Bill Text: IL HB5528 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends the Counties Code. Provides that in every case in which a coroner determines that a drug overdose is a contributing factor in death, the coroner shall report the death to the Department of Public Health.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 18-6)
Status: (Failed) 2014-12-03 - Session Sine Die [HB5528 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2013-HB5528-Introduced.html
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1 | AN ACT concerning local government.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing Section | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | 3-3013 as follows:
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6 | (55 ILCS 5/3-3013) (from Ch. 34, par. 3-3013)
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7 | Sec. 3-3013. Preliminary investigations; blood and urine | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | analysis;
summoning jury; reports. Every coroner, whenever, as | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | soon as he knows or is
informed that the dead body of any | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | person is found, or lying within his
county, whose death is | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | suspected of being:
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12 | (a) A sudden or violent death, whether apparently | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | suicidal,
homicidal or accidental, including but not | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | limited to deaths apparently
caused or contributed to by | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | thermal, traumatic, chemical, electrical or
radiational | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | injury, or a complication of any of them, or by drowning or
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17 | suffocation, or as a result of domestic violence as defined | |||||||||||||||||||
18 | in the Illinois
Domestic
Violence Act of 1986;
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19 | (b) A maternal or fetal death due to abortion, or any | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | death due to a
sex crime or a crime against nature;
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21 | (c) A death where the circumstances are suspicious, | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | obscure,
mysterious or otherwise unexplained or where, in | |||||||||||||||||||
23 | the written opinion of
the attending physician, the cause |
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1 | of death is not determined;
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2 | (d) A death where addiction to alcohol or to any drug | ||||||
3 | may have been
a contributory cause; or
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4 | (e) A death where the decedent was not attended by a | ||||||
5 | licensed
physician;
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6 | shall go to the place where the dead body is, and take charge | ||||||
7 | of the
same and shall make a preliminary investigation into the | ||||||
8 | circumstances
of the death. In the case of death without | ||||||
9 | attendance by a licensed
physician the body may be moved with | ||||||
10 | the coroner's consent from the
place of death to a mortuary in | ||||||
11 | the same county. Coroners in their
discretion shall notify such | ||||||
12 | physician as is designated in accordance
with Section 3-3014 to | ||||||
13 | attempt to ascertain the cause of death, either by
autopsy or | ||||||
14 | otherwise.
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15 | In cases of accidental death involving a motor vehicle in | ||||||
16 | which the
decedent was (1) the operator or a suspected operator | ||||||
17 | of a motor
vehicle, or (2) a pedestrian 16 years of age or | ||||||
18 | older, the coroner shall
require that a blood specimen of at | ||||||
19 | least 30 cc., and if medically
possible a urine specimen of at | ||||||
20 | least 30 cc. or as much as possible up
to 30 cc., be withdrawn | ||||||
21 | from the body of the decedent in a timely fashion after
the | ||||||
22 | accident causing his death, by such physician as has been | ||||||
23 | designated
in accordance with Section 3-3014, or by the coroner | ||||||
24 | or deputy coroner or
a qualified person designated by such | ||||||
25 | physician, coroner, or deputy coroner. If the county
does not | ||||||
26 | maintain laboratory facilities for making such analysis, the
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1 | blood and urine so drawn shall be sent to the Department of | ||||||
2 | State Police or any other accredited or State-certified | ||||||
3 | laboratory
for analysis of the alcohol, carbon monoxide, and | ||||||
4 | dangerous or
narcotic drug content of such blood and urine | ||||||
5 | specimens. Each specimen
submitted shall be accompanied by | ||||||
6 | pertinent information concerning the
decedent upon a form | ||||||
7 | prescribed by such laboratory. Any
person drawing blood and | ||||||
8 | urine and any person making any examination of
the blood and | ||||||
9 | urine under the terms of this Division shall be immune from all
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10 | liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred | ||||||
11 | or
imposed.
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12 | In all other cases coming within the jurisdiction of the | ||||||
13 | coroner and
referred to in subparagraphs (a) through (e) above, | ||||||
14 | blood, and whenever
possible, urine samples shall be analyzed | ||||||
15 | for the presence of alcohol
and other drugs. When the coroner | ||||||
16 | suspects that drugs may have been
involved in the death, either | ||||||
17 | directly or indirectly, a toxicological
examination shall be | ||||||
18 | performed which may include analyses of blood, urine,
bile, | ||||||
19 | gastric contents and other tissues. When the coroner suspects
a | ||||||
20 | death is due to toxic substances, other than drugs, the coroner | ||||||
21 | shall
consult with the toxicologist prior to collection of | ||||||
22 | samples. Information
submitted to the toxicologist shall | ||||||
23 | include information as to height,
weight, age, sex and race of | ||||||
24 | the decedent as well as medical history,
medications used by | ||||||
25 | and the manner of death of decedent.
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26 | When the coroner or medical examiner finds that the cause |
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1 | of death is due to homicidal means, the coroner or medical | ||||||
2 | examiner shall cause blood and buccal specimens (tissue may be | ||||||
3 | submitted if no uncontaminated blood or buccal specimen can be | ||||||
4 | obtained), whenever possible, to be withdrawn from the body of | ||||||
5 | the decedent in a timely fashion. Within 45 days after the | ||||||
6 | collection of the specimens, the coroner or medical examiner | ||||||
7 | shall deliver those specimens, dried, to the Illinois | ||||||
8 | Department of State Police, Division of Forensic Services, for | ||||||
9 | analysis and categorizing into genetic marker groupings to be | ||||||
10 | maintained by the Illinois Department of State Police in the | ||||||
11 | State central repository in the same manner, and subject to the | ||||||
12 | same conditions, as provided in Section 5-4-3 of the Unified | ||||||
13 | Code of Corrections. The requirements of this paragraph are in | ||||||
14 | addition to any other findings, specimens, or information that | ||||||
15 | the coroner or medical examiner is required to provide during | ||||||
16 | the conduct of a criminal investigation.
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17 | In all counties, in cases of apparent
suicide, homicide, or | ||||||
18 | accidental death or in other cases, within the
discretion of | ||||||
19 | the coroner, the coroner may summon 8 persons of lawful age
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20 | from those persons drawn for petit jurors in the county. The | ||||||
21 | summons shall
command these persons to present themselves | ||||||
22 | personally at such a place and
time as the coroner shall | ||||||
23 | determine, and may be in any form which the
coroner shall | ||||||
24 | determine and may incorporate any reasonable form of request
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25 | for acknowledgement which the coroner deems practical and | ||||||
26 | provides a
reliable proof of service. The summons may be served |
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1 | by first class mail.
From the 8 persons so summoned, the | ||||||
2 | coroner shall select 6 to serve as the
jury for the inquest. | ||||||
3 | Inquests may be continued from time
to time, as the coroner may | ||||||
4 | deem necessary. The 6 jurors selected in
a given case may view | ||||||
5 | the body of the deceased.
If at any continuation of an inquest | ||||||
6 | one or more of the original jurors
shall be unable to continue | ||||||
7 | to serve, the coroner shall fill the vacancy or
vacancies. A | ||||||
8 | juror serving pursuant to this paragraph shall receive
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9 | compensation from the county at the same rate as the rate of | ||||||
10 | compensation
that is paid to petit or grand jurors in the | ||||||
11 | county. The coroner shall
furnish to each juror without fee at | ||||||
12 | the time of his discharge a
certificate of the number of days | ||||||
13 | in attendance at an inquest, and, upon
being presented with | ||||||
14 | such certificate, the county treasurer shall pay to
the juror | ||||||
15 | the sum provided for his services.
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16 | In counties which have a jury commission, in cases of | ||||||
17 | apparent suicide or
homicide or of accidental death, the | ||||||
18 | coroner may conduct an inquest. The jury commission shall | ||||||
19 | provide
at least 8 jurors to the coroner, from whom the coroner | ||||||
20 | shall select any 6
to serve as the jury for the inquest. | ||||||
21 | Inquests may be continued from time
to time as the coroner may | ||||||
22 | deem necessary. The 6 jurors originally chosen
in a given case | ||||||
23 | may view the body of the deceased. If at any continuation
of an | ||||||
24 | inquest one or more of the 6 jurors originally chosen shall be | ||||||
25 | unable
to continue to serve, the coroner shall fill the vacancy | ||||||
26 | or vacancies. At
the coroner's discretion, additional jurors to |
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1 | fill such vacancies shall be
supplied by the jury commission. A | ||||||
2 | juror serving pursuant to this
paragraph in such county shall | ||||||
3 | receive compensation from the county at the
same rate as the | ||||||
4 | rate of compensation that is paid to petit or grand jurors
in | ||||||
5 | the county.
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6 | In every case in which a fire is determined to be
a
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7 | contributing factor in a death, the coroner shall report the | ||||||
8 | death to the
Office of the State Fire Marshal. The coroner | ||||||
9 | shall provide a copy of the death certificate (i) within 30 | ||||||
10 | days after filing the permanent death certificate and (ii) in a | ||||||
11 | manner that is agreed upon by the coroner and the State Fire | ||||||
12 | Marshal. | ||||||
13 | In addition, in every case in which domestic violence is | ||||||
14 | determined to be
a
contributing factor in a death, the coroner | ||||||
15 | shall report the death to the
Department of State Police.
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16 | In addition, in every case in which a drug overdose is | ||||||
17 | determined to be a contributing factor in a death, the coroner | ||||||
18 | shall report the death to the Department of Public Health. As | ||||||
19 | used in this Section, the term "overdose" shall have the same | ||||||
20 | meaning as provided in Section 414 of the Illinois Controlled | ||||||
21 | Substances Act. | ||||||
22 | All deaths in State institutions and all deaths of wards of | ||||||
23 | the State in
private care facilities or in programs funded by | ||||||
24 | the Department of Human
Services under its powers relating to | ||||||
25 | mental health and developmental
disabilities or alcoholism and | ||||||
26 | substance
abuse or funded by the Department of Children and |
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1 | Family Services shall
be reported to the coroner of the county | ||||||
2 | in which the facility is
located. If the coroner has reason to | ||||||
3 | believe that an investigation is
needed to determine whether | ||||||
4 | the death was caused by maltreatment or
negligent care of the | ||||||
5 | ward of the State, the coroner may conduct a
preliminary | ||||||
6 | investigation of the circumstances of such death as in cases of
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7 | death under circumstances set forth in paragraphs (a) through | ||||||
8 | (e) of this
Section.
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9 | (Source: P.A. 95-484, eff. 6-1-08; 96-1059, eff. 7-14-10.)
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