Bill Text: IL HB5091 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Vital Records Act. Provides that an injunction enjoining the issuance of a permit to disinter human remains shall issue only when the person seeking the injunction has rights superior to the person seeking the permit to disinter. Provides that if a person seeking an injunction does not have rights superior to the person seeking the permit to disinter, a court of competent jurisdiction may award costs to the person seeking the permit to disinter, if the court makes a finding that the action seeking the injunction was brought in bad faith. Amends the Disposition of Remains Act. Provides that if a court finds that a person has filed or opposed an action relating to the person's right to control disposition, the court may award costs against the person it finds has acted in bad faith. Amends the Cemetery Protection Act. Provides that any bylaws, rules, and regulations made by the cemetery authority for the government thereof are effective if made publicly available through continuous publication on the cemetery authority's website or on the cemetery authority's social media page. Requires a cemetery authority that does not maintain a website or social media page to provide a copy of the bylaws, rules, and regulations to each person prior to or contemporaneous with the cemetery authority's presentment of any contract or legal agreement for services in relation to the cemetery. Provides that the amendatory Act may be referred to as the Michael Bauer Memorial Act.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-27 - Referred to Rules Committee [HB5091 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HB5091-Introduced.html

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102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2021 and 2022 HB5091 Introduced , by Rep. Kelly M. Cassidy SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
410 ILCS 535/21 from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-21
755 ILCS 65/5
755 ILCS 65/50
765 ILCS 835/2 from Ch. 21, par. 16
Amends the Vital Records Act. Provides that an injunction enjoining the issuance of a permit to disinter human remains shall issue only when the person seeking the injunction has rights superior to the person seeking the permit to disinter. Provides that if a person seeking an injunction does not have rights superior to the person seeking the permit to disinter, a court of competent may award costs to the person seeking the permit to disinter, if the court makes a finding that the action seeking the injunction was brought in bad faith. Amends the Disposition of Remains Act. Provides that if a court finds that a person has filed or opposed an action relating to the person's right to control disposition, the court may award costs against the person it finds has acted in bad faith. Amends the Cemetery Protection Act. Provides that any bylaws, rules, and regulations made by the cemetery authority for the government thereof are effective if made publicly available through continuous publication on the cemetery authority's website or on the cemetery authority's social media page. Requires a cemetery authority that does not maintain a website or social media page to provide a copy of the bylaws, rules, and regulations to each person prior to or contemporaneous with the cemetery authority's presentment of any contract or legal agreement for services in relation to the cemetery. Provides that the amendatory Act may be referred to as the Michael Bauer Memorial Act.
LRB102 26002 LNS 35411 b
A BILL FOR
HB5091 LRB102 26002 LNS 35411 b
AN ACT concerning civil law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. References to Act. This Act may be referred to
as the Michael Bauer Memorial Act.
Section 5. The Vital Records Act is amended by changing
Section 21 as follows:
(410 ILCS 535/21) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 73-21)
Sec. 21. (1) The funeral director or person acting as such
who first assumes custody of a dead body or fetus shall make a
written report to the registrar of the district in which death
occurred or in which the body or fetus was found within 24
hours after taking custody of the body or fetus on a form
prescribed and furnished by the State Registrar and in
accordance with the rules promulgated by the State Registrar.
Except as specified in paragraph (2) of this Section, the
written report shall serve as a permit to transport, bury, or
entomb the body or fetus within this State, provided that the
funeral director or person acting as such shall certify that
the certifying health care professional who, within 12 months
prior to the date of the patient's death, was treating or
managing treatment of the patient's illness or condition which

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resulted in death has been contacted and has affirmatively
stated that he or she will sign the medical certificate of
death or the fetal death certificate. If a funeral director
fails to file written reports under this Section in a timely
manner, the local registrar may suspend the funeral director's
privilege of filing written reports by mail. In a county with a
population greater than 3,000,000, if a funeral director or
person acting as such inters or entombs a dead body without
having previously certified that the certifying health care
professional who, within 12 months prior to the date of the
patient's death, was treating or managing treatment of the
patient's illness or condition that resulted in death has been
contacted and has affirmatively stated that he or she will
sign the medical certificate of death, then that funeral
director or person acting as such is responsible for payment
of the specific costs incurred by the county medical examiner
in disinterring and reinterring or reentombing the dead body.
(2) The written report as specified in paragraph (1) of
this Section shall not serve as a permit to:
(a) Remove body or fetus from this State;
(b) Cremate the body or fetus; or
(c) Make disposal of any body or fetus in any manner
when death is subject to the coroner's or medical
examiner's investigation.
(3) In accordance with the provisions of paragraph (2) of
this Section the funeral director or person acting as such who

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first assumes custody of a dead body or fetus shall obtain a
permit for disposition of such dead human body prior to final
disposition or removal from the State of the body or fetus.
Such permit shall be issued by the registrar of the district
where death occurred or the body or fetus was found. No such
permit shall be issued until a properly completed certificate
of death has been filed with the registrar. The registrar
shall insure the issuance of a permit for disposition within
an expedited period of time to accommodate Sunday or holiday
burials of decedents whose time of death and religious tenets
or beliefs necessitate Sunday or holiday burials.
(4) A permit which accompanies a dead body or fetus
brought into this State shall be authority for final
disposition of the body or fetus in this State, except in
municipalities where local ordinance requires the issuance of
a local permit prior to disposition.
(5) A permit for disposition of a dead human body shall be
required prior to disinterment of a dead body or fetus, and
when the disinterred body is to be shipped by a common carrier.
Such permit shall be issued to a licensed funeral director or
person acting as such, upon proper application, by the local
registrar of the district in which disinterment is to be made.
In the case of disinterment, proper application shall include
a statement providing the name and address of any surviving
spouse of the deceased, or, if none, any surviving children of
the deceased, or if no surviving spouse or children, a parent,

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brother, or sister of the deceased. The application shall
indicate whether the applicant is one of these parties and, if
so, whether the applicant is a surviving spouse or a surviving
child. Prior to the issuance of a permit for disinterment, the
local registrar shall, by certified mail, notify the surviving
spouse, unless he or she is the applicant, or if there is no
surviving spouse, all surviving children except for the
applicant, of the application for the permit. The person or
persons notified shall have 30 days from the mailing of the
notice to object by obtaining an injunction enjoining the
issuance of the permit. After the 30-day period has expired,
the local registrar shall issue the permit unless he or she has
been enjoined from doing so or there are other statutory
grounds for refusal. The notice to the spouse or surviving
children shall inform the person or persons being notified of
the right to seek an injunction within 30 days. An injunction
enjoining the issuance of a permit to disinter shall issue
only when the person seeking the injunction has rights
superior, according to Section 5 of the Disposition of Remains
Act, to the person seeking the permit to disinter. If a person
seeking an injunction does not have rights superior, according
to Section 5 of the Disposition of Remains Act, to the person
seeking the permit to disinter, a court of competent
jurisdiction may award costs, including reasonable attorney's
fees, to the person seeking the permit to disinter, if the
court makes a finding that the action seeking the injunction

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was brought in bad faith. Notwithstanding any other provision
of this subsection (5), a court may order issuance of a permit
for disinterment without notice or prior to the expiration of
the 30-day period where the petition is made by an agency of
any governmental unit and good cause is shown for disinterment
without notice or for the early order. Nothing in this
subsection (5) limits the authority of the City of Chicago to
acquire property or otherwise exercise its powers under the
O'Hare Modernization Act or requires that City, or any person
acting on behalf of that City, to obtain a permit under this
subsection (5) when exercising powers under the O'Hare
Modernization Act. The Illinois Department of Transportation,
and any person acting on its behalf under a public-private
agreement entered into in accordance with the Public-Private
Agreements for the South Suburban Airport Act, is exempt from
this subsection (5), provided that the Illinois Department of
Transportation, or any such person, takes reasonable steps to
comply with the provisions of this subsection (5) so long as
compliance does not interfere with the design, development,
operation, or maintenance of the South Suburban Airport or the
exercise of their powers under the Public-Private Agreements
for the South Suburban Airport Act.
(Source: P.A. 102-257, eff. 1-1-22.)
Section 10. The Disposition of Remains Act is amended by
changing Sections 5 and 50 as follows:

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(755 ILCS 65/5)
Sec. 5. Right to control disposition; priority. Unless a
decedent has left directions in writing for the disposition or
designated an agent 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 this Act,
the following persons, in the priority listed, have the right
to control the disposition, including cremation or
disinterment, of the decedent's remains and are liable for the
reasonable costs of the disposition:
(1) the person designated in a written instrument that
satisfies the provisions of Sections 10 and 15 of this
Act;
(2) any person serving as executor or legal
representative of the decedent's estate and acting
according to the decedent's written instructions contained
in the decedent's will;
(3) the individual who was the spouse of the decedent
at the time of the decedent's death;
(4) the sole surviving competent adult child of the
decedent, or if there is more than one surviving competent
adult child of the decedent, the majority of the surviving
competent adult children; however, less than one-half of
the surviving adult children shall be vested with the
rights and duties of this Section if they have used

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reasonable efforts to notify all other surviving competent
adult children of their instructions and are not aware of
any opposition to those instructions on the part of more
than one-half of all surviving competent adult children;
(5) the surviving competent parents of the decedent;
if one of the surviving competent parents is absent, the
remaining competent parent shall be vested with the rights
and duties of this Act after reasonable efforts have been
unsuccessful in locating the absent surviving competent
parent;
(6) the surviving competent adult person or persons
respectively in the next degrees of kindred or, if there
is more than one surviving competent adult person of the
same degree of kindred, the majority of those persons;
less than the majority of surviving competent adult
persons of the same degree of kindred shall be vested with
the rights and duties of this Act if those persons have
used reasonable efforts to notify all other surviving
competent adult persons of the same degree of kindred of
their instructions and are not aware of any opposition to
those instructions on the part of one-half or more of all
surviving competent adult persons of the same degree of
kindred;
(6.5) any recognized religious, civic, community, or
fraternal organization willing to assume legal and
financial responsibility;

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(7) in the case of indigents or any other individuals
whose final disposition is the responsibility of the State
or any of its instrumentalities, a public administrator,
medical examiner, coroner, State appointed guardian, or
any other public official charged with arranging the final
disposition of the decedent;
(8) in the case of individuals who have donated their
bodies to science, or whose death occurred in a nursing
home or other private institution and the institution is
charged with making arrangements for the final disposition
of the decedent, a representative of the institution; or
(9) any other person or organization that is willing
to assume legal and financial responsibility.
As used in Section, "adult" means any individual who has
reached his or her eighteenth birthday.
Notwithstanding provisions to the contrary, in the case of
decedents who die while serving as members of the United
States Armed Forces, the Illinois National Guard, or the
United States Reserve Forces, as defined in Section 1481 of
Title 10 of the United States Code, and who have executed the
required U.S. Department of Defense Record of Emergency Data
Form (DD Form 93), or successor form, the person designated in
such form to direct disposition of the decedent's remains
shall have the right to control the disposition, including
cremation, of the decedent's remains.
(Source: P.A. 100-526, eff. 6-1-18.)

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(755 ILCS 65/50)
Sec. 50. Disputes. Any dispute among any of the persons
listed in Section 5 concerning their right to control the
disposition, including cremation or disinterment, of a
decedent's remains shall be resolved by a court of competent
jurisdiction within 30 days of the dispute being filed with
the court. A cemetery organization or funeral establishment
shall not be liable for refusing to accept the decedent's
remains, or to inter, disinter, or otherwise dispose of the
decedent's remains, until it receives a court order or other
suitable confirmation that the dispute has been resolved or
settled. If a court of competent jurisdiction finds that a
person listed in Section 5 has, in bad faith, filed or opposed
an action relating to the person's right to control
disposition, including cremation or disinterment, the court
may award costs, including reasonable attorney's fees, against
the person it finds has acted in bad faith.
(Source: P.A. 101-381, eff. 1-1-20.)
Section 15. The Cemetery Protection Act is amended by
changing Section 2 as follows:
(765 ILCS 835/2) (from Ch. 21, par. 16)
Sec. 2. The cemetery authority is hereby authorized to
make bylaws by-laws or rules and regulations for the

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government thereof, and to make rules regarding the driving of
cars, motorcycles, carriages, processions, teams, and the
speed thereof, the use of avenues, lots, walks, ponds, water
courses, vaults, buildings, or other places within such
cemetery, the operations and good management in such cemetery,
the protection of visitors, the protection of employees, and
for the maintenance of good order and quiet in such cemetery,
all such rules to be subject to the rights to control the
disposition of a decedent's remains in accordance with the
Disposition of Remains Act of interment, entombment, or
inurnment right owners, or others, owning any interest in such
cemetery; and all persons found guilty of a violation of such
rules shall be guilty of a petty offense and shall be punished
by a fine of not less than $100, nor more than $500 for each
offense. No judge shall be disqualified from hearing any cause
that may be brought before him under the provisions of this
Act, nor shall any person be disqualified from acting as a
juror in such cause, by reason of any interest or ownership
they or either of them may have in the interment, entombment,
or inurnment rights of such cemetery. Any bylaws, rules, and
regulations made by the cemetery authority for the government
thereof are effective if made publicly available through
continuous publication on the cemetery authority's website or
on the cemetery authority's social media page with a reference
to and notice of the bylaws, rules, and regulations set forth
in every contract or legal agreement with any person for

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services in relation to the cemetery. However, if the cemetery
authority does not maintain a website or social media page,
the cemetery authority shall provide a copy of the bylaws,
rules, and regulations to each person prior to or
contemporaneous with the cemetery authority's or its
representative's presentment of any contract or legal
agreement for services in relation to the cemetery.
(Source: P.A. 94-44, eff. 6-17-05.)