97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB5538

 

Introduced 2/15/2012, by Rep. Robyn Gabel

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
See Index

    Amends the Unified Code of Corrections. Provides that the Department of Corrections or the Department of Juvenile Justice shall not apply security restraints to a committed person that has been determined by a qualified medical professional to be pregnant and is known to be pregnant by the Department or in postpartum recovery, which is the entire period a woman is in the medical facility after birth, unless the corrections official makes an individualized determination that the pregnant committed person presents a substantial flight risk or some other extraordinary circumstance that dictates security restraints be used to ensure the safety and security of the pregnant committed person, her child or unborn child, the staff of the Department or medical facility, other committed persons, or the public. Provides that upon discharge from a medical facility, postpartum committed persons shall be restrained only with handcuffs in front of the body during transport to the Department facility. Provides that the corrections official shall immediately remove all security restraints upon written or oral request by medical personnel. Provides that leg irons, shackles, or waist shackles shall not be used on a pregnant or postpartum committed person regardless of security classification. Makes other changes.


LRB097 17705 RLC 62919 b

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB5538LRB097 17705 RLC 62919 b

1    AN ACT concerning corrections.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Unified Code of Corrections is amended by
5changing Section 3-6-7 as follows:
 
6    (730 ILCS 5/3-6-7)
7    Sec. 3-6-7. Pregnant female committed persons.
8    (a) Definitions. For the purpose of this Section:
9        "Committed person" means a person committed to the
10    Department by judicially determined placement in the
11    custody of the Department on the basis of delinquency or
12    conviction, or under the terms and conditions of parole,
13    probation, pretrial release, or diversionary program, and
14    a person detained under federal immigration law at a
15    correctional facility.
16        "Correctional institution or facility" means a
17    building or part of a building where committed persons are
18    kept in a secured manner, including adult and juvenile
19    correctional institutions or facilities.
20        "Corrections official" means the official that is
21    responsible for oversight of a correctional institution,
22    or his or her designee.
23        "Extraordinary circumstance" means an extraordinary

 

 

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1    medical or security circumstance, including a substantial
2    flight risk, that dictates restraints be used to ensure the
3    safety and security of the committed person, the staff of
4    the correctional institution or medical facility, other
5    committed persons, or the public.
6        "Labor" means the period of time before a birth and
7    shall include a medical condition in which a woman is sent
8    or brought to the hospital for the purpose of delivering
9    her baby. These situations include induction of labor,
10    prodromal labor, pre-term labor, prelabor rupture of
11    membranes, the three stages of active labor, uterine
12    hemorrhage during the third trimester of pregnancy, and
13    caesarian delivery including pre-operative preparation.
14        "Post-partum" means, as determined by her physician,
15    the period immediately following delivery, including the
16    entire period a woman is in the hospital or infirmary after
17    birth.
18        "Restraints" means a physical restraint or mechanical
19    device used to control the movement of a committed person's
20    body or limbs, or both, including, but not limited to, flex
21    cuffs, soft restraints, hard metal handcuffs, a black box,
22    leg irons, belly chains, a security (tether) chain,
23    electronic restraints, a convex shield, or shackles of any
24    kind.
25    (b) The Department shall not apply security restraints to a
26committed person that has been determined by a qualified

 

 

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1medical professional to be pregnant and is known to be pregnant
2by the Department or in postpartum recovery, which is the
3entire period a woman is in the medical facility after birth,
4unless the corrections official makes an individualized
5determination that the pregnant committed person presents a
6substantial flight risk or some other extraordinary
7circumstance that dictates security restraints be used to
8ensure the safety and security of the pregnant committed
9person, her child or unborn child, the staff of the Department
10or medical facility, other committed persons, or the public.
11The protections set out in clauses (b)(3) and (b)(4) of this
12Section shall apply to security restraints used pursuant to
13this subsection. The corrections official shall immediately
14remove all restraints upon the written or oral request of
15medical personnel. When medical personnel makes an oral
16request, that request shall be verified in writing as promptly
17as reasonably possible.
18        (1) Qualified and authorized health care staff shall
19    have the authority to order therapeutic restraints for a
20    pregnant or postpartum committed person who is a danger to
21    herself, her child, unborn child, or other persons due to a
22    psychiatric or medical disorder. Therapeutic restraints
23    may only be initiated, monitored and discontinued only by
24    qualified and authorized health care staff and used to
25    safely limit a committed person's mobility for psychiatric
26    or medical reasons. No order for therapeutic restraints

 

 

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1    shall be issued unless medical or mental health personnel,
2    after personally observing and examining the committed
3    person, are clinically satisfied that the use of
4    therapeutic restraints is justified and permitted in
5    accordance with hospital policies and applicable State
6    law. Metal handcuffs or shackles are not considered
7    therapeutic restraints.
8        (2) Whenever therapeutic restraints are used by
9    medical personnel, Section 2-108 of the Mental Health and
10    Developmental Disabilities Code shall apply.
11        (3) Leg irons, shackles or waist shackles shall not be
12    used on a pregnant or postpartum committed person
13    regardless of security classification.
14        (4) When a pregnant or postpartum committed person must
15    be restrained, restraints used shall be the least
16    restrictive restraints possible to ensure the safety and
17    security of the committed person, her child, unborn child,
18    the staff of the Department or medical facility, other
19    committed persons, or the public.
20        (5) Upon the pregnant committed person's entry into a
21    hospital room, and completion of initial room inspection, a
22    corrections official shall be posted immediately outside
23    the hospital room and not inside the room, unless requested
24    to be in the room by medical personnel attending to the
25    pregnant committed person's medical needs.
26        (6) The Department shall provide adequate personnel to

 

 

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1    monitor the pregnant committed person during her transport
2    to and from the hospital and during her stay at the
3    hospital.
4        (7) Where the Department requires safety assessments,
5    a corrections official may enter the hospital room to
6    conduct periodic safety assessments, except during a
7    medical examination or the delivery process.
8        (8) Upon discharge from a medical facility, a
9    postpartum committed person shall be restrained only with
10    handcuffs in front of the body during transport to the
11    Department facility. The corrections official shall
12    immediately remove all security restraints upon written or
13    oral request by medical personnel. When medical personnel
14    makes an oral request, that request shall be verified in
15    writing as promptly as reasonably possible.
16    (c) Annual report. No later than 30 days before the end of
17each fiscal year, the Director of Corrections and Director of
18the Department of Juvenile Justice shall submit a written
19report to the General Assembly that includes an account of
20every instance of restraint of a pregnant or post-partum
21committed person under this Section. The written report shall
22include the time, date, location, the corrections official
23involved, medical staff involved, and the rationale for using
24restraints. The written report shall not contain individually
25identifying information of a committed person. The reports
26shall be made available for public inspection.

 

 

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1    (d) Training. The Department shall require all security
2staff to undergo training in the treatment, movement, and
3transportation of pregnant committed persons during their
4initial training. The training shall include: information
5about the medical risks involved in placing handcuffs and other
6restraints on a pregnant woman; information about trauma,
7post-traumatic stress, the risks to the fetus' brain
8development from causing stress to the pregnant woman, and the
9risk of post-partum depression being caused by trauma and
10stress.
11Notwithstanding any other statute, directive, or
12administrative regulation, when a pregnant female committed
13person is brought to a hospital from an Illinois correctional
14center for the purpose of delivering her baby, no handcuffs,
15shackles, or restraints of any kind may be used during her
16transport to a medical facility for the purpose of delivering
17her baby. Under no circumstances may leg irons or shackles or
18waist shackles be used on any pregnant female committed person
19who is in labor. Upon the pregnant female committed person's
20entry to the hospital delivery room, a correctional officer
21must be posted immediately outside the delivery room. The
22Department must provide for adequate personnel to monitor the
23pregnant female committed person during her transport to and
24from the hospital and during her stay at the hospital.
25(Source: P.A. 91-253, eff. 1-1-00.)

 

 

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1 INDEX
2 Statutes amended in order of appearance
3    730 ILCS 5/3-6-7