Public Act 93-0454
SB376 Enrolled LRB093 03750 LCB 03784 b
AN ACT in relation to public 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
Section 18 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.
(c) The funeral director who first assumes custody of a
dead body shall be responsible for filing a completed death
certificate. He shall obtain the personal data from the next
of kin or the best qualified person or source available; he
shall enter on the certificate the name, relationship, and
address of his informant; he shall enter the date, place, and
method of final disposition; he shall affix his own signature
and enter his address; and shall present the certificate to
the person responsible for completing the medical
certification of cause of death.
(2) The medical certification shall be completed and
signed within 48 hours after death by the physician 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 with his approval, the medical
certificate may be completed and signed by his associate
physician, 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.
(3.5) The medical certification of cause of death shall
expressly provide an opportunity for the person completing
the 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. 85-1209.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.