Full Text of HB0991 95th General Assembly
HB0991enr 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HB0991 Enrolled |
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LRB095 06570 HLH 26674 b |
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| AN ACT concerning coroners.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing Section | 5 |
| 3-3013 as follows:
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| (55 ILCS 5/3-3013) (from Ch. 34, par. 3-3013)
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| 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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| (a) A sudden or violent death, whether apparently | 13 |
| suicidal,
homicidal or accidental, including but not | 14 |
| limited to deaths apparently
caused or contributed to by | 15 |
| thermal, traumatic, chemical, electrical or
radiational | 16 |
| injury, or a complication of any of them, or by drowning or
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| suffocation, or as a result of domestic violence as defined | 18 |
| in the Illinois
Domestic
Violence Act of 1986;
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| (b) A maternal or fetal death due to abortion, or any | 20 |
| death due to a
sex crime or a crime against nature;
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| (c) A death where the circumstances are suspicious, | 22 |
| obscure,
mysterious or otherwise unexplained or where, in | 23 |
| the written opinion of
the attending physician, the cause |
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| of death is not determined;
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| (d) A death where addiction to alcohol or to any drug | 3 |
| may have been
a contributory cause; or
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| (e) A death where the decedent was not attended by a | 5 |
| licensed
physician;
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| shall go to the place where the dead body is, and take charge | 7 |
| of the
same and shall make a preliminary investigation into the | 8 |
| circumstances
of the death. In the case of death without | 9 |
| attendance by a licensed
physician the body may be moved with | 10 |
| the coroner's consent from the
place of death to a mortuary in | 11 |
| the same county. Coroners in their
discretion shall notify such | 12 |
| physician as is designated in accordance
with Section 3-3014 to | 13 |
| attempt to ascertain the cause of death, either by
autopsy or | 14 |
| otherwise.
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| In cases of accidental death involving a motor vehicle in | 16 |
| which the
decedent was (1) the operator or a suspected operator | 17 |
| of a motor
vehicle, or (2) a pedestrian 16 years of age or | 18 |
| older, the coroner shall
require that a blood specimen of at | 19 |
| least 30 cc., and if medically
possible a urine specimen of at | 20 |
| least 30 cc. or as much as possible up
to 30 cc., be withdrawn | 21 |
| from the body of the decedent in a timely fashion after
the | 22 |
| accident causing his death, by such physician as has been | 23 |
| designated
in accordance with Section 3-3014, or by the coroner | 24 |
| or deputy coroner or
a qualified person designated by such | 25 |
| physician, coroner, or deputy coroner. If the county
does not | 26 |
| maintain laboratory facilities for making such analysis, the
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| blood and urine so drawn shall be sent to the Department of | 2 |
| State Police or any other accredited or State-certified | 3 |
| laboratory
for analysis of the alcohol, carbon monoxide, and | 4 |
| dangerous or
narcotic drug content of such blood and urine | 5 |
| specimens. Each specimen
submitted shall be accompanied by | 6 |
| pertinent information concerning the
decedent upon a form | 7 |
| prescribed by such laboratory. Any
person drawing blood and | 8 |
| urine and any person making any examination of
the blood and | 9 |
| urine under the terms of this Division shall be immune from all
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| liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred | 11 |
| or
imposed.
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| In all other cases coming within the jurisdiction of the | 13 |
| coroner and
referred to in subparagraphs (a) through (e) above, | 14 |
| blood, and whenever
possible, urine samples shall be analyzed | 15 |
| for the presence of alcohol
and other drugs. When the coroner | 16 |
| suspects that drugs may have been
involved in the death, either | 17 |
| directly or indirectly, a toxicological
examination shall be | 18 |
| performed which may include analyses of blood, urine,
bile, | 19 |
| gastric contents and other tissues. When the coroner suspects
a | 20 |
| death is due to toxic substances, other than drugs, the coroner | 21 |
| shall
consult with the toxicologist prior to collection of | 22 |
| samples. Information
submitted to the toxicologist shall | 23 |
| include information as to height,
weight, age, sex and race of | 24 |
| the decedent as well as medical history,
medications used by | 25 |
| and the manner of death of decedent.
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| When the coroner or medical examiner finds that the cause |
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| of death is due to homicidal means, the coroner or medical | 2 |
| examiner shall cause blood and buccal specimens (tissue may be | 3 |
| submitted if no uncontaminated blood or buccal specimen can be | 4 |
| obtained), whenever possible, to be withdrawn from the body of | 5 |
| the decedent in a timely fashion. Within 45 days after the | 6 |
| collection of the specimens, the coroner or medical examiner | 7 |
| shall deliver those specimens, dried, to the Illinois | 8 |
| Department of State Police, Division of Forensic Services, for | 9 |
| analysis and categorizing into genetic marker groupings to be | 10 |
| maintained by the Illinois Department of State Police in the | 11 |
| State central repository in the same manner, and subject to the | 12 |
| same conditions, as provided in Section 5-4-3 of the Unified | 13 |
| Code of Corrections. The requirements of this paragraph are in | 14 |
| addition to any other findings, specimens, or information that | 15 |
| the coroner or medical examiner is required to provide during | 16 |
| the conduct of a criminal investigation.
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| In all counties, in cases of apparent
suicide, homicide, or | 18 |
| accidental death or in other cases, within the
discretion of | 19 |
| the coroner, the coroner may summon 8 persons of lawful age
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| from those persons drawn for petit jurors in the county. The | 21 |
| summons shall
command these persons to present themselves | 22 |
| personally at such a place and
time as the coroner shall | 23 |
| determine, and may be in any form which the
coroner shall | 24 |
| determine and may incorporate any reasonable form of request
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| for acknowledgement which the coroner deems practical and | 26 |
| provides a
reliable proof of service. The summons may be served |
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| by first class mail.
From the 8 persons so summoned, the | 2 |
| coroner shall select 6 to serve as the
jury for the inquest. | 3 |
| Inquests may be continued from time
to time, as the coroner may | 4 |
| deem necessary. The 6 jurors selected in
a given case may view | 5 |
| the body of the deceased.
If at any continuation of an inquest | 6 |
| one or more of the original jurors
shall be unable to continue | 7 |
| to serve, the coroner shall fill the vacancy or
vacancies. A | 8 |
| juror serving pursuant to this paragraph shall receive
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| compensation from the county at the same rate as the rate of | 10 |
| compensation
that is paid to petit or grand jurors in the | 11 |
| county. The coroner shall
furnish to each juror without fee at | 12 |
| the time of his discharge a
certificate of the number of days | 13 |
| in attendance at an inquest, and, upon
being presented with | 14 |
| such certificate, the county treasurer shall pay to
the juror | 15 |
| the sum provided for his services.
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| In counties which have a jury commission, in cases of | 17 |
| apparent suicide or
homicide or of accidental death, the | 18 |
| coroner may conduct an inquest. The jury commission shall | 19 |
| provide
at least 8 jurors to the coroner, from whom the coroner | 20 |
| shall select any 6
to serve as the jury for the inquest. | 21 |
| Inquests may be continued from time
to time as the coroner may | 22 |
| deem necessary. The 6 jurors originally chosen
in a given case | 23 |
| may view the body of the deceased. If at any continuation
of an | 24 |
| inquest one or more of the 6 jurors originally chosen shall be | 25 |
| unable
to continue to serve, the coroner shall fill the vacancy | 26 |
| or vacancies. At
the coroner's discretion, additional jurors to |
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| fill such vacancies shall be
supplied by the jury commission. A | 2 |
| juror serving pursuant to this
paragraph in such county shall | 3 |
| receive compensation from the county at the
same rate as the | 4 |
| rate of compensation that is paid to petit or grand jurors
in | 5 |
| the county.
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| In addition, in every case in which domestic violence is | 7 |
| determined to be
a
contributing factor in a death, the coroner | 8 |
| shall report the death to the
Department of State Police.
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| All deaths in State institutions and all deaths of wards of | 10 |
| the State in
private care facilities or in programs funded by | 11 |
| the Department of Human
Services under its powers relating to | 12 |
| mental health and developmental
disabilities or alcoholism and | 13 |
| substance
abuse or funded by the Department of Children and | 14 |
| Family Services shall
be reported to the coroner of the county | 15 |
| in which the facility is
located. If the coroner has reason to | 16 |
| believe that an investigation is
needed to determine whether | 17 |
| the death was caused by maltreatment or
negligent care of the | 18 |
| ward of the State, the coroner may conduct a
preliminary | 19 |
| investigation of the circumstances of such death as in cases of
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| death under circumstances set forth in paragraphs (a) through | 21 |
| (e) of this
Section.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-1005, eff. 1-1-05; 94-924, eff. 1-1-07.)
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