Public Act 102-0257
 
HB0214 EnrolledLRB102 04082 CPF 14098 b

    AN ACT concerning health.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Vital Records Act is amended by changing
Sections 1, 18, 20, and 21 as follows:
 
    (410 ILCS 535/1)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-1)
    Sec. 1. As used in this Act, unless the context otherwise
requires:
    (1) "Vital records" means records of births, deaths, fetal
deaths, marriages, dissolution of marriages, and data related
thereto.
    (2) "System of vital records" includes the registration,
collection, preservation, amendment, and certification of
vital records, and activities related thereto.
    (3) "Filing" means the presentation of a certificate,
report, or other record provided for in this Act, of a birth,
death, fetal death, adoption, marriage, or dissolution of
marriage, for registration by the Office of Vital Records.
    (4) "Registration" means the acceptance by the Office of
Vital Records and the incorporation in its official records of
certificates, reports, or other records provided for in this
Act, of births, deaths, fetal deaths, adoptions, marriages, or
dissolution of marriages.
    (5) "Live birth" means the complete expulsion or
extraction from its mother of a product of human conception,
irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, which after such
separation breathes or shows any other evidence of life such
as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or
definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the
umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached.
    (6) "Fetal death" means death prior to the complete
expulsion or extraction from the uterus of a product of human
conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, and
which is not due to an abortion as defined in Section 1-10 of
the Reproductive Health Act. The death is indicated by the
fact that after such separation the fetus does not breathe or
show any other evidence of life such as beating of the heart,
pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of
voluntary muscles.
    (7) "Dead body" means a lifeless human body or parts of
such body or bones thereof from the state of which it may
reasonably be concluded that death has occurred.
    (8) "Final disposition" means the burial, cremation, or
other disposition of a dead human body or fetus or parts
thereof.
    (9) "Physician" means a person licensed to practice
medicine in Illinois or any other state.
    (10) "Institution" means any establishment, public or
private, which provides in-patient medical, surgical, or
diagnostic care or treatment, or nursing, custodial, or
domiciliary care to 2 or more unrelated individuals, or to
which persons are committed by law.
    (11) "Department" means the Department of Public Health of
the State of Illinois.
    (12) "Director" means the Director of the Illinois
Department of Public Health.
    (13) "Licensed health care professional" means a person
licensed to practice as a physician, advanced practice
registered nurse, or physician assistant in Illinois or any
other state.
    (14) "Licensed mental health professional" means a person
who is licensed or registered to provide mental health
services by the Department of Financial and Professional
Regulation or a board of registration duly authorized to
register or grant licenses to persons engaged in the practice
of providing mental health services in Illinois or any other
state.
    (15) "Intersex condition" means a condition in which a
person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy or
chromosome pattern that does not fit typical definitions of
male or female.
    (16) "Homeless person" means an individual who meets the
definition of "homeless" under Section 103 of the federal
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302) or an
individual residing in any of the living situations described
in 42 U.S.C. 11434a(2).
    (17) "Advanced practice registered nurse" means: (i) an
advanced practice registered nurse with full practice
authority; or (ii) an advanced practice registered nurse with
a collaborative agreement with a physician who has delegated
the completion of death certificates.
    (18) "Certifying health care professional" means a
physician or advanced practice registered nurse.
(Source: P.A. 100-360, eff. 1-1-18; 100-506, eff. 1-1-18;
100-863, eff. 8-14-18; 101-13, eff. 6-12-19.)
 
    (410 ILCS 535/18)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-18)
    Sec. 18. (1) Each death which occurs in this State shall be
registered by filing a death certificate with the local
registrar of the district in which the death occurred or the
body was found, within 7 days after such death (within 5 days
if the death occurs prior to January 1, 1989) and prior to
cremation or removal of the body from the State, except when
death is subject to investigation by the coroner or medical
examiner.
        (a) For the purposes of this Section, if the place of
    death is unknown, a death certificate shall be filed in
    the registration district in which a dead body is found,
    which shall be considered the place of death.
        (b) When a death occurs on a moving conveyance, the
    place where the body is first removed from the conveyance
    shall be considered the place of death and a death
    certificate shall be filed in the registration district in
    which such place is located.
        (c) The funeral director who first assumes custody of
    a dead body shall be responsible for filing a completed
    death certificate. He or she shall obtain the personal
    data from the next of kin or the best qualified person or
    source available; he or she shall enter on the certificate
    the name, relationship, and address of the his informant;
    he or she shall enter the date, place, and method of final
    disposition; he or she shall affix his or her own
    signature and enter his or her address; and shall present
    the certificate to the person responsible for completing
    the medical certification of cause of death. The person
    responsible for completing the medical certification of
    cause of death must note the presence of
    methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, clostridium
    difficile, or vancomycin-resistant enterococci if it is a
    contributing factor to or the cause of death. Additional
    multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) may be added to
    this list by the Department by rule.
    (2) The medical certification shall be completed and
signed within 48 hours after death by the certifying health
care professional who, within 12 months prior to the date of
the patient's death, was treating or managing treatment
physician in charge of the patient's care for the illness or
condition which resulted in death, except when death is
subject to the coroner's or medical examiner's investigation.
In the absence of the certifying health care professional
physician or with his or her approval, the medical certificate
may be completed and signed by his or her associate physician
or advanced practice registered nurse, the chief medical
officer of the institution in which death occurred, or by the
physician who performed an autopsy upon the decedent.
    (3) When a death occurs without medical attendance, or
when it is otherwise subject to the coroner's or medical
examiner's investigation, the coroner or medical examiner
shall be responsible for the completion of a coroner's or
medical examiner's certificate of death and shall sign the
medical certification within 48 hours after death, except as
provided by regulation in special problem cases. If the
decedent was under the age of 18 years at the time of his or
her death, and the death was due to injuries suffered as a
result of a motor vehicle backing over a child, or if the death
occurred due to the power window of a motor vehicle, the
coroner or medical examiner must send a copy of the medical
certification, with information documenting that the death was
due to a vehicle backing over the child or that the death was
caused by a power window of a vehicle, to the Department of
Children and Family Services. The Department of Children and
Family Services shall (i) collect this information for use by
Child Death Review Teams and (ii) compile and maintain this
information as part of its Annual Child Death Review Team
Report to the General Assembly.
    (3.5) The medical certification of cause of death shall
expressly provide an opportunity for the person completing the
certification to indicate that the death was caused in whole
or in part by a dementia-related disease, Parkinson's Disease,
or Parkinson-Dementia Complex.
    (4) When the deceased was a veteran of any war of the
United States, the funeral director shall prepare a
"Certificate of Burial of U. S. War Veteran", as prescribed
and furnished by the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs,
and submit such certificate to the Illinois Department of
Veterans' Affairs monthly.
    (5) When a death is presumed to have occurred in this State
but the body cannot be located, a death certificate may be
prepared by the State Registrar upon receipt of an order of a
court of competent jurisdiction which includes the finding of
facts required to complete the death certificate. Such death
certificate shall be marked "Presumptive" and shall show on
its face the date of the registration and shall identify the
court and the date of the judgment.
(Source: P.A. 96-1000, eff. 7-2-10; 97-376, eff. 8-15-11.)
 
    (410 ILCS 535/20)  (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-20)
    Sec. 20. Fetal death; place of registration.
    (1) Each fetal death which occurs in this State after a
gestation period of 20 completed weeks (and when the mother
elects in writing to arrange for the burial or cremation of the
fetus under Section 11.4 of the Hospital Licensing Act) or
more shall be registered with the local or subregistrar of the
district in which the delivery occurred within 7 days after
the delivery and before removal of the fetus from the State,
except as provided by regulation in special problem cases.
        (a) For the purposes of this Section, if the place of
    fetal death is unknown, a fetal death certificate shall be
    filed in the registration district in which a dead fetus
    is found, which shall be considered the place of fetal
    death.
        (b) When a fetal death occurs on a moving conveyance,
    the city, village, township, or road district in which the
    fetus is first removed from the conveyance shall be
    considered the place of delivery and a fetal death
    certificate shall be filed in the registration district in
    which the place is located.
        (c) The funeral director or person acting as such who
    first assumes custody of a fetus shall file the
    certificate. The personal data shall be obtained from the
    best qualified person or source available. The name,
    relationship, and address of the informant shall be
    entered on the certificate. The date, place, and method of
    final disposition of the fetus shall be recorded over the
    personal signature and address of the funeral director
    responsible for the disposition. The certificate shall be
    presented to the person responsible for completing the
    medical certification of the cause of death.
    (2) The medical certification shall be completed and
signed within 24 hours after delivery by the certifying health
care professional physician in attendance at or after
delivery, except when investigation is required under Division
3-3 of Article 3 of the Counties Code and except as provided by
regulation in special problem cases.
    (3) When a fetal death occurs without medical attendance
upon the mother at or after the delivery, or when
investigation is required under Division 3-3 of Article 3 of
the Counties Code, the coroner shall be responsible for the
completion of the fetal death certificate and shall sign the
medical certification within 24 hours after the delivery or
the finding of the fetus, except as provided by regulation in
special problem cases.
(Source: P.A. 92-348, eff. 1-1-02.)
 
    (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 physician in charge of the patient's care
for the 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 physician
in charge of the patient's care for the 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
    when death is subject to the coroner's or medical
    examiner's investigation.
    (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. 98-109, eff. 7-25-13.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
1, 2022.

Effective Date: 1/1/2022