached a bystander’s report from its attorney, who stated that

he was present at the April 2024 meeting, that plaintiff was also present and given an opportunity

to speak, but that plaintiff declined to say anything.

¶ 11 On December 3, 2024, the trial court held a hearing on plaintiff’s complaint. Following

argument, the trial court affirmed the Board’s decision. The trial court found that, under the plain

language of the relevant statute, because plaintiff first became a member of the Sycamore Police

Department after January 1, 2019, and was already receiving a pension from the Roselle Police

Department at that time, he was only eligible to participate in a defined contribution plan with the

Sycamore Police Department. The trial court declined to address any constitutional issues, finding

that they were forfeited because they were raised only in plaintiff’s memorandum in support of the

complaint, and not in the complaint itself. Nonetheless, the trial court noted that, because the

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2025 IL App (2d) 240787, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kooistra-v-board-of-trustees-of-the-sycamore-police-pension-fund-illappct-2025.