State of Illinois
90th General Assembly
Legislation

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90_SB1489

      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 and the  Code  of
      Criminal   Procedure  of  1963.   Removes  a  provision  that
      provides that  the  disciplinary  action  provisions  of  the
      Medical Practice Act do not apply to persons who carry out or
      assist  in  the implementation of a court order effecting the
      execution of a death sentence.  Provides that the  Department
      of Corrections shall establish procedures for an execution by
      rule  (instead  of  a defendant being executed until death is
      pronounced by a  licensed  physician  according  to  accepted
      standards of medical practice).  Provides that the Department
      of  Corrections  shall  not  request,  require,  or allow any
      licensed health  care  practitioners  to  participate  in  an
      execution.   Provides  that in confidential investigations by
      the  Department  of  Professional  Regulation,  the   license
      numbers   of   health  care  practitioners  participating  or
      performing ancillary  functions  in  an  execution  shall  be
      disclosed  by the Department of Corrections to the Department
      of Professional Regulation and  shall  be  forwarded  by  the
      Department  of  Professional  Regulation  to  the appropriate
      disciplinary boards.  Removes a provision that provides  that
      assistance, participation in, or the performance of ancillary
      or other functions for an execution shall not be construed to
      constitute  the  practice of medicine.  Removes the provision
      that allows a pharmacist to dispense drugs to the  Department
      of   Corrections   without  prescription  for  an  execution.
      Effective immediately.
                                                     LRB9011273NTsb
                                               LRB9011273NTsb
 1        AN ACT concerning executions, 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.
 8        (a)  This Act does not apply to the 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-                LRB9011273NTsb
 1        equally  effective  substances sufficient to cause death.
 2        The  Department  of  Corrections  shall   establish   the
 3        procedures  for  an  execution  by  rule  until  death is
 4        pronounced by a licensed physician according to  accepted
 5        standards of medical practice.
 6             (2)  If  the  execution  of the sentence of death as
 7        provided  in   paragraph   (1)   is   held   illegal   or
 8        unconstitutional   by  a  reviewing  court  of  competent
 9        jurisdiction, the sentence of death shall be carried  out
10        by electrocution.
11        (b)  In pronouncing the sentence of death the court shall
12    set the date of the execution which shall be not less than 60
13    nor more than 90 days from the date sentence is pronounced.
14        (c)  A   sentence   of  death  shall  be  executed  at  a
15    Department of Corrections facility.
16        (d)  The warden of the penitentiary shall supervise  such
17    execution,  which  shall  be  conducted  in the presence of 6
18    witnesses who shall certify the execution  of  the  sentence.
19    The  certification shall be filed with the clerk of the court
20    that imposed the sentence.
21        (d-5)  The Department of Corrections shall  not  request,
22    require,  or  allow any licensed health care practitioners in
23    Illinois, including without limitation physicians and  nurses
24    regardless of employment, to participate in any execution.
25        (e)  Except as otherwise provided in this subsection (e),
26    the   identity   of   executioners   and  other  persons  who
27    participate or perform ancillary functions  in  an  execution
28    and  information  contained  in  records  that would identify
29    those persons shall remain confidential, shall not be subject
30    to disclosure, and shall not be admissible as evidence or  be
31    discoverable in any action of any kind in any court or before
32    any  tribunal,  board, agency, or person. In order to protect
33    the confidentiality of persons participating in an execution,
34    the Director of Corrections may direct  that  the  Department
                            -3-                LRB9011273NTsb
 1    make  payments  in  cash  for such services.  In confidential
 2    investigations by the Department of Professional  Regulation,
 3    the    license   numbers   of   health   care   practitioners
 4    participating  or  performing  ancillary  functions   in   an
 5    execution shall be disclosed by the Department of Corrections
 6    to  the  Department  of  Professional Regulation and shall be
 7    forwarded by the Department of Professional Regulation to the
 8    appropriate disciplinary boards.
 9        (f)  The amendatory changes to this Section made by  this
10    amendatory  Act  of  1991 are severable under Section 1.31 of
11    the Statute on Statutes.
12        (g)  (Blank). Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
13    assistance, participation in, or the performance of ancillary
14    or other functions pursuant to this  Section,  including  but
15    not  limited to the administration of the lethal substance or
16    substances required by this Section, shall not  be  construed
17    to constitute the practice of medicine.
18        (h)  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision of law, a any
19    pharmacist  or  pharmaceutical  supplier  is  authorized   to
20    dispense  drugs  to the Director of Corrections or his or her
21    designee, without prescription, in order  to  carry  out  the
22    provisions of this Section.
23        (i)  The  amendatory changes to this Section made by this
24    amendatory Act of 1998 are severable under  Section  1.31  of
25    the Statute on Statutes.
26    (Source: P.A. 89-8, eff. 3-21-95.)
27        Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect upon
28    becoming law.

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