100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB3488

 

Introduced , by Rep. Daniel V. Beiser

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
New Act
410 ILCS 18/5

    Creates the Disposition of Remains of the Indigent Act. Provides that if private funds are not available for the funeral or burial of a decedent, then State or local officials shall refer a family member, executor, or agent empowered to direct the disposition of a decedent's remains to the option of donating the remains to an institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences on the registry created under the Act. Provides that such family member, executor, or agent shall be responsible for authorizing such use. Provides that unclaimed cadavers held by any State facility, hospital, institution, morgue, or other place for bodies of deceased persons may be turned over to an institution on the registry. Contains provisions requiring the directors of State facilities with possession of unclaimed human remains to make reasonable efforts to contact family and other responsible parties. Contains provisions concerning circumstances in which family or other responsible parties request the remains and situations when they fail to do so. Contains other provisions concerning what the State facility with humans remains shall do. Provides that the Department of Human Services may pay a funeral home or an institution of medical, mortuary, or other science an allowance for funeral and burial costs. Contains provisions concerning the disposition of the remains after use of the remains by a registered institution. Requires the Department of Public Health to maintain a registry of institutions qualifying as institutions of medical, mortuary, or other sciences eligible to receive donations under the Act. Contains provisions concerning requirements for the registry and granting the Department of Public Health rulemaking and other powers.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning health.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Disposition of Remains of the Indigent Act.
 
6    Section 5. Purpose. The General Assembly recognizes:
7        (1) that each individual in the State regardless of his
8    or her economic situation is entitled to a dignified
9    disposition of his or her remains;
10        (2) that it is a matter of public concern and interest
11    that the preparation, care, and final disposition of a
12    deceased human body be attended to with appropriate
13    observance and understanding;
14        (3) that it is a matter of public concern and interest
15    that there is a due regard and respect for the reverent
16    care of the human body, for those bereaved, and the overall
17    spiritual dignity of every person;
18        (4) that the provision of cadavers and other human
19    materials is a much-needed service for the advancement of
20    medical, mortuary, and other sciences;
21        (5) that there is a critical shortage of cadavers
22    necessary for the advancement of medical, mortuary, and
23    other sciences;

 

 

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1        (6) that the State has, in the past, paid for the
2    burial and funeral of indigent individuals;
3        (7) that payment for such services is not now
4    consistent with the needs or demands of the current State
5    budget;
6        (8) that the State will no longer make payments for
7    funeral and burial services of indigent individuals;
8        (9) that the State has had a long-standing policy that
9    government officials who have custody of a body of any
10    deceased person shall transfer such custody to any State
11    medical college, school, or other institution of higher
12    science education or school of mortuary science for
13    advancement of medical, anatomical, biological, or
14    mortuary science; and
15        (10) that current law provides that any county coroner
16    may donate bodies not claimed by family members or friends.
 
17    Section 10. Indigent funeral and burial.
18    (a) If private funds are not available to pay funeral and
19burial costs and a request is made for those costs to an
20official of State or local government, such official shall
21refer the appropriate family member, executor, or agent
22empowered to direct the disposition of the decedent's remains
23as provided in Section 65 of the Crematory Regulation Act or in
24subsection (a) of Section 40 of the Disposition of Remains Act
25to any institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences

 

 

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1registered in accordance with this Act for use in the
2advancement of medical science.
3    (b) The appropriate family member, executor, or agent
4empowered to direct the disposition of the decedent's remains
5shall be responsible for authorizing the use of such remains in
6accordance with the process of the specific institution of
7medical, mortuary, or other sciences registered in accordance
8with this Act.
9    (c) If funds are not otherwise available for burial or the
10cadaver has not been claimed by a family member or other
11responsible person, the coroner with custody may donate the
12cadaver for medical science purposes pursuant to Section 3-3034
13of the Counties Code.
 
14    Section 15. Funeral and burial of cadavers in the custody
15of the State.
16    (a) Unclaimed cadavers held by any State facility,
17hospital, institution, morgue, or other place for bodies of
18deceased persons may be turned over to any institution of
19medical, mortuary, or other sciences registered in accordance
20with this Act for use in the advancement of medical science.
21    (b) The State facility director must make reasonable
22efforts to contact family members or other responsible persons
23so that they take responsibility for burial.
24    (c) No body may be surrendered if a family member or other
25responsible person requests the remains. However, in such

 

 

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1event, such family member or other responsible person must
2remove the cadaver within 72 hours of notice from the facility.
3    (d) If arrangements have not been made or the cadaver has
4not been removed within 72 hours of notice from the facility,
5the State facility director may contribute the cadaver to any
6institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences registered
7in accordance with this Act for use in the advancement of
8medical science.
9    (e) The State facility director shall inquire and obtain
10from the Department of Public Health the appropriate
11institution to which it should send the cadaver.
12    (f) The State facility director shall provide to the
13institution the name, address, e-mail, and telephone of the
14family member or other responsible party if a contribution has
15been made.
16    (g) The State facility shall not pay any costs related to
17funeral or burial.
 
18    Section 20. Responsibility for expenses. The Department of
19Human Services, subject to appropriation, may pay to a funeral
20home or an institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences
21an allowance for:
22        (1) funeral homes services;
23        (2) the burial ceremony; and
24        (3) transportation of the remains to the institution of
25    medical, mortuary, or other sciences.
 

 

 

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1    Section 25. Institution of medical, mortuary, or other
2sciences.
3    (a) After use of the remains, the institution of medical,
4mortuary, or other sciences shall cremate them pursuant to
5Section 19 of the Crematory Regulation Act and deliver them to
6the appropriate family member, executor, or agent empowered to
7direct the disposition of the decedent's cremated human
8remains. Only for the purpose of ordering the cremation as
9provided in this subsection, the institution of medical,
10mortuary, or other sciences shall be considered an authorizing
11agent under the Crematory Regulation Act.
12    (b) If no such person is available, the institution of
13medical, mortuary, or other sciences shall inter the cremated
14human remains at a cemetery licensed under the Cemetery
15Oversight Act. Upon such interment, the institution shall
16notify the family member, executor, or agent empowered to
17direct the disposition of the decedent's remains by mail of the
18location of the remains. The institution shall maintain at all
19times a registry of such interred cremated human remains. Only
20for the purpose of interring the remains following cremation as
21provided in this subsection the institution of medical,
22mortuary, or other sciences will be considered an authorizing
23agent under the Crematory Regulation Act.
24    (c) If at any time an appropriate family member, executor,
25or agent empowered to direct the disposition of the decedent's

 

 

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1remains makes a written request concerning disposition, the
2institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences shall
3return the remains within a reasonable time.
4    (d) If a family member, executor, or agent empowered to
5direct the disposition of the decedent's remains prior to the
6commencement of its use for medical or science purposes
7requests that the remains be returned for burial, the
8institution shall surrender the remains for interment at the
9institution's place of business.
 
10    Section 30. Registry of institutions of medical, mortuary,
11or other sciences.
12    (a) The Department of Public Health shall maintain a
13registry of institutions qualifying as institutions of
14medical, mortuary, or other sciences eligible to receive
15donations under this Act.
16    (b) An institution must be a not-for-profit corporation
17under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and
18registered under the Charitable Trust Act in order to qualify
19for registration.
20    (c) The Department of Public Health shall adopt rules to
21determine the appropriate qualifications for such
22institutions.
23    (d) Each institution shall submit its request for cadavers
24in State custody. The Department of Public Health shall
25designate the next institution to receive a cadaver when

 

 

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1requested by a State facility.
2    (e) If the number of cadavers is insufficient for the use
3of the relevant institutions, the Department of Public Health
4shall determine which institution shall receive them, taking
5into account the relative proportion of the numbers of students
6at each institution.
 
7    Section 90. The Crematory Regulation Act is amended by
8changing Section 5 as follows:
 
9    (410 ILCS 18/5)
10    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2021)
11    Sec. 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
12    "Address of record" means the designated address recorded
13by the Comptroller in the applicant's or licensee's application
14file or license file. It is the duty of the applicant or
15licensee to inform the Comptroller of any change of address
16within 14 days, and such changes must be made either through
17the Comptroller's website or by contacting the Comptroller. The
18address of record shall be the permanent street address of the
19crematory.
20    "Alternative container" means a receptacle, other than a
21casket, in which human remains are transported to the crematory
22and placed in the cremation chamber for cremation. An
23alternative container shall be (i) composed of readily
24combustible or consumable materials suitable for cremation,

 

 

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1(ii) able to be closed in order to provide a complete covering
2for the human remains, (iii) resistant to leakage or spillage,
3(iv) rigid enough for handling with ease, and (v) able to
4provide protection for the health, safety, and personal
5integrity of crematory personnel.
6    "Authorizing agent" means a person legally entitled to
7order the cremation and final disposition of specific human
8remains. "Authorizing agent" includes an institution of
9medical, mortuary, or other sciences as provided in Section 25
10of the Disposition of Remains of the Indigent Act.
11    "Body parts" means limbs or other portions of the anatomy
12that are removed from a person or human remains for medical
13purposes during treatment, surgery, biopsy, autopsy, or
14medical research; or human bodies or any portion of bodies that
15have been donated to science for medical research purposes.
16    "Burial transit permit" means a permit for disposition of a
17dead human body as required by Illinois law.
18    "Casket" means a rigid container that is designed for the
19encasement of human remains, is usually constructed of wood,
20metal, or like material and ornamented and lined with fabric,
21and may or may not be combustible.
22    "Comptroller" means the Comptroller of the State of
23Illinois.
24    "Cremated remains" means all human remains recovered after
25the completion of the cremation, which may possibly include the
26residue of any foreign matter including casket material,

 

 

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1bridgework, or eyeglasses, that was cremated with the human
2remains.
3    "Cremation" means the technical process, using heat and
4flame, or alkaline hydrolysis that reduces human remains to
5bone fragments. The reduction takes place through heat and
6evaporation or through hydrolysis. Cremation shall include the
7processing, and may include the pulverization, of the bone
8fragments.
9    "Cremation chamber" means the enclosed space within which
10the cremation takes place.
11    "Cremation interment container" means a rigid outer
12container that, subject to a cemetery's rules and regulations,
13is composed of concrete, steel, fiberglass, or some similar
14material in which an urn is placed prior to being interred in
15the ground, and which is designed to withstand prolonged
16exposure to the elements and to support the earth above the
17urn.
18    "Cremation room" means the room in which the cremation
19chamber is located.
20    "Crematory" means the building or portion of a building
21that houses the cremation room and the holding facility.
22    "Crematory authority" means the legal entity which is
23licensed by the Comptroller to operate a crematory and to
24perform cremations.
25    "Final disposition" means the burial, cremation, or other
26disposition of a dead human body or parts of a dead human body.

 

 

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1    "Funeral director" means a person known by the title of
2"funeral director", "funeral director and embalmer", or other
3similar words or titles, licensed by the State to practice
4funeral directing or funeral directing and embalming.
5    "Funeral establishment" means a building or separate
6portion of a building having a specific street address and
7location and devoted to activities relating to the shelter,
8care, custody, and preparation of a deceased human body and may
9contain facilities for funeral or wake services.
10    "Holding facility" means an area that (i) is designated for
11the retention of human remains prior to cremation, (ii)
12complies with all applicable public health law, (iii) preserves
13the health and safety of the crematory authority personnel, and
14(iv) is secure from access by anyone other than authorized
15persons. A holding facility may be located in a cremation room.
16    "Human remains" means the body of a deceased person,
17including any form of body prosthesis that has been permanently
18attached or implanted in the body.
19    "Licensee" means an entity licensed under this Act. An
20entity that holds itself as a licensee or that is accused of
21unlicensed practice is considered a licensee for purposes of
22enforcement, investigation, hearings, and the Illinois
23Administrative Procedure Act.
24    "Niche" means a compartment or cubicle for the
25memorialization and permanent placement of an urn containing
26cremated remains.

 

 

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1    "Person" means any person, partnership, association,
2corporation, limited liability company, or other entity, and in
3the case of any such business organization, its officers,
4partners, members, or shareholders possessing 25% or more of
5ownership of the entity.
6    "Processing" means the reduction of identifiable bone
7fragments after the completion of the cremation process to
8unidentifiable bone fragments by manual or mechanical means.
9    "Pulverization" means the reduction of identifiable bone
10fragments after the completion of the cremation process to
11granulated particles by manual or mechanical means.
12    "Scattering area" means an area which may be designated by
13a cemetery and located on dedicated cemetery property where
14cremated remains, which have been removed from their container,
15can be mixed with, or placed on top of, the soil or ground
16cover.
17    "Temporary container" means a receptacle for cremated
18remains, usually composed of cardboard, plastic or similar
19material, that can be closed in a manner that prevents the
20leakage or spillage of the cremated remains or the entrance of
21foreign material, and is a single container of sufficient size
22to hold the cremated remains until an urn is acquired or the
23cremated remains are scattered.
24    "Urn" means a receptacle designed to encase the cremated
25remains.
26(Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-12; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12.)