Bill Text: IL HB2397 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Provides that the Act may be referred to as the Eddie Thomas Act. Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that no later than December 1 of each year, the Department of Corrections shall prepare a report to be published on its website that contains, at a minimum, the following information about hospice and palliative care in its institutions and facilities during the prior fiscal year: (1) demographic data of committed persons who received hospice and palliative care; (2) data on the number of committed persons in the Department's hospice and palliative care programs; (3) data on the timing of hospice and palliative care programming; (4) the number of committed persons in the custody of the Department who died; (5) policies and administrative directives of each Department institution and facility regarding the institution of hospice and palliative care; (6) the staff available for hospice and palliative care; and (7) the cost of the Department's hospice and palliative care programs. Provides that all such data shall be anonymized to protect the privacy of the committed persons involved in the hospice and palliative care programs.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 21)

Status: (Passed) 2025-08-15 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 104-0220 [HB2397 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-HB2397-Enrolled.html

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AN ACT concerning criminal law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. This Act may be referred to as the Eddie Thomas
Act.
Section 5. The Unified Code of Corrections is amended by
adding Section 3-2-15 as follows:
(730 ILCS 5/3-2-15 new)
Sec. 3-2-15. Department of Corrections; report of hospice
and palliative care for committed persons.
(a) Purposes. The General Assembly finds that:
(1) The United States prison population is aging
rapidly.
(2) Illinois' prison population is similarly aging
rapidly, with over 1,000 prisoners aged 65 or older.
(3) As a result of the aging prison population more
committed persons are in need of end-of-life care and
support services.
(4) The Department of Corrections has a policy on
end-of-life care, which provides, in part, that the goals
are: "safe, dignified and comfortable dying,
self-determined life closure and effective grieving".

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(5) The Department of Corrections does not have a
formal hospice program; rather, end-of-life care is
provided on a prison-by-prison basis which results in
inconsistent care for committed persons who have been
diagnosed with terminal illnesses or who are expected to
reach the end of their life.
(6) At some prisons, end-of-life care is at times
provided, in part, by other committed persons assigned as
aides.
(7) The Department of Corrections does not have
centralized or consistent data on the number of committed
persons receiving end-of-life care.
(8) The Department of Corrections does not have
centralized or consistent data on the number of prisoner
aides who are assigned to assist in providing end-of-life
care.
(9) The Department of Corrections does not currently
have a system for tracking patient outcomes or grievances
related to the quality of end-of-life care provided.
(10) Data on the end-of-life care provided in the
Department of Corrections is needed to give the General
Assembly and the public an understanding of the
Department's approach to end-of-life care for terminally
ill committed persons in its custody.
(11) Eddie Thomas was a committed person of the
Department of Corrections who died alone in the back of a

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prison infirmary without any end-of-life care just 5
months after being diagnosed with late stage lung cancer.
(b) Definitions. In this Section:
"Advance directive for health care" means written
instructions of the patient's wishes as to how future care
should be delivered or declined, including decisions that must
be made when the patient is not capable of expressing those
wishes. Advance directives may also appoint an agent with
power of attorney for health care.
"Department" means the Department of Corrections.
"Hospice and palliative care" means physical, social,
emotional, and spiritual support care for committed persons
who have been diagnosed with a known terminal condition with a
life expectancy of 6 months or less. This includes, but is not
limited to, assistance with activities of daily living and
comfort care.
"Peer support" refers to assistance and companionship
provided by committed persons who have been trained to offer
emotional, social, and practical support to fellow committed
persons receiving hospice and palliative care.
"Terminal condition" means an incurable or irreversible
condition that, without the administration of life-sustaining
procedures, will, according to reasonable medical judgment,
result in death within a relatively short period of time; or a
state of permanent unconsciousness from which, to a reasonable
degree of medical certainty, there can be no recovery.

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(c) Reporting requirement. No later than December 1 of
each year, the Department shall prepare a report to be
published on its website that contains, at a minimum, the
following information about hospice and palliative care in its
institutions and facilities during the prior fiscal year:
(1) demographic data of committed persons who received
hospice and palliative care, separated by the following
categories:
(A) race or ethnicity;
(B) gender;
(C) age;
(D) primary cause of terminal illness or
condition; and
(E) length of incarceration prior to receiving
end-of-life care;
(2) data on the number of committed persons in the
Department's hospice and palliative care programs,
including the following:
(A) the total number of committed persons enrolled
in the Department's hospice and palliative care
programs;
(B) the total number of admissions into and
discharges from the Department's hospice and
palliative care programs, including the number of
committed persons who died while in the program and
the number of committed persons who were removed from

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the program for other reasons; and
(C) the number of committed persons denied entry
into the Department's hospice and palliative care
programs, including any reasons that they were denied;
(3) data on the timing of hospice and palliative care
programming, including the following:
(A) the average length of time that committed
persons receive hospice and palliative care; and
(B) the average length of time between the
diagnosis of a terminal condition and admission into a
hospice and palliative care program;
(4) the number of committed persons in the custody of
the Department who died, separated by the following
categories:
(A) committed persons who died while receiving
hospice and palliative care; and
(B) committed persons who died without receiving
hospice and palliative care, and the number of such
committed persons who died as a result of natural,
accidental, suicidal, or homicidal causes;
(5) policies and administrative directives of each
Department institution and facility regarding the
institution of hospice and palliative care. This data
shall include the following information:
(A) the name of each institution and facility that
offers hospice and palliative care services;

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(B) criteria to be eligible for hospice and
palliative care services, both Department-wide and at
each institution and facility;
(C) a list of the types of hospice and palliative
care services that are offered in each institution and
facility. This list shall include, but is not limited
to, pain management, psychological counseling, peer
support, and chaplain services. If available, this
list shall also include supportive services offered to
family members of committed persons;
(D) the accreditation status of the Department's
hospice and palliative care programs, if available;
(E) the procedures for committed persons in the
Department's custody to request an advance directive
for health care in each institution and facility;
(F) the procedures for health care or legal staff
to assist committed persons in completing advance
directive instruments; and
(G) the procedures for health care providers to
implement advance directives for health care in each
institution and facility;
(6) the staff available for hospice and palliative
care. This data shall include the following:
(A) the number of specialized staff at each
institution and facility, including palliative care
physicians, nurses, and social workers;

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(B) the number of volunteers dedicated to hospice
and palliative care, separated by the following
categories:
(i) volunteers who are committed persons of
the Department;
(ii) volunteers who are not committed persons
of the Department; and
(iii) the ratio between the number of staff
and the number of patients in the Department's
hospice and palliative care programs; and
(7) the cost of the Department's hospice and
palliative care programs, including the following:
(A) the annual costs associated with hospice and
palliative care across the Department;
(B) the sources of funding for hospice and
palliative care services; and
(C) the annual costs associated with hospice and
palliative care at each Department institution and
facility.
All such data shall be anonymized to protect the privacy
of the committed persons involved in the hospice and
palliative care programs.