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| Public Act 099-0354
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| HB0233 Enrolled | LRB099 02809 AWJ 22817 b |
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AN ACT concerning local government.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing Section |
3-3013 as follows:
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(55 ILCS 5/3-3013) (from Ch. 34, par. 3-3013)
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Sec. 3-3013. Preliminary investigations; blood and urine |
analysis;
summoning jury; reports. Every coroner, whenever, as |
soon as he knows or is
informed that the dead body of any |
person is found, or lying within his
county, whose death is |
suspected of being:
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(a) A sudden or violent death, whether apparently |
suicidal,
homicidal or accidental, including but not |
limited to deaths apparently
caused or contributed to by |
thermal, traumatic, chemical, electrical or
radiational |
injury, or a complication of any of them, or by drowning or
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suffocation, or as a result of domestic violence as defined |
in the Illinois
Domestic
Violence Act of 1986;
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(b) A maternal or fetal death due to abortion, or any |
death due to a
sex crime or a crime against nature;
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(c) A death where the circumstances are suspicious, |
obscure,
mysterious or otherwise unexplained or where, in |
the written opinion of
the attending physician, the cause |
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of death is not determined;
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(d) A death where addiction to alcohol or to any drug |
may have been
a contributory cause; or
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(e) A death where the decedent was not attended by a |
licensed
physician;
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shall go to the place where the dead body is, and take charge |
of the
same and shall make a preliminary investigation into the |
circumstances
of the death. In the case of death without |
attendance by a licensed
physician the body may be moved with |
the coroner's consent from the
place of death to a mortuary in |
the same county. Coroners in their
discretion shall notify such |
physician as is designated in accordance
with Section 3-3014 to |
attempt to ascertain the cause of death, either by
autopsy or |
otherwise.
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In cases of accidental death involving a motor vehicle in |
which the
decedent was (1) the operator or a suspected operator |
of a motor
vehicle, or (2) a pedestrian 16 years of age or |
older, the coroner shall
require that a blood specimen of at |
least 30 cc., and if medically
possible a urine specimen of at |
least 30 cc. or as much as possible up
to 30 cc., be withdrawn |
from the body of the decedent in a timely fashion after
the |
accident causing his death, by such physician as has been |
designated
in accordance with Section 3-3014, or by the coroner |
or deputy coroner or
a qualified person designated by such |
physician, coroner, or deputy coroner. If the county
does not |
maintain laboratory facilities for making such analysis, the
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blood and urine so drawn shall be sent to the Department of |
State Police or any other accredited or State-certified |
laboratory
for analysis of the alcohol, carbon monoxide, and |
dangerous or
narcotic drug content of such blood and urine |
specimens. Each specimen
submitted shall be accompanied by |
pertinent information concerning the
decedent upon a form |
prescribed by such laboratory. Any
person drawing blood and |
urine and any person making any examination of
the blood and |
urine under the terms of this Division shall be immune from all
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liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred |
or
imposed.
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In all other cases coming within the jurisdiction of the |
coroner and
referred to in subparagraphs (a) through (e) above, |
blood, and whenever
possible, urine samples shall be analyzed |
for the presence of alcohol
and other drugs. When the coroner |
suspects that drugs may have been
involved in the death, either |
directly or indirectly, a toxicological
examination shall be |
performed which may include analyses of blood, urine,
bile, |
gastric contents and other tissues. When the coroner suspects
a |
death is due to toxic substances, other than drugs, the coroner |
shall
consult with the toxicologist prior to collection of |
samples. Information
submitted to the toxicologist shall |
include information as to height,
weight, age, sex and race of |
the decedent as well as medical history,
medications used by |
and the manner of death of decedent.
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When the coroner or medical examiner finds that the cause |
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of death is due to homicidal means, the coroner or medical |
examiner shall cause blood and buccal specimens (tissue may be |
submitted if no uncontaminated blood or buccal specimen can be |
obtained), whenever possible, to be withdrawn from the body of |
the decedent in a timely fashion. For proper preservation of |
the specimens, collected blood and buccal specimens shall be |
dried and tissue specimens shall be frozen if available |
equipment exists. As soon as possible, but no later than 30 |
Within 45 days after the collection of the specimens, the |
coroner or medical examiner shall release deliver those |
specimens, dried, to the police agency responsible for |
investigating the death. As soon as possible but no later than |
30 days after the receipt from the coroner or medical examiner, |
the police agency shall submit the specimens using the agency |
case number to a National DNA Index System (NDIS) participating |
laboratory within this State, such as the Illinois Department |
of State Police, Division of Forensic Services, for analysis |
and categorizing into genetic marker groupings. The results of |
the analysis and categorizing into genetic marker groupings |
shall be provided to the Illinois Department of State Police |
and shall to be maintained by the Illinois Department of State |
Police in the State central repository in the same manner, and |
subject to the same conditions, as provided in Section 5-4-3 of |
the Unified Code of Corrections. The requirements of this |
paragraph are in addition to any other findings, specimens, or |
information that the coroner or medical examiner is required to |
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provide during the conduct of a criminal investigation.
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In all counties, in cases of apparent
suicide, homicide, or |
accidental death or in other cases, within the
discretion of |
the coroner, the coroner may summon 8 persons of lawful age
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from those persons drawn for petit jurors in the county. The |
summons shall
command these persons to present themselves |
personally at such a place and
time as the coroner shall |
determine, and may be in any form which the
coroner shall |
determine and may incorporate any reasonable form of request
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for acknowledgement which the coroner deems practical and |
provides a
reliable proof of service. The summons may be served |
by first class mail.
From the 8 persons so summoned, the |
coroner shall select 6 to serve as the
jury for the inquest. |
Inquests may be continued from time
to time, as the coroner may |
deem necessary. The 6 jurors selected in
a given case may view |
the body of the deceased.
If at any continuation of an inquest |
one or more of the original jurors
shall be unable to continue |
to serve, the coroner shall fill the vacancy or
vacancies. A |
juror serving pursuant to this paragraph shall receive
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compensation from the county at the same rate as the rate of |
compensation
that is paid to petit or grand jurors in the |
county. The coroner shall
furnish to each juror without fee at |
the time of his discharge a
certificate of the number of days |
in attendance at an inquest, and, upon
being presented with |
such certificate, the county treasurer shall pay to
the juror |
the sum provided for his services.
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In counties which have a jury commission, in cases of |
apparent suicide or
homicide or of accidental death, the |
coroner may conduct an inquest. The jury commission shall |
provide
at least 8 jurors to the coroner, from whom the coroner |
shall select any 6
to serve as the jury for the inquest. |
Inquests may be continued from time
to time as the coroner may |
deem necessary. The 6 jurors originally chosen
in a given case |
may view the body of the deceased. If at any continuation
of an |
inquest one or more of the 6 jurors originally chosen shall be |
unable
to continue to serve, the coroner shall fill the vacancy |
or vacancies. At
the coroner's discretion, additional jurors to |
fill such vacancies shall be
supplied by the jury commission. A |
juror serving pursuant to this
paragraph in such county shall |
receive compensation from the county at the
same rate as the |
rate of compensation that is paid to petit or grand jurors
in |
the county.
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In every case in which a fire is determined to be
a
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contributing factor in a death, the coroner shall report the |
death to the
Office of the State Fire Marshal. The coroner |
shall provide a copy of the death certificate (i) within 30 |
days after filing the permanent death certificate and (ii) in a |
manner that is agreed upon by the coroner and the State Fire |
Marshal. |
In addition, in every case in which domestic violence is |
determined to be
a
contributing factor in a death, the coroner |
shall report the death to the
Department of State Police.
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All deaths in State institutions and all deaths of wards of |
the State in
private care facilities or in programs funded by |
the Department of Human
Services under its powers relating to |
mental health and developmental
disabilities or alcoholism and |
substance
abuse or funded by the Department of Children and |
Family Services shall
be reported to the coroner of the county |
in which the facility is
located. If the coroner has reason to |
believe that an investigation is
needed to determine whether |
the death was caused by maltreatment or
negligent care of the |
ward of the State, the coroner may conduct a
preliminary |
investigation of the circumstances of such death as in cases of
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death under circumstances set forth in paragraphs (a) through |
(e) of this
Section.
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(Source: P.A. 95-484, eff. 6-1-08; 96-1059, eff. 7-14-10.)
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