Rep. Dan Brady
Filed: 3/31/2004
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1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 6426
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2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 6426 by replacing | ||||||
3 | everything after the enacting clause with the following:
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4 | "Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing | ||||||
5 | Section 3-3013 as follows:
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6 | (55 ILCS 5/3-3013) (from Ch. 34, par. 3-3013)
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7 | Sec. 3-3013. Preliminary investigations; blood and urine | ||||||
8 | analysis;
summoning jury. Every coroner, whenever, as soon as | ||||||
9 | he knows or is
informed that the dead body of any person is | ||||||
10 | found, or lying within his
county, whose death is suspected of | ||||||
11 | being:
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12 | (a) A sudden or violent death, whether apparently suicidal,
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13 | homicidal or accidental, including but not limited to deaths | ||||||
14 | apparently
caused or contributed to by thermal, traumatic, | ||||||
15 | chemical, electrical or
radiational injury, or a complication | ||||||
16 | of any of them, or by drowning or
suffocation, or as a result | ||||||
17 | of domestic violence as defined in the Illinois
Domestic
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18 | Violence Act of 1986;
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19 | (b) A maternal or fetal death due to abortion, or any death | ||||||
20 | due to a
sex crime or a crime against nature;
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21 | (c) A death where the circumstances are suspicious, | ||||||
22 | obscure,
mysterious or otherwise unexplained or where, in the | ||||||
23 | written opinion of
the attending physician, the cause of death | ||||||
24 | is not determined;
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1 | (d) A death where addiction to alcohol or to any drug may | ||||||
2 | have been
a contributory cause; or
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3 | (e) A death where the decedent was not attended by a | ||||||
4 | licensed
physician;
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5 | shall go to the place where the dead body is, and take charge | ||||||
6 | of the
same and shall make a preliminary investigation into the | ||||||
7 | circumstances
of the death. In the case of death without | ||||||
8 | attendance by a licensed
physician the body may be moved with | ||||||
9 | the coroner's consent from the
place of death to a mortuary in | ||||||
10 | the same county. Coroners in their
discretion shall notify such | ||||||
11 | physician as is designated in accordance
with Section 3-3014 to | ||||||
12 | attempt to ascertain the cause of death, either by
autopsy or | ||||||
13 | otherwise.
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14 | In cases of accidental death involving a motor vehicle in | ||||||
15 | which the
decedent was (1) the operator or a suspected operator | ||||||
16 | of a motor
vehicle, or (2) a pedestrian 16 years of age or | ||||||
17 | older, the coroner shall
require that a blood specimen of at | ||||||
18 | least 30 cc., and if medically
possible a urine specimen of at | ||||||
19 | least 30 cc. or as much as possible up
to 30 cc., be withdrawn | ||||||
20 | from the body of the decedent in a timely fashion after
within | ||||||
21 | 6 hours of
the accident causing his death, by such physician as | ||||||
22 | has been designated
in accordance with Section 3-3014, or by | ||||||
23 | the coroner or deputy coroner or
a qualified person designated | ||||||
24 | by
at the direction of such physician , coroner, or deputy | ||||||
25 | coroner . If the county
does not maintain laboratory facilities | ||||||
26 | for making such analysis, the
blood and urine so drawn shall be | ||||||
27 | sent to the Department of State Police or any other accredited | ||||||
28 | or State-certified laboratory
for analysis , when necessary, of | ||||||
29 | the alcohol, carbon monoxide, and dangerous or
narcotic drug | ||||||
30 | content of such blood and urine specimens. Each specimen
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31 | submitted shall be accompanied by pertinent information | ||||||
32 | concerning the
decedent upon a form prescribed by such | ||||||
33 | laboratory.
Department. If the analysis is
performed in county | ||||||
34 | laboratory facilities, the coroner shall forward the
results of |
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1 | each analysis and pertinent information concerning the
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2 | decedent to the Department of Public Health upon a form | ||||||
3 | prescribed by
such Department. The coroner causing the blood | ||||||
4 | and urine to be
withdrawn shall be notified of the results of | ||||||
5 | any analysis made by the
Department of State Police and the | ||||||
6 | Department of Public Health shall
keep a record of the results | ||||||
7 | of all such examinations to be used for
statistical purposes. | ||||||
8 | The cumulative results of the
examinations, without | ||||||
9 | identifying the individuals involved, shall be
disseminated | ||||||
10 | and made public by the Department of Public Health. Any
person | ||||||
11 | drawing blood and urine and any person making any examination | ||||||
12 | of
the blood and urine under the terms of this Division shall | ||||||
13 | be immune from all
liability, civil or criminal, that might | ||||||
14 | otherwise be incurred or
imposed. The coroner shall be paid a | ||||||
15 | fee of $10 by the Department of
Public Health for each | ||||||
16 | acceptable set of blood and
urine specimens sent to the | ||||||
17 | Department of State Police forensic science
laboratory | ||||||
18 | accompanied by the required form or for each report of
analysis | ||||||
19 | performed by a county laboratory furnished upon the required | ||||||
20 | form.
Upon collection, the coroner shall pay the fee over to | ||||||
21 | the county
treasurer for deposit in the general fund of the | ||||||
22 | county.
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23 | In all other cases coming within the jurisdiction of the | ||||||
24 | coroner and
referred to in subparagraphs (a) through (e) above, | ||||||
25 | blood, and whenever
possible, urine samples shall be analyzed | ||||||
26 | for the presence of alcohol
and other drugs. When the coroner | ||||||
27 | suspects that drugs may have been
involved in the death, either | ||||||
28 | directly or indirectly, a toxicological
examination shall be | ||||||
29 | performed which may include analyses of blood, urine,
bile, | ||||||
30 | gastric contents and other tissues. When the coroner suspects
a | ||||||
31 | death is due to toxic substances, other than drugs, the coroner | ||||||
32 | shall
consult with the toxicologist prior to collection of | ||||||
33 | samples. Information
submitted to the toxicologist shall | ||||||
34 | include information as to height,
weight, age, sex and race of |
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1 | the decedent as well as medical history,
medications used by | ||||||
2 | and the manner of death of decedent.
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3 | Except in counties that have a jury commission, in cases of | ||||||
4 | apparent
suicide, homicide, or accidental death or in other | ||||||
5 | cases, within the
discretion of the coroner, the coroner shall | ||||||
6 | summon 8 persons of lawful age
from those persons drawn for | ||||||
7 | petit jurors in the county. The summons shall
command these | ||||||
8 | persons to present themselves personally at such a place and
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9 | time as the coroner shall determine, and may be in any form | ||||||
10 | which the
coroner shall determine and may incorporate any | ||||||
11 | reasonable form of request
for acknowledgement which the | ||||||
12 | coroner deems practical and provides a
reliable proof of | ||||||
13 | service. The summons may be served by first class mail.
From | ||||||
14 | the 8 persons so summoned, the coroner shall select 6 to serve | ||||||
15 | as the
jury for the inquest. Inquests may be continued from | ||||||
16 | time
to time, as the coroner may deem necessary. The 6 jurors | ||||||
17 | selected in
a given case may view the body of the deceased.
If | ||||||
18 | at any continuation of an inquest one or more of the original | ||||||
19 | jurors
shall be unable to continue to serve, the coroner shall | ||||||
20 | fill the vacancy or
vacancies. A juror serving pursuant to this | ||||||
21 | paragraph shall receive
compensation from the county at the | ||||||
22 | same rate as the rate of compensation
that is paid to petit or | ||||||
23 | grand jurors in the county. The coroner shall
furnish to each | ||||||
24 | juror without fee at the time of his discharge a
certificate of | ||||||
25 | the number of days in attendance at an inquest, and, upon
being | ||||||
26 | presented with such certificate, the county treasurer shall pay | ||||||
27 | to
the juror the sum provided for his services.
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28 | In counties which have a jury commission, in cases of | ||||||
29 | apparent suicide or
homicide or of accidental death, the | ||||||
30 | coroner shall, and in other cases in
his discretion may, | ||||||
31 | conduct an inquest. The jury commission shall provide
at least | ||||||
32 | 8 jurors to the coroner, from whom the coroner shall select any | ||||||
33 | 6
to serve as the jury for the inquest. Inquests may be | ||||||
34 | continued from time
to time as the coroner may deem necessary. |
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1 | The 6 jurors originally chosen
in a given case may view the | ||||||
2 | body of the deceased. If at any continuation
of an inquest one | ||||||
3 | or more of the 6 jurors originally chosen shall be unable
to | ||||||
4 | continue to serve, the coroner shall fill the vacancy or | ||||||
5 | vacancies. At
the coroner's discretion, additional jurors to | ||||||
6 | fill such vacancies shall be
supplied by the jury commission. A | ||||||
7 | juror serving pursuant to this
paragraph in such county shall | ||||||
8 | receive compensation from the county at the
same rate as the | ||||||
9 | rate of compensation that is paid to petit or grand jurors
in | ||||||
10 | the county.
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11 | In addition, in every case in which domestic violence is | ||||||
12 | determined to be
a
contributing factor in a death, the coroner | ||||||
13 | shall report the death to the
Department of State Police.
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14 | All deaths in State institutions and all deaths of wards of | ||||||
15 | the State in
private care facilities or in programs funded by | ||||||
16 | the Department of Human
Services under its powers relating to | ||||||
17 | mental health and developmental
disabilities or alcoholism and | ||||||
18 | substance
abuse or funded by the Department of Children and | ||||||
19 | Family Services shall
be reported to the coroner of the county | ||||||
20 | in which the facility is
located. If the coroner has reason to | ||||||
21 | believe that an investigation is
needed to determine whether | ||||||
22 | the death was caused by maltreatment or
negligent care of the | ||||||
23 | ward of the State, the coroner may conduct a
preliminary | ||||||
24 | investigation of the circumstances of such death as in cases of
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25 | death under circumstances set forth in paragraphs (a) through | ||||||
26 | (e) of this
Section.
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27 | (Source: P.A. 91-521, eff. 1-1-00.)".
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