HB3488 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB100 07814 MJP 17881 b

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.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Disposition of Remains of the Indigent Act.

Section 5. Purpose. The General Assembly recognizes:

(1) that each individual in the State regardless of his or her economic situation is entitled to a dignified disposition of his or her remains;

(2) that it is a matter of public concern and interest that the preparation, care, and final disposition of a deceased human body be attended to with appropriate observance and understanding;

(3) that it is a matter of public concern and interest that there is a due regard and respect for the reverent care of the human body, for those bereaved, and the overall spiritual dignity of every person;

(4) that the provision of cadavers and other human materials is a much-needed service for the advancement of medical, mortuary, and other sciences;

(5) that there is a critical shortage of cadavers necessary for the advancement of medical, mortuary, and other sciences;

(6) that the State has, in the past, paid for the burial and funeral of indigent individuals;

(7) that payment for such services is not now consistent with the needs or demands of the current State budget;

(8) that the State will no longer make payments for funeral and burial services of indigent individuals;

(9) that the State has had a long-standing policy that government officials who have custody of a body of any deceased person shall transfer such custody to any State medical college, school, or other institution of higher science education or school of mortuary science for advancement of medical, anatomical, biological, or mortuary science; and

(10) that current law provides that any county coroner may donate bodies not claimed by family members or friends.

Section 10. Indigent funeral and burial.

(a) If private funds are not available to pay funeral and burial costs and a request is made for those costs to an official of State or local government, such official shall refer the appropriate family member, executor, or agent empowered to direct the disposition of the decedent's remains as provided in Section 65 of the Crematory Regulation Act or in subsection (a) of Section 40 of the Disposition of Remains Act to any institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences registered in accordance with this Act for use in the advancement of medical science.

(b) The appropriate family member, executor, or agent empowered to direct the disposition of the decedent's remains shall be responsible for authorizing the use of such remains in accordance with the process of the specific institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences registered in accordance with this Act.

(c) If funds are not otherwise available for burial or the cadaver has not been claimed by a family member or other responsible person, the coroner with custody may donate the cadaver for medical science purposes pursuant to Section 3-3034 of the Counties Code.

Section 15. Funeral and burial of cadavers in the custody of the State.

(a) Unclaimed cadavers held by any State facility, hospital, institution, morgue, or other place for bodies of deceased persons may be turned over to any institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences registered in accordance with this Act for use in the advancement of medical science.

(b) The State facility director must make reasonable efforts to contact family members or other responsible persons so that they take responsibility for burial.

(c) No body may be surrendered if a family member or other responsible person requests the remains. However, in such event, such family member or other responsible person must remove the cadaver within 72 hours of notice from the facility.

(d) If arrangements have not been made or the cadaver has not been removed within 72 hours of notice from the facility, the State facility director may contribute the cadaver to any institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences registered in accordance with this Act for use in the advancement of medical science.

(e) The State facility director shall inquire and obtain from the Department of Public Health the appropriate institution to which it should send the cadaver.

(f) The State facility director shall provide to the institution the name, address, e-mail, and telephone of the family member or other responsible party if a contribution has been made.

(g) The State facility shall not pay any costs related to funeral or burial.

Section 20. Responsibility for expenses. The Department of Human Services, subject to appropriation, may pay to a funeral home or an institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences an allowance for:

(1) funeral homes services;

(2) the burial ceremony; and

(3) transportation of the remains to the institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences.

Section 25. Institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences.

(a) After use of the remains, the institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences shall cremate them pursuant to Section 19 of the Crematory Regulation Act and deliver them to the appropriate family member, executor, or agent empowered to direct the disposition of the decedent's cremated human remains. Only for the purpose of ordering the cremation as provided in this subsection, the institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences shall be considered an authorizing agent under the Crematory Regulation Act.

(b) If no such person is available, the institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences shall inter the cremated human remains at a cemetery licensed under the Cemetery Oversight Act. Upon such interment, the institution shall notify the family member, executor, or agent empowered to direct the disposition of the decedent's remains by mail of the location of the remains. The institution shall maintain at all times a registry of such interred cremated human remains. Only for the purpose of interring the remains following cremation as provided in this subsection the institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences will be considered an authorizing agent under the Crematory Regulation Act.

(c) If at any time an appropriate family member, executor, or agent empowered to direct the disposition of the decedent's remains makes a written request concerning disposition, the institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences shall return the remains within a reasonable time.

(d) If a family member, executor, or agent empowered to direct the disposition of the decedent's remains prior to the commencement of its use for medical or science purposes requests that the remains be returned for burial, the institution shall surrender the remains for interment at the institution's place of business.

Section 30. Registry of institutions of medical, mortuary, or other sciences.

(a) The Department of Public Health shall maintain a registry of institutions qualifying as institutions of medical, mortuary, or other sciences eligible to receive donations under this Act.

(b) An institution must be a not-for-profit corporation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and registered under the Charitable Trust Act in order to qualify for registration.

(c) The Department of Public Health shall adopt rules to determine the appropriate qualifications for such institutions.

(d) Each institution shall submit its request for cadavers in State custody. The Department of Public Health shall designate the next institution to receive a cadaver when requested by a State facility.

(e) If the number of cadavers is insufficient for the use of the relevant institutions, the Department of Public Health shall determine which institution shall receive them, taking into account the relative proportion of the numbers of students at each institution.

Section 90. The Crematory Regulation Act is amended by changing Section 5 as follows:

(410 ILCS 18/5)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2021)

Sec. 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Address of record" means the designated address recorded by the Comptroller in the applicant's or licensee's application file or license file. It is the duty of the applicant or licensee to inform the Comptroller of any change of address within 14 days, and such changes must be made either through the Comptroller's website or by contacting the Comptroller. The address of record shall be the permanent street address of the crematory.

"Alternative container" means a receptacle, other than a casket, in which human remains are transported to the crematory and placed in the cremation chamber for cremation. An alternative container shall be (i) composed of readily combustible or consumable materials suitable for cremation, (ii) able to be closed in order to provide a complete covering for the human remains, (iii) resistant to leakage or spillage, (iv) rigid enough for handling with ease, and (v) able to provide protection for the health, safety, and personal integrity of crematory personnel.

"Authorizing agent" means a person legally entitled to order the cremation and final disposition of specific human remains. "Authorizing agent" includes an institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences as provided in Section 25 of the Disposition of Remains of the Indigent Act.

"Body parts" means limbs or other portions of the anatomy that are removed from a person or human remains for medical purposes during treatment, surgery, biopsy, autopsy, or medical research; or human bodies or any portion of bodies that have been donated to science for medical research purposes.

"Burial transit permit" means a permit for disposition of a dead human body as required by Illinois law.

"Casket" means a rigid container that is designed for the encasement of human remains, is usually constructed of wood, metal, or like material and ornamented and lined with fabric, and may or may not be combustible.

"Comptroller" means the Comptroller of the State of Illinois.

"Cremated remains" means all human remains recovered after the completion of the cremation, which may possibly include the residue of any foreign matter including casket material, bridgework, or eyeglasses, that was cremated with the human remains.

"Cremation" means the technical process, using heat and flame, or alkaline hydrolysis that reduces human remains to bone fragments. The reduction takes place through heat and evaporation or through hydrolysis. Cremation shall include the processing, and may include the pulverization, of the bone fragments.

"Cremation chamber" means the enclosed space within which the cremation takes place.

"Cremation interment container" means a rigid outer container that, subject to a cemetery's rules and regulations, is composed of concrete, steel, fiberglass, or some similar material in which an urn is placed prior to being interred in the ground, and which is designed to withstand prolonged exposure to the elements and to support the earth above the urn.

"Cremation room" means the room in which the cremation chamber is located.

"Crematory" means the building or portion of a building that houses the cremation room and the holding facility.

"Crematory authority" means the legal entity which is licensed by the Comptroller to operate a crematory and to perform cremations.

"Final disposition" means the burial, cremation, or other disposition of a dead human body or parts of a dead human body.

"Funeral director" means a person known by the title of "funeral director", "funeral director and embalmer", or other similar words or titles, licensed by the State to practice funeral directing or funeral directing and embalming.

"Funeral establishment" means a building or separate portion of a building having a specific street address and location and devoted to activities relating to the shelter, care, custody, and preparation of a deceased human body and may contain facilities for funeral or wake services.

"Holding facility" means an area that (i) is designated for the retention of human remains prior to cremation, (ii) complies with all applicable public health law, (iii) preserves the health and safety of the crematory authority personnel, and (iv) is secure from access by anyone other than authorized persons. A holding facility may be located in a cremation room.

"Human remains" means the body of a deceased person, including any form of body prosthesis that has been permanently attached or implanted in the body.

"Licensee" means an entity licensed under this Act. An entity that holds itself as a licensee or that is accused of unlicensed practice is considered a licensee for purposes of enforcement, investigation, hearings, and the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.

"Niche" means a compartment or cubicle for the memorialization and permanent placement of an urn containing cremated remains.

"Person" means any person, partnership, association, corporation, limited liability company, or other entity, and in the case of any such business organization, its officers, partners, members, or shareholders possessing 25% or more of ownership of the entity.

"Processing" means the reduction of identifiable bone fragments after the completion of the cremation process to unidentifiable bone fragments by manual or mechanical means.

"Pulverization" means the reduction of identifiable bone fragments after the completion of the cremation process to granulated particles by manual or mechanical means.

"Scattering area" means an area which may be designated by a cemetery and located on dedicated cemetery property where cremated remains, which have been removed from their container, can be mixed with, or placed on top of, the soil or ground cover.

"Temporary container" means a receptacle for cremated remains, usually composed of cardboard, plastic or similar material, that can be closed in a manner that prevents the leakage or spillage of the cremated remains or the entrance of foreign material, and is a single container of sufficient size to hold the cremated remains until an urn is acquired or the cremated remains are scattered.

"Urn" means a receptacle designed to encase the cremated remains.

(Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-12; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12.)