101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB4825

 

Introduced 2/18/2020, by Rep. Dan Brady

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
410 ILCS 535/18  from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-18
410 ILCS 535/20  from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-20
410 ILCS 535/21  from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-21

    Amends the Vital Records Act. Provides that death certificates and medical certifications may be completed and signed by advanced practice registered nurses. Makes other changes. Effective January 1, 2021.


LRB101 17935 CPF 70095 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB4825LRB101 17935 CPF 70095 b

1    AN ACT concerning health.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Vital Records Act is amended by changing
5Sections 18, 20, and 21 as follows:
 
6    (410 ILCS 535/18)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-18)
7    Sec. 18. (1) Each death which occurs in this State shall be
8registered by filing a death certificate with the local
9registrar of the district in which the death occurred or the
10body was found, within 7 days after such death (within 5 days
11if the death occurs prior to January 1, 1989) and prior to
12cremation or removal of the body from the State, except when
13death is subject to investigation by the coroner or medical
14examiner.
15        (a) For the purposes of this Section, if the place of
16    death is unknown, a death certificate shall be filed in the
17    registration district in which a dead body is found, which
18    shall be considered the place of death.
19        (b) When a death occurs on a moving conveyance, the
20    place where the body is first removed from the conveyance
21    shall be considered the place of death and a death
22    certificate shall be filed in the registration district in
23    which such place is located.

 

 

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1        (c) The funeral director who first assumes custody of a
2    dead body shall be responsible for filing a completed death
3    certificate. He or she shall obtain the personal data from
4    the next of kin or the best qualified person or source
5    available; he or she shall enter on the certificate the
6    name, relationship, and address of the his informant; he or
7    she shall enter the date, place, and method of final
8    disposition; he or she shall affix his or her own signature
9    and enter his or her address; and shall present the
10    certificate to the person responsible for completing the
11    medical certification of cause of death. The person
12    responsible for completing the medical certification of
13    cause of death must note the presence of
14    methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, clostridium
15    difficile, or vancomycin-resistant enterococci if it is a
16    contributing factor to or the cause of death. Additional
17    multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) may be added to this
18    list by the Department by rule.
19    (2) The medical certification shall be completed and signed
20within 48 hours after death by the physician or advanced
21practice registered nurse in charge of the patient's care for
22the illness or condition which resulted in death, except when
23death is subject to the coroner's or medical examiner's
24investigation. In the absence of the physician or advanced
25practice registered nurse or with his or her approval, the
26medical certificate may be completed and signed by his or her

 

 

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1associate physician or advanced practice registered nurse, the
2chief medical officer of the institution in which death
3occurred, or by the physician who performed an autopsy upon the
4decedent.
5    (3) When a death occurs without medical attendance, or when
6it is otherwise subject to the coroner's or medical examiner's
7investigation, the coroner or medical examiner shall be
8responsible for the completion of a coroner's or medical
9examiner's certificate of death and shall sign the medical
10certification within 48 hours after death, except as provided
11by regulation in special problem cases. If the decedent was
12under the age of 18 years at the time of his or her death, and
13the death was due to injuries suffered as a result of a motor
14vehicle backing over a child, or if the death occurred due to
15the power window of a motor vehicle, the coroner or medical
16examiner must send a copy of the medical certification, with
17information documenting that the death was due to a vehicle
18backing over the child or that the death was caused by a power
19window of a vehicle, to the Department of Children and Family
20Services. The Department of Children and Family Services shall
21(i) collect this information for use by Child Death Review
22Teams and (ii) compile and maintain this information as part of
23its Annual Child Death Review Team Report to the General
24Assembly.
25    (3.5) The medical certification of cause of death shall
26expressly provide an opportunity for the person completing the

 

 

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1certification to indicate that the death was caused in whole or
2in part by a dementia-related disease, Parkinson's Disease, or
3Parkinson-Dementia Complex.
4    (4) When the deceased was a veteran of any war of the
5United States, the funeral director shall prepare a
6"Certificate of Burial of U. S. War Veteran", as prescribed and
7furnished by the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs, and
8submit such certificate to the Illinois Department of Veterans'
9Affairs monthly.
10    (5) When a death is presumed to have occurred in this State
11but the body cannot be located, a death certificate may be
12prepared by the State Registrar upon receipt of an order of a
13court of competent jurisdiction which includes the finding of
14facts required to complete the death certificate. Such death
15certificate shall be marked "Presumptive" and shall show on its
16face the date of the registration and shall identify the court
17and the date of the judgment.
18(Source: P.A. 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10; 97-376, eff. 8-15-11.)
 
19    (410 ILCS 535/20)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-20)
20    Sec. 20. Fetal death; place of registration.
21    (1) Each fetal death which occurs in this State after a
22gestation period of 20 completed weeks (and when the mother
23elects in writing to arrange for the burial or cremation of the
24fetus under Section 11.4 of the Hospital Licensing Act) or more
25shall be registered with the local or subregistrar of the

 

 

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1district in which the delivery occurred within 7 days after the
2delivery and before removal of the fetus from the State, except
3as provided by regulation in special problem cases.
4        (a) For the purposes of this Section, if the place of
5    fetal death is unknown, a fetal death certificate shall be
6    filed in the registration district in which a dead fetus is
7    found, which shall be considered the place of fetal death.
8        (b) When a fetal death occurs on a moving conveyance,
9    the city, village, township, or road district in which the
10    fetus is first removed from the conveyance shall be
11    considered the place of delivery and a fetal death
12    certificate shall be filed in the registration district in
13    which the place is located.
14        (c) The funeral director or person acting as such who
15    first assumes custody of a fetus shall file the
16    certificate. The personal data shall be obtained from the
17    best qualified person or source available. The name,
18    relationship, and address of the informant shall be entered
19    on the certificate. The date, place, and method of final
20    disposition of the fetus shall be recorded over the
21    personal signature and address of the funeral director
22    responsible for the disposition. The certificate shall be
23    presented to the person responsible for completing the
24    medical certification of the cause of death.
25    (2) The medical certification shall be completed and signed
26within 24 hours after delivery by the physician or advanced

 

 

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1practice registered nurse in attendance at or after delivery,
2except when investigation is required under Division 3-3 of
3Article 3 of the Counties Code and except as provided by
4regulation in special problem cases.
5    (3) When a fetal death occurs without medical attendance
6upon the mother at or after the delivery, or when investigation
7is required under Division 3-3 of Article 3 of the Counties
8Code, the coroner shall be responsible for the completion of
9the fetal death certificate and shall sign the medical
10certification within 24 hours after the delivery or the finding
11of the fetus, except as provided by regulation in special
12problem cases.
13(Source: P.A. 92-348, eff. 1-1-02.)
 
14    (410 ILCS 535/21)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-21)
15    Sec. 21. (1) The funeral director or person acting as such
16who first assumes custody of a dead body or fetus shall make a
17written report to the registrar of the district in which death
18occurred or in which the body or fetus was found within 24
19hours after taking custody of the body or fetus on a form
20prescribed and furnished by the State Registrar and in
21accordance with the rules promulgated by the State Registrar.
22Except as specified in paragraph (2) of this Section, the
23written report shall serve as a permit to transport, bury, or
24entomb the body or fetus within this State, provided that the
25funeral director or person acting as such shall certify that

 

 

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1the physician or advanced practice registered nurse in charge
2of the patient's care for the illness or condition which
3resulted in death has been contacted and has affirmatively
4stated that he or she will sign the medical certificate of
5death or the fetal death certificate. If a funeral director
6fails to file written reports under this Section in a timely
7manner, the local registrar may suspend the funeral director's
8privilege of filing written reports by mail. In a county with a
9population greater than 3,000,000, if a funeral director or
10person acting as such inters or entombs a dead body without
11having previously certified that the physician or advanced
12practice registered nurse in charge of the patient's care for
13the illness or condition that resulted in death has been
14contacted and has affirmatively stated that he or she will sign
15the medical certificate of death, then that funeral director or
16person acting as such is responsible for payment of the
17specific costs incurred by the county medical examiner in
18disinterring and reinterring or reentombing the dead body.
19    (2) The written report as specified in paragraph (1) of
20this Section shall not serve as a permit to:
21        (a) Remove body or fetus from this State;
22        (b) Cremate the body or fetus; or
23        (c) Make disposal of any body or fetus in any manner
24    when death is subject to the coroner's or medical
25    examiner's investigation.
26    (3) In accordance with the provisions of paragraph (2) of

 

 

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1this Section the funeral director or person acting as such who
2first assumes custody of a dead body or fetus shall obtain a
3permit for disposition of such dead human body prior to final
4disposition or removal from the State of the body or fetus.
5Such permit shall be issued by the registrar of the district
6where death occurred or the body or fetus was found. No such
7permit shall be issued until a properly completed certificate
8of death has been filed with the registrar. The registrar shall
9insure the issuance of a permit for disposition within an
10expedited period of time to accommodate Sunday or holiday
11burials of decedents whose time of death and religious tenets
12or beliefs necessitate Sunday or holiday burials.
13    (4) A permit which accompanies a dead body or fetus brought
14into this State shall be authority for final disposition of the
15body or fetus in this State, except in municipalities where
16local ordinance requires the issuance of a local permit prior
17to disposition.
18    (5) A permit for disposition of a dead human body shall be
19required prior to disinterment of a dead body or fetus, and
20when the disinterred body is to be shipped by a common carrier.
21Such permit shall be issued to a licensed funeral director or
22person acting as such, upon proper application, by the local
23registrar of the district in which disinterment is to be made.
24In the case of disinterment, proper application shall include a
25statement providing the name and address of any surviving
26spouse of the deceased, or, if none, any surviving children of

 

 

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1the deceased, or if no surviving spouse or children, a parent,
2brother, or sister of the deceased. The application shall
3indicate whether the applicant is one of these parties and, if
4so, whether the applicant is a surviving spouse or a surviving
5child. Prior to the issuance of a permit for disinterment, the
6local registrar shall, by certified mail, notify the surviving
7spouse, unless he or she is the applicant, or if there is no
8surviving spouse, all surviving children except for the
9applicant, of the application for the permit. The person or
10persons notified shall have 30 days from the mailing of the
11notice to object by obtaining an injunction enjoining the
12issuance of the permit. After the 30-day period has expired,
13the local registrar shall issue the permit unless he or she has
14been enjoined from doing so or there are other statutory
15grounds for refusal. The notice to the spouse or surviving
16children shall inform the person or persons being notified of
17the right to seek an injunction within 30 days. Notwithstanding
18any other provision of this subsection (5), a court may order
19issuance of a permit for disinterment without notice or prior
20to the expiration of the 30-day period where the petition is
21made by an agency of any governmental unit and good cause is
22shown for disinterment without notice or for the early order.
23Nothing in this subsection (5) limits the authority of the City
24of Chicago to acquire property or otherwise exercise its powers
25under the O'Hare Modernization Act or requires that City, or
26any person acting on behalf of that City, to obtain a permit

 

 

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1under this subsection (5) when exercising powers under the
2O'Hare Modernization Act. The Illinois Department of
3Transportation, and any person acting on its behalf under a
4public-private agreement entered into in accordance with the
5Public-Private Agreements for the South Suburban Airport Act,
6is exempt from this subsection (5), provided that the Illinois
7Department of Transportation, or any such person, takes
8reasonable steps to comply with the provisions of this
9subsection (5) so long as compliance does not interfere with
10the design, development, operation, or maintenance of the South
11Suburban Airport or the exercise of their powers under the
12Public-Private Agreements for the South Suburban Airport Act.
13(Source: P.A. 98-109, eff. 7-25-13.)
 
14    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
151, 2021.