Bill Text: IL HB4331 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Amends the Counties Code. Provides that in every case in which an opioid overdose is determined to be a contributing factor in a death, the coroner shall report the death and the age, gender, race, and county of residence, if known, of the decedent to the Department of Public Health. Amends the University of Illinois Hospital Act and the Hospital Licensing Act. Requires every hospital to report the age, gender, race, and county of residence, if known, of each patient diagnosed as having an opioid overdose to the Department within 48 hours of the diagnosis. Amends the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. Requires the Department to adopt rules to implement the reporting requirements. Requires the Department to annually report to the General Assembly the data collected.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Failed) 2019-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB4331 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-HB4331-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning regulation.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Department of Public Health Powers and
Duties Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is
amended by adding Section 2310-316 as follows:
(20 ILCS 2310/2310-316 new)
Sec. 2310-316. Opioid overdose reporting.
(a) The Department shall adopt rules to implement the
requirements of this amendatory Act of the 100th General
Assembly.
(b) The Department shall annually report to the General
Assembly the data collected under this Section, Section 8.5 of
the University of Illinois Hospital Act, and Section 6.09c of
the Hospital Licensing Act and the data reported to the
Department concerning deaths in which an opioid overdose is
determined to be a contributing factor, as required by Section
3-3013 of the Counties Code. The report shall specify the data
for each county. The report to the General Assembly shall be
filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the
Secretary of the Senate in electronic form only, in the manner
that the Clerk and the Secretary shall direct. The report shall
be provided electronically to any member of the General

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Assembly upon request.
Section 10. The Counties Code is amended by changing
Section 3-3013 as follows:
(55 ILCS 5/3-3013) (from Ch. 34, par. 3-3013)
Sec. 3-3013. Preliminary investigations; blood and urine
analysis; summoning jury; reports. Every coroner, whenever, as
soon as he knows or is informed that the dead body of any
person is found, or lying within his county, whose death is
suspected of being:
(a) A sudden or violent death, whether apparently
suicidal, homicidal or accidental, including but not
limited to deaths apparently caused or contributed to by
thermal, traumatic, chemical, electrical or radiational
injury, or a complication of any of them, or by drowning or
suffocation, or as a result of domestic violence as defined
in the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986;
(b) A maternal or fetal death due to abortion, or any
death due to a sex crime or a crime against nature;
(c) A death where the circumstances are suspicious,
obscure, mysterious or otherwise unexplained or where, in
the written opinion of the attending physician, the cause
of death is not determined;
(d) A death where addiction to alcohol or to any drug
may have been a contributory cause; or

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(e) A death where the decedent was not attended by a
licensed physician;
shall go to the place where the dead body is, and take charge
of the same and shall make a preliminary investigation into the
circumstances of the death. In the case of death without
attendance by a licensed physician the body may be moved with
the coroner's consent from the place of death to a mortuary in
the same county. Coroners in their discretion shall notify such
physician as is designated in accordance with Section 3-3014 to
attempt to ascertain the cause of death, either by autopsy or
otherwise.
In cases of accidental death involving a motor vehicle in
which the decedent was (1) the operator or a suspected operator
of a motor vehicle, or (2) a pedestrian 16 years of age or
older, the coroner shall require that a blood specimen of at
least 30 cc., and if medically possible a urine specimen of at
least 30 cc. or as much as possible up to 30 cc., be withdrawn
from the body of the decedent in a timely fashion after the
accident causing his death, by such physician as has been
designated in accordance with Section 3-3014, or by the coroner
or deputy coroner or a qualified person designated by such
physician, coroner, or deputy coroner. If the county does not
maintain laboratory facilities for making such analysis, the
blood and urine so drawn shall be sent to the Department of
State Police or any other accredited or State-certified
laboratory for analysis of the alcohol, carbon monoxide, and

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dangerous or narcotic drug content of such blood and urine
specimens. Each specimen submitted shall be accompanied by
pertinent information concerning the decedent upon a form
prescribed by such laboratory. Any person drawing blood and
urine and any person making any examination of the blood and
urine under the terms of this Division shall be immune from all
liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred
or imposed.
In all other cases coming within the jurisdiction of the
coroner and referred to in subparagraphs (a) through (e) above,
blood, and whenever possible, urine samples shall be analyzed
for the presence of alcohol and other drugs. When the coroner
suspects that drugs may have been involved in the death, either
directly or indirectly, a toxicological examination shall be
performed which may include analyses of blood, urine, bile,
gastric contents and other tissues. When the coroner suspects a
death is due to toxic substances, other than drugs, the coroner
shall consult with the toxicologist prior to collection of
samples. Information submitted to the toxicologist shall
include information as to height, weight, age, sex and race of
the decedent as well as medical history, medications used by
and the manner of death of decedent.
When the coroner or medical examiner finds that the cause
of death is due to homicidal means, the coroner or medical
examiner shall cause blood and buccal specimens (tissue may be
submitted if no uncontaminated blood or buccal specimen can be

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obtained), whenever possible, to be withdrawn from the body of
the decedent in a timely fashion. For proper preservation of
the specimens, collected blood and buccal specimens shall be
dried and tissue specimens shall be frozen if available
equipment exists. As soon as possible, but no later than 30
days after the collection of the specimens, the coroner or
medical examiner shall release those specimens to the police
agency responsible for investigating the death. As soon as
possible, but no later than 30 days after the receipt from the
coroner or medical examiner, the police agency shall submit the
specimens using the agency case number to a National DNA Index
System (NDIS) participating laboratory within this State, such
as the Illinois Department of State Police, Division of
Forensic Services, for analysis and categorizing into genetic
marker groupings. The results of the analysis and categorizing
into genetic marker groupings shall be provided to the Illinois
Department of State Police and shall be maintained by the
Illinois Department of State Police in the State central
repository in the same manner, and subject to the same
conditions, as provided in Section 5-4-3 of the Unified Code of
Corrections. The requirements of this paragraph are in addition
to any other findings, specimens, or information that the
coroner or medical examiner is required to provide during the
conduct of a criminal investigation.
In all counties, in cases of apparent suicide, homicide, or
accidental death or in other cases, within the discretion of

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the coroner, the coroner may summon 8 persons of lawful age
from those persons drawn for petit jurors in the county. The
summons shall command these persons to present themselves
personally at such a place and time as the coroner shall
determine, and may be in any form which the coroner shall
determine and may incorporate any reasonable form of request
for acknowledgement which the coroner deems practical and
provides a reliable proof of service. The summons may be served
by first class mail. From the 8 persons so summoned, the
coroner shall select 6 to serve as the jury for the inquest.
Inquests may be continued from time to time, as the coroner may
deem necessary. The 6 jurors selected in a given case may view
the body of the deceased. If at any continuation of an inquest
one or more of the original jurors shall be unable to continue
to serve, the coroner shall fill the vacancy or vacancies. A
juror serving pursuant to this paragraph shall receive
compensation from the county at the same rate as the rate of
compensation that is paid to petit or grand jurors in the
county. The coroner shall furnish to each juror without fee at
the time of his discharge a certificate of the number of days
in attendance at an inquest, and, upon being presented with
such certificate, the county treasurer shall pay to the juror
the sum provided for his services.
In counties which have a jury commission, in cases of
apparent suicide or homicide or of accidental death, the
coroner may conduct an inquest. The jury commission shall

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provide at least 8 jurors to the coroner, from whom the coroner
shall select any 6 to serve as the jury for the inquest.
Inquests may be continued from time to time as the coroner may
deem necessary. The 6 jurors originally chosen in a given case
may view the body of the deceased. If at any continuation of an
inquest one or more of the 6 jurors originally chosen shall be
unable to continue to serve, the coroner shall fill the vacancy
or vacancies. At the coroner's discretion, additional jurors to
fill such vacancies shall be supplied by the jury commission. A
juror serving pursuant to this paragraph in such county shall
receive compensation from the county at the same rate as the
rate of compensation that is paid to petit or grand jurors in
the county.
In every case in which a fire is determined to be a
contributing factor in a death, the coroner shall report the
death to the Office of the State Fire Marshal. The coroner
shall provide a copy of the death certificate (i) within 30
days after filing the permanent death certificate and (ii) in a
manner that is agreed upon by the coroner and the State Fire
Marshal.
In every case in which a drug overdose is determined to be
the cause or a contributing factor in the death, the coroner or
medical examiner shall report the death to the Department of
Public Health. The Department of Public Health shall adopt
rules regarding specific information that must be reported in
the event of such a death. If possible, the coroner shall

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report the cause of the overdose. As used in this Section,
"overdose" has the same meaning as it does in Section 414 of
the Illinois Controlled Substances Act. The Department of
Public Health shall issue a semiannual report to the General
Assembly summarizing the reports received. The Department
shall also provide on its website a monthly report of overdose
death figures organized by location, age, and any other
factors, the Department deems appropriate.
In addition, in every case in which domestic violence is
determined to be a contributing factor in a death, the coroner
shall report the death to the Department of State Police.
In addition, in every case in which an opioid overdose is
determined to be a contributing factor in a death, the coroner
shall report the death and the age, gender, race, and county of
residence, if known, of the decedent to the Department of
Public Health.
All deaths in State institutions and all deaths of wards of
the State or youth in care as defined in Section 4d of the
Children and Family Services Act in private care facilities or
in programs funded by the Department of Human Services under
its powers relating to mental health and developmental
disabilities or alcoholism and substance abuse or funded by the
Department of Children and Family Services shall be reported to
the coroner of the county in which the facility is located. If
the coroner has reason to believe that an investigation is
needed to determine whether the death was caused by

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maltreatment or negligent care of the ward of the State or
youth in care as defined in Section 4d of the Children and
Family Services Act, the coroner may conduct a preliminary
investigation of the circumstances of such death as in cases of
death under circumstances set forth in paragraphs (a) through
(e) of this Section.
(Source: P.A. 99-354, eff. 1-1-16; 99-480, eff. 9-9-15; 99-642,
eff. 7-28-16; 100-159, eff. 8-18-17.)