HB5538 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB097 17705 RLC 62919 b

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.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning corrections.

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

Section 5. The Unified Code of Corrections is amended by changing Section 3-6-7 as follows:

(730 ILCS 5/3-6-7)

Sec. 3-6-7. Pregnant female committed persons.

(a) Definitions. For the purpose of this Section:

"Committed person" means a person committed to the Department by judicially determined placement in the custody of the Department on the basis of delinquency or conviction, or under the terms and conditions of parole, probation, pretrial release, or diversionary program, and a person detained under federal immigration law at a correctional facility.

"Correctional institution or facility" means a building or part of a building where committed persons are kept in a secured manner, including adult and juvenile correctional institutions or facilities.

"Corrections official" means the official that is responsible for oversight of a correctional institution, or his or her designee.

"Extraordinary circumstance" means an extraordinary medical or security circumstance, including a substantial flight risk, that dictates restraints be used to ensure the safety and security of the committed person, the staff of the correctional institution or medical facility, other committed persons, or the public.

"Labor" means the period of time before a birth and shall include a medical condition in which a woman is sent or brought to the hospital for the purpose of delivering her baby. These situations include induction of labor, prodromal labor, pre-term labor, prelabor rupture of membranes, the three stages of active labor, uterine hemorrhage during the third trimester of pregnancy, and caesarian delivery including pre-operative preparation.

"Post-partum" means, as determined by her physician, the period immediately following delivery, including the entire period a woman is in the hospital or infirmary after birth.

"Restraints" means a physical restraint or mechanical device used to control the movement of a committed person's body or limbs, or both, including, but not limited to, flex cuffs, soft restraints, hard metal handcuffs, a black box, leg irons, belly chains, a security (tether) chain, electronic restraints, a convex shield, or shackles of any kind.

(b) The Department 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. The protections set out in clauses (b)(3) and (b)(4) of this Section shall apply to security restraints used pursuant to this subsection. The corrections official shall immediately remove all restraints upon the written or oral request of medical personnel. When medical personnel makes an oral request, that request shall be verified in writing as promptly as reasonably possible.

(1) Qualified and authorized health care staff shall have the authority to order therapeutic restraints for a pregnant or postpartum committed person who is a danger to herself, her child, unborn child, or other persons due to a psychiatric or medical disorder. Therapeutic restraints may only be initiated, monitored and discontinued only by qualified and authorized health care staff and used to safely limit a committed person's mobility for psychiatric or medical reasons. No order for therapeutic restraints shall be issued unless medical or mental health personnel, after personally observing and examining the committed person, are clinically satisfied that the use of therapeutic restraints is justified and permitted in accordance with hospital policies and applicable State law. Metal handcuffs or shackles are not considered therapeutic restraints.

(2) Whenever therapeutic restraints are used by medical personnel, Section 2-108 of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code shall apply.

(3) Leg irons, shackles or waist shackles shall not be used on a pregnant or postpartum committed person regardless of security classification.

(4) When a pregnant or postpartum committed person must be restrained, restraints used shall be the least restrictive restraints possible to ensure the safety and security of the committed person, her child, unborn child, the staff of the Department or medical facility, other committed persons, or the public.

(5) Upon the pregnant committed person's entry into a hospital room, and completion of initial room inspection, a corrections official shall be posted immediately outside the hospital room and not inside the room, unless requested to be in the room by medical personnel attending to the pregnant committed person's medical needs.

(6) The Department shall provide adequate personnel to monitor the pregnant committed person during her transport to and from the hospital and during her stay at the hospital.

(7) Where the Department requires safety assessments, a corrections official may enter the hospital room to conduct periodic safety assessments, except during a medical examination or the delivery process.

(8) Upon discharge from a medical facility, a postpartum committed person shall be restrained only with handcuffs in front of the body during transport to the Department facility. The corrections official shall immediately remove all security restraints upon written or oral request by medical personnel. When medical personnel makes an oral request, that request shall be verified in writing as promptly as reasonably possible.

(c) Annual report. No later than 30 days before the end of each fiscal year, the Director of Corrections and Director of the Department of Juvenile Justice shall submit a written report to the General Assembly that includes an account of every instance of restraint of a pregnant or post-partum committed person under this Section. The written report shall include the time, date, location, the corrections official involved, medical staff involved, and the rationale for using restraints. The written report shall not contain individually identifying information of a committed person. The reports shall be made available for public inspection.

(d) Training. The Department shall require all security staff to undergo training in the treatment, movement, and transportation of pregnant committed persons during their initial training. The training shall include: information about the medical risks involved in placing handcuffs and other restraints on a pregnant woman; information about trauma, post-traumatic stress, the risks to the fetus' brain development from causing stress to the pregnant woman, and the risk of post-partum depression being caused by trauma and stress. Notwithstanding any other statute, directive, or administrative regulation, when a pregnant female committed person is brought to a hospital from an Illinois correctional center for the purpose of delivering her baby, no handcuffs, shackles, or restraints of any kind may be used during her transport to a medical facility for the purpose of delivering her baby. Under no circumstances may leg irons or shackles or waist shackles be used on any pregnant female committed person who is in labor. Upon the pregnant female committed person's entry to the hospital delivery room, a correctional officer must be posted immediately outside the delivery room. The Department must provide for adequate personnel to monitor the pregnant female committed person during her transport to and from the hospital and during her stay at the hospital.

(Source: P.A. 91-253, eff. 1-1-00.)