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Illinois House Bill HB4942

Illinois 2023-2024 Regular Session

Illinois House Bill HB4942 Compare Versions

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1-Public Act 103-0842
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4-AN ACT concerning local government.
5-Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
6-represented in the General Assembly:
7-Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing
8-Section 3-3013 as follows:
3+1 AN ACT concerning local government.
4+2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
5+3 represented in the General Assembly:
6+4 Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing
7+5 Section 3-3013 as follows:
8+6 (55 ILCS 5/3-3013) (from Ch. 34, par. 3-3013)
9+7 Sec. 3-3013. Preliminary investigations; blood and urine
10+8 analysis; summoning jury; reports. Every coroner, whenever,
11+9 as soon as he knows or is informed that the dead body of any
12+10 person is found, or lying within his county, whose death is
13+11 suspected of being:
14+12 (a) A sudden or violent death, whether apparently
15+13 suicidal, homicidal, or accidental, including, but not
16+14 limited to, deaths apparently caused or contributed to by
17+15 thermal, traumatic, chemical, electrical, or radiational
18+16 injury, or a complication of any of them, or by drowning or
19+17 suffocation, or as a result of domestic violence as
20+18 defined in the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986;
21+19 (b) A death due to a sex crime;
22+20 (c) A death where the circumstances are suspicious,
23+21 obscure, mysterious, or otherwise unexplained or where, in
24+22 the written opinion of the attending physician, the cause
25+23 of death is not determined;
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34+1 (d) A death where addiction to alcohol or to any drug
35+2 may have been a contributory cause; or
36+3 (e) A death where the decedent was not attended by a
37+4 licensed physician;
38+5 shall go to the place where the dead body is and take charge of
39+6 the same and shall make a preliminary investigation into the
40+7 circumstances of the death. In the case of death without
41+8 attendance by a licensed physician, the body may be moved with
42+9 the coroner's consent from the place of death to a mortuary in
43+10 the same county. Coroners in their discretion shall notify
44+11 such physician as is designated in accordance with Section
45+12 3-3014 to attempt to ascertain the cause of death, either by
46+13 autopsy or otherwise.
47+14 In cases of accidental death involving a motor vehicle in
48+15 which the decedent was (1) the operator or a suspected
49+16 operator of a motor vehicle, or (2) a pedestrian 16 years of
50+17 age or older, the coroner shall require that a blood specimen
51+18 of at least 30 cc., and if medically possible a urine specimen
52+19 of at least 30 cc. or as much as possible up to 30 cc., be
53+20 withdrawn from the body of the decedent in a timely fashion
54+21 after the crash causing his death, by such physician as has
55+22 been designated in accordance with Section 3-3014, or by the
56+23 coroner or deputy coroner or a qualified person designated by
57+24 such physician, coroner, or deputy coroner. If the county does
58+25 not maintain laboratory facilities for making such analysis,
59+26 the blood and urine so drawn shall be sent to the Illinois
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70+1 State Police or any other accredited or State-certified
71+2 laboratory for analysis of the alcohol, carbon monoxide, and
72+3 dangerous or narcotic drug content of such blood and urine
73+4 specimens. Each specimen submitted shall be accompanied by
74+5 pertinent information concerning the decedent upon a form
75+6 prescribed by such laboratory. Any person drawing blood and
76+7 urine and any person making any examination of the blood and
77+8 urine under the terms of this Division shall be immune from all
78+9 liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred
79+10 or imposed.
80+11 In all other cases coming within the jurisdiction of the
81+12 coroner and referred to in subparagraphs (a) through (e)
82+13 above, blood, and, whenever possible, urine samples shall be
83+14 analyzed for the presence of alcohol and other drugs. When the
84+15 coroner suspects that drugs may have been involved in the
85+16 death, either directly or indirectly, a toxicological
86+17 examination shall be performed which may include analyses of
87+18 blood, urine, bile, gastric contents, and other tissues. When
88+19 the coroner suspects a death is due to toxic substances, other
89+20 than drugs, the coroner shall consult with the toxicologist
90+21 prior to collection of samples. Information submitted to the
91+22 toxicologist shall include information as to height, weight,
92+23 age, sex, and race of the decedent as well as medical history,
93+24 medications used by, and the manner of death of the decedent.
94+25 When the coroner or medical examiner finds that the cause
95+26 of death is due to homicidal means, the coroner or medical
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106+1 examiner shall cause blood and buccal specimens (tissue may be
107+2 submitted if no uncontaminated blood or buccal specimen can be
108+3 obtained), whenever possible, to be withdrawn from the body of
109+4 the decedent in a timely fashion. For proper preservation of
110+5 the specimens, collected blood and buccal specimens shall be
111+6 dried and tissue specimens shall be frozen if available
112+7 equipment exists. As soon as possible, but no later than 30
113+8 days after the collection of the specimens, the coroner or
114+9 medical examiner shall release those specimens to the police
115+10 agency responsible for investigating the death. As soon as
116+11 possible, but no later than 30 days after the receipt from the
117+12 coroner or medical examiner, the police agency shall submit
118+13 the specimens using the agency case number to a National DNA
119+14 Index System (NDIS) participating laboratory within this
120+15 State, such as the Illinois State Police, Division of Forensic
121+16 Services, for analysis and categorizing into genetic marker
122+17 groupings. The results of the analysis and categorizing into
123+18 genetic marker groupings shall be provided to the Illinois
124+19 State Police and shall be maintained by the Illinois State
125+20 Police in the State central repository in the same manner, and
126+21 subject to the same conditions, as provided in Section 5-4-3
127+22 of the Unified Code of Corrections. The requirements of this
128+23 paragraph are in addition to any other findings, specimens, or
129+24 information that the coroner or medical examiner is required
130+25 to provide during the conduct of a criminal investigation.
131+26 In all counties, in cases of apparent suicide, homicide,
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142+1 or accidental death or in other cases, within the discretion
143+2 of the coroner, the coroner may summon 8 persons of lawful age
144+3 from those persons drawn for petit jurors in the county. The
145+4 summons shall command these persons to present themselves
146+5 personally at such a place and time as the coroner shall
147+6 determine, and may be in any form which the coroner shall
148+7 determine and may incorporate any reasonable form of request
149+8 for acknowledgment which the coroner deems practical and
150+9 provides a reliable proof of service. The summons may be
151+10 served by first class mail. From the 8 persons so summoned, the
152+11 coroner shall select 6 to serve as the jury for the inquest.
153+12 Inquests may be continued from time to time, as the coroner may
154+13 deem necessary. The 6 jurors selected in a given case may view
155+14 the body of the deceased. If at any continuation of an inquest
156+15 one or more of the original jurors shall be unable to continue
157+16 to serve, the coroner shall fill the vacancy or vacancies. A
158+17 juror serving pursuant to this paragraph shall receive
159+18 compensation from the county at the same rate as the rate of
160+19 compensation that is paid to petit or grand jurors in the
161+20 county. The coroner shall furnish to each juror without fee at
162+21 the time of his discharge a certificate of the number of days
163+22 in attendance at an inquest, and, upon being presented with
164+23 such certificate, the county treasurer shall pay to the juror
165+24 the sum provided for his services.
166+25 In counties which have a jury commission, in cases of
167+26 apparent suicide or homicide or of accidental death, the
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178+1 coroner may conduct an inquest. The jury commission shall
179+2 provide at least 8 jurors to the coroner, from whom the coroner
180+3 shall select any 6 to serve as the jury for the inquest.
181+4 Inquests may be continued from time to time as the coroner may
182+5 deem necessary. The 6 jurors originally chosen in a given case
183+6 may view the body of the deceased. If at any continuation of an
184+7 inquest one or more of the 6 jurors originally chosen shall be
185+8 unable to continue to serve, the coroner shall fill the
186+9 vacancy or vacancies. At the coroner's discretion, additional
187+10 jurors to fill such vacancies shall be supplied by the jury
188+11 commission. A juror serving pursuant to this paragraph in such
189+12 county shall receive compensation from the county at the same
190+13 rate as the rate of compensation that is paid to petit or grand
191+14 jurors in the county.
192+15 In every case in which a fire is determined to be a
193+16 contributing factor in a death, the coroner shall report the
194+17 death to the Office of the State Fire Marshal. The coroner
195+18 shall provide a copy of the death certificate (i) within 30
196+19 days after filing the permanent death certificate and (ii) in
197+20 a manner that is agreed upon by the coroner and the State Fire
198+21 Marshal.
199+22 In every case in which a drug overdose is officially
200+23 determined to be the cause or a contributing factor in the
201+24 death, the coroner or medical examiner shall report the death
202+25 to the Department of Public Health. The Department of Public
203+26 Health shall adopt rules regarding specific information that
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214+1 must be reported in the event of such a death, including, at a
215+2 minimum, the following information, if possible: (i) . If
216+3 possible, the coroner shall report the cause of the overdose;
217+4 (ii) whether or not fentanyl was part or all of the consumed
218+5 substance; (iii) if fentanyl is part of the consumed
219+6 substance, what other substances were consumed; and (iv) if
220+7 fentanyl is part of the consumed substance, in what proportion
221+8 was fentanyl consumed to other substance or substances. The
222+9 coroner must also communicate whether there was a suspicious
223+10 level of fentanyl in combination with other controlled
224+11 substances present to all law enforcement agencies in whose
225+12 jurisdiction the deceased's body was found in a prompt manner.
226+13 As used in this paragraph Section, "overdose" has the same
227+14 meaning as it does in Section 414 of the Illinois Controlled
228+15 Substances Act. The Department of Public Health shall issue a
229+16 semiannual report to the General Assembly summarizing the
230+17 reports received. The Department shall also provide on its
231+18 website a monthly report of overdose death figures organized
232+19 by location, age, and any other factors the Department deems
233+20 appropriate.
234+21 In addition, in every case in which domestic violence is
235+22 determined to be a contributing factor in a death, the coroner
236+23 shall report the death to the Illinois State Police.
237+24 All deaths in State institutions and all deaths of wards
238+25 of the State or youth in care as defined in Section 4d of the
239+26 Children and Family Services Act in private care facilities or
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