Full Text of HB0233 99th General Assembly
HB0233eng 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning local government.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing Section | 5 | | 3-3013 as follows:
| 6 | | (55 ILCS 5/3-3013) (from Ch. 34, par. 3-3013)
| 7 | | Sec. 3-3013. Preliminary investigations; blood and urine | 8 | | analysis;
summoning jury; reports. Every coroner, whenever, as | 9 | | soon as he knows or is
informed that the dead body of any | 10 | | person is found, or lying within his
county, whose death is | 11 | | suspected of being:
| 12 | | (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
| 17 | | suffocation, or as a result of domestic violence as defined | 18 | | in the Illinois
Domestic
Violence Act of 1986;
| 19 | | (b) A maternal or fetal death due to abortion, or any | 20 | | death due to a
sex crime or a crime against nature;
| 21 | | (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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| 1 | | of death is not determined;
| 2 | | (d) A death where addiction to alcohol or to any drug | 3 | | may have been
a contributory cause; or
| 4 | | (e) A death where the decedent was not attended by a | 5 | | licensed
physician;
| 6 | | 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.
| 15 | | 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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| 1 | | 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
| 10 | | liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred | 11 | | or
imposed.
| 12 | | 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.
| 26 | | When the coroner or medical examiner finds that the cause |
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| 1 | | 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. For proper preservation of | 6 | | the specimens, collected blood and buccal specimens shall be | 7 | | dried and tissue specimens shall be frozen if available | 8 | | equipment exists. As soon as possible, but no later than 30 | 9 | | Within 45 days after the collection of the specimens, the | 10 | | coroner or medical examiner shall release deliver those | 11 | | specimens , dried, to the police agency responsible for | 12 | | investigating the death. As soon as possible but no later than | 13 | | 30 days after the receipt from the coroner or medical examiner, | 14 | | the police agency shall submit the specimens using the agency | 15 | | case number to a National DNA Index System (NDIS) participating | 16 | | laboratory within this State, such as the Illinois Department | 17 | | of State Police, Division of Forensic Services, for analysis | 18 | | and categorizing into genetic marker groupings . The results of | 19 | | the analysis and categorizing into genetic marker groupings | 20 | | shall be provided to the Illinois Department of State Police | 21 | | and shall to be maintained by the Illinois Department of State | 22 | | Police in the State central repository in the same manner, and | 23 | | subject to the same conditions, as provided in Section 5-4-3 of | 24 | | the Unified Code of Corrections. The requirements of this | 25 | | paragraph are in addition to any other findings, specimens, or | 26 | | information that the coroner or medical examiner is required to |
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| 1 | | provide during the conduct of a criminal investigation.
| 2 | | In all counties, in cases of apparent
suicide, homicide, or | 3 | | accidental death or in other cases, within the
discretion of | 4 | | the coroner, the coroner may summon 8 persons of lawful age
| 5 | | from those persons drawn for petit jurors in the county. The | 6 | | summons shall
command these persons to present themselves | 7 | | personally at such a place and
time as the coroner shall | 8 | | determine, and may be in any form which the
coroner shall | 9 | | determine and may incorporate any reasonable form of request
| 10 | | for acknowledgement which the coroner deems practical and | 11 | | provides a
reliable proof of service. The summons may be served | 12 | | by first class mail.
From the 8 persons so summoned, the | 13 | | coroner shall select 6 to serve as the
jury for the inquest. | 14 | | Inquests may be continued from time
to time, as the coroner may | 15 | | deem necessary. The 6 jurors selected in
a given case may view | 16 | | the body of the deceased.
If at any continuation of an inquest | 17 | | one or more of the original jurors
shall be unable to continue | 18 | | to serve, the coroner shall fill the vacancy or
vacancies. A | 19 | | juror serving pursuant to this paragraph shall receive
| 20 | | compensation from the county at the same rate as the rate of | 21 | | compensation
that is paid to petit or grand jurors in the | 22 | | county. The coroner shall
furnish to each juror without fee at | 23 | | the time of his discharge a
certificate of the number of days | 24 | | in attendance at an inquest, and, upon
being presented with | 25 | | such certificate, the county treasurer shall pay to
the juror | 26 | | the sum provided for his services.
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| 1 | | In counties which have a jury commission, in cases of | 2 | | apparent suicide or
homicide or of accidental death, the | 3 | | coroner may conduct an inquest. The jury commission shall | 4 | | provide
at least 8 jurors to the coroner, from whom the coroner | 5 | | shall select any 6
to serve as the jury for the inquest. | 6 | | Inquests may be continued from time
to time as the coroner may | 7 | | deem necessary. The 6 jurors originally chosen
in a given case | 8 | | may view the body of the deceased. If at any continuation
of an | 9 | | inquest one or more of the 6 jurors originally chosen shall be | 10 | | unable
to continue to serve, the coroner shall fill the vacancy | 11 | | or vacancies. At
the coroner's discretion, additional jurors to | 12 | | fill such vacancies shall be
supplied by the jury commission. A | 13 | | juror serving pursuant to this
paragraph in such county shall | 14 | | receive compensation from the county at the
same rate as the | 15 | | rate of compensation that is paid to petit or grand jurors
in | 16 | | the county.
| 17 | | In every case in which a fire is determined to be
a
| 18 | | contributing factor in a death, the coroner shall report the | 19 | | death to the
Office of the State Fire Marshal. The coroner | 20 | | shall provide a copy of the death certificate (i) within 30 | 21 | | days after filing the permanent death certificate and (ii) in a | 22 | | manner that is agreed upon by the coroner and the State Fire | 23 | | Marshal. | 24 | | In addition, in every case in which domestic violence is | 25 | | determined to be
a
contributing factor in a death, the coroner | 26 | | shall report the death to the
Department of State Police.
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| 1 | | All deaths in State institutions and all deaths of wards of | 2 | | the State in
private care facilities or in programs funded by | 3 | | the Department of Human
Services under its powers relating to | 4 | | mental health and developmental
disabilities or alcoholism and | 5 | | substance
abuse or funded by the Department of Children and | 6 | | Family Services shall
be reported to the coroner of the county | 7 | | in which the facility is
located. If the coroner has reason to | 8 | | believe that an investigation is
needed to determine whether | 9 | | the death was caused by maltreatment or
negligent care of the | 10 | | ward of the State, the coroner may conduct a
preliminary | 11 | | investigation of the circumstances of such death as in cases of
| 12 | | death under circumstances set forth in paragraphs (a) through | 13 | | (e) of this
Section.
| 14 | | (Source: P.A. 95-484, eff. 6-1-08; 96-1059, eff. 7-14-10.)
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