(410 ILCS 535/21) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-21)
Sec. 21.
(1) The funeral director or person acting as such who first
assumes custody of a dead body or fetus shall make a written report to the
registrar of the district in which death occurred or in which the body or
fetus was found within 24 hours after taking custody of the body or fetus
on a form prescribed and furnished by the State Registrar and in accordance
with the rules promulgated by the State Registrar. Except as specified in
paragraph (2) of this Section, the written report shall serve as a permit
to transport, bury, or entomb the body or fetus within this State, provided
that the funeral director or person acting as such shall certify that the certifying health care professional who, within 12 months prior to the date of the patient's death, was treating or managing treatment of the patient's illness or condition
which resulted in death has been contacted and has affirmatively stated
that he or she will sign the medical certificate of death or the fetal death
certificate. If a funeral director
fails to file written
reports under this Section in a timely manner, the local registrar
may suspend the funeral director's privilege of filing written
reports by mail.
In a county with a population greater than 3,000,000, if a funeral director
or person acting as such inters or entombs a dead body
without having previously certified that the certifying health care professional who, within 12 months prior to the date of the patient's death, was treating or managing treatment of the
patient's illness or condition that resulted in death has been
contacted and has affirmatively stated that he or she will sign the medical
certificate of death,
then that funeral
director or person acting as such
is responsible for payment of the specific costs incurred by the county
medical examiner in
disinterring and reinterring or reentombing
the dead body.
(2) The written report as specified in paragraph (1) of this Section shall
not serve as a permit to:
(a) Remove body or fetus from this State;
(b) Cremate the body or fetus; or
(c) Make disposal of any body or fetus in any manner |
(3) In accordance with the provisions of paragraph (2) of this Section
the funeral director or person acting as such who first assumes custody
of a dead body or fetus shall obtain a permit for disposition of such
dead human body prior to final disposition or removal from the State of the
body or fetus. Such permit shall be issued by the registrar of the
district where death occurred or the body or fetus was found. No such
permit shall be issued until a properly completed certificate of death has
been filed with the registrar. The registrar shall insure the issuance of
a permit for disposition within an expedited period of time to accommodate
Sunday or holiday burials of decedents whose time of death and religious
tenets or beliefs necessitate Sunday or holiday burials.
(4) A permit which accompanies a dead body or fetus brought into this
State shall be authority for final disposition of the body or fetus in this
State, except in municipalities where local ordinance requires the issuance
of a local permit prior to disposition.
(5) A permit for disposition of a dead human body shall be required
prior to disinterment of a dead body or fetus, and when the disinterred
body is to be shipped by a common carrier. Such permit shall be issued to
a licensed funeral director or person acting as such, upon proper
application, by the local registrar of the district in which disinterment
is to be made. In the case of disinterment, proper application shall
include a statement providing the name and address of any surviving spouse
of the deceased, or, if none, any surviving children of the deceased, or if
no surviving spouse or children, a parent, brother, or sister of the
deceased. The
application shall indicate whether the applicant is one of these parties
and, if so, whether the applicant is a surviving spouse or a surviving
child. Prior to the issuance of a permit for disinterment, the
local registrar shall, by certified mail, notify the surviving spouse,
unless he or she is the applicant, or if there is no surviving spouse, all
surviving children except for the applicant, of the application for the
permit. The person or persons notified shall have 30 days from the mailing
of the notice to object by obtaining an injunction enjoining the issuance
of the permit. After the 30-day period has expired, the local registrar
shall issue the permit unless he or she has been enjoined from doing so or
there are other statutory grounds for refusal. The notice to the spouse or
surviving children shall inform the person or persons being notified of the
right to seek an injunction within 30 days. Notwithstanding any other
provision of this subsection (5), a court may order issuance of a permit
for disinterment without notice or prior to the expiration of the 30-day
period where the petition is made by an agency of any governmental unit and
good cause is shown for disinterment without notice or for the early order.
Nothing in this subsection (5) limits the authority of the City of Chicago to
acquire property or otherwise exercise its powers under the O'Hare
Modernization Act or requires that City,
or
any person acting on behalf of that City, to obtain a permit under this
subsection (5) when exercising powers under the O'Hare Modernization Act. The Illinois Department of Transportation, and any person acting on its behalf under a public-private agreement entered into in accordance with the Public-Private Agreements for the South Suburban Airport Act, is exempt from this subsection (5), provided that the Illinois Department of Transportation, or any such person, takes reasonable steps to comply with the provisions of this subsection (5) so long as compliance does not interfere with the design, development, operation, or maintenance of the South Suburban Airport or the exercise of their powers under the Public-Private Agreements for the South Suburban Airport Act.
(Source: P.A. 102-257, eff. 1-1-22.)
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