103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB2768

 

Introduced 1/17/2024, by Sen. Christopher Belt

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
55 ILCS 5/3-3014  from Ch. 34, par. 3-3014

    Amends the Coroner Division of the Counties Code. Provides that a county in which the body of a deceased person is found shall indemnify and hold harmless a pathologist who renders services under the provisions for all of the pathologist's conduct arising out of the pathologist's testimony as an expert witness in a criminal proceeding based on the service provided under the provisions, except actions involving willful and wanton misconduct of the pathologist. Conditions the duty of the county to indemnify a pathologist who rendered services under the provisions for a judgment recovered against the pathologist upon receiving notice of the filing of the action. Provides that, if a pathologist is made a party defendant to an action and the action against the pathologist is based upon the pathologist's conduct arising out of the pathologist's testimony as an expert witness in a criminal proceeding, then, within 10 days of service of process, the pathologist shall notify the county in which the body of a deceased person was found of the fact that the pathologist has been made a party defendant to the action. Includes requirements for the notice. Provides that the State's Attorney of the county in which the body of the deceased person is found may appear and defend on behalf of the pathologist.


LRB103 35992 AWJ 66079 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB2768LRB103 35992 AWJ 66079 b

1    AN ACT concerning local government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing
5Section 3-3014 as follows:
 
6    (55 ILCS 5/3-3014)  (from Ch. 34, par. 3-3014)
7    Sec. 3-3014. Autopsy to be performed by licensed
8physician; costs; reports. Any medical examination or autopsy
9conducted pursuant to this Division shall be performed by a
10physician duly licensed to practice medicine in all of its
11branches, and wherever possible by one having special training
12in pathology. In Class I counties, medical examinations or
13autopsies (including those performed on exhumed bodies) shall
14be performed by physicians appointed or designated by the
15coroner, and in Class II counties by physicians appointed or
16designated by the Director of Public Health upon the
17recommendation of the advisory board on necropsy service to
18coroners after the board has consulted with the elected
19coroner. Any autopsy performed by a physician so appointed or
20designated shall be deemed lawful. The cost of all autopsies,
21medical examinations, laboratory fees, if any, and travel
22expenses of the examining physician and the costs of exhuming
23a body under the authority of subsection (c) of Section 3-3015

 

 

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1shall be payable from the general fund of the county where the
2body is found. The examining physician shall file copies of
3the reports or results of his or her autopsies and medical
4examinations with the coroner and also with the Department of
5Public Health.
6    No coroner may perform any autopsy required or authorized
7by law unless the coroner is a pathologist whose services are
8requested by the coroner of another county.
9    The county in which the body of a deceased person is found
10shall indemnify and hold harmless a pathologist who renders
11services under this Section for all of the pathologist's
12conduct arising out of the pathologist's testimony as an
13expert witness in a criminal proceeding based on the service
14provided under this Section, except actions involving willful
15and wanton misconduct of the pathologist. The duty of the
16county to indemnify a pathologist who rendered services under
17this Section for a judgment recovered against the pathologist
18is conditioned upon receiving notice of the filing of the
19action as required under this paragraph. If a pathologist is
20made a party defendant to an action and the action against the
21pathologist is based upon the pathologist's conduct arising
22out of the pathologist's testimony as an expert witness in a
23criminal proceeding, then, within 10 days of service of
24process, the pathologist shall notify the county in which the
25body of a deceased person was found of the fact that the
26pathologist has been made a party defendant to the action. The

 

 

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1notice must be in writing and filed in the office of the
2State's Attorney and in the office of the county clerk, either
3by the pathologist or the pathologist's agent or attorney. The
4notice shall state the name of the pathologist; that the
5pathologist has been served with process, including the date
6the pathologist was served; that the pathologist has been made
7a party defendant to an action in which it is claimed that an
8individual has suffered injury to the individual's body or
9property caused by the pathologist's conduct as an expert
10witness in a criminal proceeding; the title and number of the
11case; and the court in which the action is pending. The State's
12Attorney of the county in which the body of the deceased person
13is found may appear and defend on behalf of the pathologist.
14(Source: P.A. 86-962; 87-317.)