Rep. Dan Brady

Filed: 05/07/04

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 132

2     AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 132, AS AMENDED, by
3 replacing everything after the enacting clause with the
4 following:
 
5     "Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing
6 Section 3-3013 as follows:
 
7     (55 ILCS 5/3-3013)  (from Ch. 34, par. 3-3013)
8     Sec. 3-3013. Preliminary investigations; blood and urine
9 analysis; summoning jury. Every coroner, whenever, as soon as
10 he knows or is informed that the dead body of any person is
11 found, or lying within his county, whose death is suspected of
12 being:
13     (a) A sudden or violent death, whether apparently suicidal,
14 homicidal or accidental, including but not limited to deaths
15 apparently caused or contributed to by thermal, traumatic,
16 chemical, electrical or radiational injury, or a complication
17 of any of them, or by drowning or suffocation, or as a result
18 of domestic violence as defined in the Illinois Domestic
19 Violence Act of 1986;
20     (b) A maternal or fetal death due to abortion, or any death
21 due to a sex crime or a crime against nature;
22     (c) A death where the circumstances are suspicious,
23 obscure, mysterious or otherwise unexplained or where, in the
24 written opinion of the attending physician, the cause of death

 

 

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1 is not determined;
2     (d) A death where addiction to alcohol or to any drug may
3 have been a contributory cause; or
4     (e) A death where the decedent was not attended by a
5 licensed physician;
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.
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 within
22 6 hours of the accident causing his death, by such physician as
23 has been designated in accordance with Section 3-3014, or by
24 the coroner or deputy coroner or a qualified person designated
25 by at the direction of such physician, coroner, or deputy
26 coroner. If the county does not maintain laboratory facilities
27 for making such analysis, the blood and urine so drawn shall be
28 sent to the Department of State Police or any other accredited
29 or State-certified laboratory for analysis, when necessary, of
30 the alcohol, carbon monoxide, and dangerous or narcotic drug
31 content of such blood and urine specimens. Each specimen
32 submitted shall be accompanied by pertinent information
33 concerning the decedent upon a form prescribed by such
34 laboratory. Department. If the analysis is performed in county

 

 

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1 laboratory facilities, the coroner shall forward the results of
2 each analysis and pertinent information concerning the
3 decedent to the Department of Public Health upon a form
4 prescribed by such Department. The coroner causing the blood
5 and urine to be withdrawn shall be notified of the results of
6 any analysis made by the Department of State Police and the
7 Department of Public Health shall keep a record of the results
8 of all such examinations to be used for statistical purposes.
9 The cumulative results of the examinations, without
10 identifying the individuals involved, shall be disseminated
11 and made public by the Department of Public Health. Any person
12 drawing blood and urine and any person making any examination
13 of the blood and urine under the terms of this Division shall
14 be immune from all liability, civil or criminal, that might
15 otherwise be incurred or imposed. The coroner shall be paid a
16 fee of $10 by the Department of Public Health for each
17 acceptable set of blood and urine specimens sent to the
18 Department of State Police forensic science laboratory
19 accompanied by the required form or for each report of analysis
20 performed by a county laboratory furnished upon the required
21 form. Upon collection, the coroner shall pay the fee over to
22 the county treasurer for deposit in the general fund of the
23 county.
24     In all other cases coming within the jurisdiction of the
25 coroner and referred to in subparagraphs (a) through (e) above,
26 blood, and whenever possible, urine samples shall be analyzed
27 for the presence of alcohol and other drugs. When the coroner
28 suspects that drugs may have been involved in the death, either
29 directly or indirectly, a toxicological examination shall be
30 performed which may include analyses of blood, urine, bile,
31 gastric contents and other tissues. When the coroner suspects a
32 death is due to toxic substances, other than drugs, the coroner
33 shall consult with the toxicologist prior to collection of
34 samples. Information submitted to the toxicologist shall

 

 

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1 include information as to height, weight, age, sex and race of
2 the decedent as well as medical history, medications used by
3 and the manner of death of decedent.
4     Except in counties that have a jury commission, in cases of
5 apparent suicide, homicide, or accidental death or in other
6 cases, within the discretion of the coroner, the coroner shall
7 summon 8 persons of lawful age from those persons drawn for
8 petit jurors in the county. The summons shall command these
9 persons to present themselves personally at such a place and
10 time as the coroner shall determine, and may be in any form
11 which the coroner shall determine and may incorporate any
12 reasonable form of request for acknowledgement which the
13 coroner deems practical and provides a reliable proof of
14 service. The summons may be served by first class mail. From
15 the 8 persons so summoned, the coroner shall select 6 to serve
16 as the jury for the inquest. Inquests may be continued from
17 time to time, as the coroner may deem necessary. The 6 jurors
18 selected in a given case may view the body of the deceased. If
19 at any continuation of an inquest one or more of the original
20 jurors shall be unable to continue to serve, the coroner shall
21 fill the vacancy or vacancies. A juror serving pursuant to this
22 paragraph shall receive compensation from the county at the
23 same rate as the rate of compensation that is paid to petit or
24 grand jurors in the county. The coroner shall furnish to each
25 juror without fee at the time of his discharge a certificate of
26 the number of days in attendance at an inquest, and, upon being
27 presented with such certificate, the county treasurer shall pay
28 to the juror the sum provided for his services.
29     In counties which have a jury commission, in cases of
30 apparent suicide or homicide or of accidental death, the
31 coroner shall, and in other cases in his discretion may,
32 conduct an inquest. The jury commission shall provide at least
33 8 jurors to the coroner, from whom the coroner shall select any
34 6 to serve as the jury for the inquest. Inquests may be

 

 

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1 continued from time to time as the coroner may deem necessary.
2 The 6 jurors originally chosen in a given case may view the
3 body of the deceased. If at any continuation of an inquest one
4 or more of the 6 jurors originally chosen shall be unable to
5 continue to serve, the coroner shall fill the vacancy or
6 vacancies. At the coroner's discretion, additional jurors to
7 fill such vacancies shall be supplied by the jury commission. A
8 juror serving pursuant to this paragraph in such county shall
9 receive compensation from the county at the same rate as the
10 rate of compensation that is paid to petit or grand jurors in
11 the county.
12     In addition, in every case in which domestic violence is
13 determined to be a contributing factor in a death, the coroner
14 shall report the death to the Department of State Police.
15     All deaths in State institutions and all deaths of wards of
16 the State in private care facilities or in programs funded by
17 the Department of Human Services under its powers relating to
18 mental health and developmental disabilities or alcoholism and
19 substance abuse or funded by the Department of Children and
20 Family Services shall be reported to the coroner of the county
21 in which the facility is located. If the coroner has reason to
22 believe that an investigation is needed to determine whether
23 the death was caused by maltreatment or negligent care of the
24 ward of the State, the coroner may conduct a preliminary
25 investigation of the circumstances of such death as in cases of
26 death under circumstances set forth in paragraphs (a) through
27 (e) of this Section.
28 (Source: P.A. 91-521, eff. 1-1-00.)".