State of Illinois
90th General Assembly
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90_SB0393

      225 ILCS 60/4             from Ch. 111, par. 4400-4
      725 ILCS 5/119-5          from Ch. 38, par. 119-5
          Amends  the  Medical  Practice  Act  of  1987.    Deletes
      language  exempting  persons  who  carry  out executions from
      provisions of the Act regarding disciplinary action.   Amends
      the  provisions  of  the  Code  of Criminal Procedure of 1963
      relating to death sentences  and  executions.  Provides  that
      death  is  pronounced by the local coroner and certified by a
      physician,  instead  of  a   physician   pronouncing   death.
      Provides  that  health care practitioners may not be required
      to participate in an execution.  Eliminates  the  requirement
      that   the   identity   of  executioners  and  others  remain
      confidential.  Eliminates the requirement that assistance  in
      executing a death sentence not be construed to constitute the
      practice  of  medicine.   Provides that only a pharmaceutical
      supplier, rather than a pharmacist or supplier, is authorized
      to dispense drugs without a prescription in order to  execute
      a death sentence.  Effective immediately.
                                                     LRB9000259RCkb
                                               LRB9000259RCkb
 1        AN ACT concerning criminal law, amending named Acts.
 2        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:
 4        Section 5.  The Medical Practice Act of 1987  is  amended
 5    by changing Section 4 as follows:
 6        (225 ILCS 60/4) (from Ch. 111, par. 4400-4)
 7        Sec.  4.  Exemptions. (a)  This Act does not apply to the
 8    following:
 9             (1)  persons lawfully carrying on  their  particular
10        profession   or   business   under   any  valid  existing
11        regulatory Act of this State;
12             (2)  persons rendering gratuitous services in  cases
13        of emergency;
14             (3)  persons  treating  human  ailments by prayer or
15        spiritual means as an exercise or enjoyment of  religious
16        freedom.
17        (b)  (Blank).   Section  22 of this Act does not apply to
18    persons who carry out or assist in the  implementation  of  a
19    court  order effecting the provisions of Section 119-5 of the
20    Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963.
21    (Source: P.A. 89-8, eff. 3-21-95.)
22        Section 10.  The Code of Criminal Procedure  of  1963  is
23    amended by changing Section 119-5 as follows:
24        (725 ILCS 5/119-5) (from Ch. 38, par. 119-5)
25        Sec. 119-5.  Execution of Death Sentence.
26        (a)(1)  A  defendant sentenced to death shall be executed
27        by an intravenous administration of a lethal quantity  of
28        an  ultrashort-acting  barbiturate  in combination with a
29        chemical paralytic agent and potassium chloride or  other
                            -2-                LRB9000259RCkb
 1        equally  effective  substances  sufficient to cause death
 2        until death  is  pronounced  by  the  local  coroner  and
 3        certified  by  a licensed physician according to accepted
 4        standards of medical practice.
 5             (2)  If the execution of the sentence  of  death  as
 6        provided   in   paragraph   (1)   is   held   illegal  or
 7        unconstitutional  by  a  reviewing  court  of   competent
 8        jurisdiction,  the sentence of death shall be carried out
 9        by electrocution.
10        (b)  In pronouncing the sentence of death the court shall
11    set the date of the execution which shall be not less than 60
12    nor more than 90 days from the date sentence is pronounced.
13        (c)  A  sentence  of  death  shall  be  executed   at   a
14    Department of Corrections facility.
15        (d)  The  warden of the penitentiary shall supervise such
16    execution, which shall be conducted  in  the  presence  of  6
17    witnesses  who  shall  certify the execution of the sentence.
18    The certification shall be filed with the clerk of the  court
19    that imposed the sentence.
20        (d-5)  Health  care  practitioners in Illinois, including
21    but not  limited  to  physicians  and  nurses  regardless  of
22    employment,  may  not  be  required  to  participate  in  any
23    execution.
24        (e)  (Blank).  The  identity  of  executioners  and other
25    persons who participate or perform ancillary functions in  an
26    execution  and  information  contained  in records that would
27    identify those persons shall remain confidential,  shall  not
28    be  subject  to  disclosure,  and  shall not be admissible as
29    evidence or be discoverable in any action of any kind in  any
30    court  or  before  any tribunal, board, agency, or person. In
31    order to protect the confidentiality of persons participating
32    in an execution, the Director of Corrections may direct  that
33    the Department make payments in cash for such services.
34        (f)  The  amendatory changes to this Section made by this
                            -3-                LRB9000259RCkb
 1    amendatory Act of 1991 are severable under  Section  1.31  of
 2    the Statute on Statutes.
 3        (g)  (Blank). Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
 4    assistance, participation in, or the performance of ancillary
 5    or  other  functions  pursuant to this Section, including but
 6    not limited to the administration of the lethal substance  or
 7    substances  required  by this Section, shall not be construed
 8    to constitute the practice of medicine.
 9        (h)  Notwithstanding any  other  provision  of  law,  any
10    pharmacist   or  pharmaceutical  supplier  is  authorized  to
11    dispense drugs to the Director of Corrections or his  or  her
12    designee,  without  prescription,  in  order to carry out the
13    provisions of this Section.
14        (i)  The amendatory changes to this Section made by  this
15    amendatory  Act  of  1997 are severable under Section 1.31 of
16    the Statute on Statutes.
17    (Source: P.A. 89-8, eff. 3-21-95.)
18        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
19    becoming law.

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