Bill Text: IL HB4825 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Vital Records Act. Provides that death certificates and medical certifications may be completed and signed by advanced practice registered nurses. Makes other changes. Effective January 1, 2021.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-23 - Rule 19(b) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB4825 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-HB4825-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 HB4825 Introduced , by Rep. Dan Brady SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
410 ILCS 535/18 from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-18
410 ILCS 535/20 from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-20
410 ILCS 535/21 from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-21
Amends the Vital Records Act. Provides that death certificates and medical certifications may be completed and signed by advanced practice registered nurses. Makes other changes. Effective January 1, 2021.
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A BILL FOR
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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 18, 20, and 21 as follows:
(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.

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(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 physician or advanced
practice registered nurse 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 physician or advanced
practice registered nurse or with his or her approval, the
medical certificate may be completed and signed by his or her

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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

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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

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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 physician or advanced

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practice registered nurse 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

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the physician or advanced practice registered nurse 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 physician or advanced
practice registered nurse 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

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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

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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

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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, 2021.