HB4867eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB4867 Engrossed LRB095 18157 AJO 44240 b

AN ACT concerning civil law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act is amended by changing Section 11 as follows:

(740 ILCS 110/11) (from Ch. 91 1/2, par. 811)

Sec. 11. Disclosure of records and communications. Records and communications may be disclosed:

(i) in accordance with the provisions of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, subsection (u) of Section 5 of the Children and Family Services Act, or Section 7.4 of the Child Care Act of 1969;

(ii) when, and to the extent, a therapist, in his or her sole discretion, determines that disclosure is necessary to initiate or continue civil commitment or involuntary treatment proceedings under the laws of this State or to otherwise protect the recipient or other person against a clear, imminent risk of serious physical or mental injury or disease or death being inflicted upon the recipient or by the recipient on himself or another;

(iii) when, and to the extent disclosure is, in the sole discretion of the therapist, necessary to the provision of emergency medical care to a recipient who is unable to assert or waive his or her rights hereunder;

(iv) when disclosure is necessary to collect sums or receive third party payment representing charges for mental health or developmental disabilities services provided by a therapist or agency to a recipient under Chapter V of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code or to transfer debts under the Uncollected State Claims Act; however, disclosure shall be limited to information needed to pursue collection, and the information so disclosed shall not be used for any other purposes nor shall it be redisclosed except in connection with collection activities;

(v) when requested by a family member, the Department of Human Services may assist in the location of the interment site of a deceased recipient who is interred in a cemetery established under Section 100-26 of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Administrative Act;

(vi) in judicial proceedings under Article VIII of Chapter III and Article V of Chapter IV of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code and proceedings and investigations preliminary thereto, to the State's Attorney for the county or residence of a person who is the subject of such proceedings, or in which the person is found, or in which the facility is located, to the attorney representing the recipient in the judicial proceedings, to any person or agency providing mental health services that are the subject of the proceedings and to that person's or agency's attorney, to any court personnel, including but not limited to judges and circuit court clerks, and to a guardian ad litem if one has been appointed by the court, provided that the information so disclosed shall not be utilized for any other purpose nor be redisclosed except in connection with the proceedings or investigations;

(vii) when, and to the extent disclosure is necessary to comply with the requirements of the Census Bureau in taking the federal Decennial Census;

(viii) when, and to the extent, in the therapist's sole discretion, disclosure is necessary to warn or protect a specific individual against whom a recipient has made a specific threat of violence where there exists a therapist-recipient relationship or a special recipient-individual relationship;

(ix) in accordance with the Sex Offender Registration Act;

(x) in accordance with the Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act;

(xi) in accordance with Section 6 of the Abused and Neglected Long Term Care Facility Residents Reporting Act; and

(xii) in accordance with Section 55 of the Abuse of Adults with Disabilities Intervention Act.

Any person, institution, or agency, under this Act, participating in good faith in the making of a report under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act or in the disclosure of records and communications under this Section, shall have immunity from any liability, civil, criminal or otherwise, that might result by reason of such action. For the purpose of any proceeding, civil or criminal, arising out of a report or disclosure under this Section, the good faith of any person, institution, or agency so reporting or disclosing shall be presumed.

Notwithstanding any other rulemaking authority that may exist, neither the Governor nor any agency or agency head under the jurisdiction of the Governor has any authority to make or promulgate rules to implement or enforce the provisions of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly. If, however, the Governor believes that rules are necessary to implement or enforce the provisions of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, the Governor may suggest rules to the General Assembly by filing them with the Clerk of the House and Secretary of the Senate and by requesting that the General Assembly authorize such rulemaking by law, enact those suggested rules into law, or take any other appropriate action in the General Assembly's discretion. Nothing contained in this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly shall be interpreted to grant rulemaking authority under any other Illinois statute where such authority is not otherwise explicitly given. For the purposes of this amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly, "rules" is given the meaning contained in Section 1-70 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act, and "agency" and "agency head" are given the meanings contained in Sections 1-20 and 1-25 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act to the extent that such definitions apply to agencies or agency heads under the jurisdiction of the Governor.

(Source: P.A. 94-852, eff. 6-13-06; 94-1010, eff. 10-1-06; 95-331, eff. 8-21-07.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.