Public Act 100-0526
 
HB3488 EnrolledLRB100 07814 MJP 17881 b


  
    AN ACT concerning health.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  


 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 
Disposition of Remains of the Indigent Act.
 
    Section 5. Purpose. The General Assembly recognizes:
        (1) that each individual in the State regardless of his 
    or her economic situation is entitled to a dignified 
    disposition of his or her remains;
        (2) that it is a matter of public concern and interest 
    that the preparation, care, and final disposition of a 
    deceased human body be attended to with appropriate 
    observance and understanding;
        (3) that it is a matter of public concern and interest 
    that there is a due regard and respect for the reverent 
    care of the human body, for those bereaved, and the overall 
    spiritual dignity of every person;
        (4) that the provision of cadavers and other human 
    materials is a much-needed service for the advancement of 
    medical, mortuary, and other sciences;
        (5) that there is a critical shortage of cadavers 
    necessary for the advancement of medical, mortuary, and 
    other sciences;
        (6) that the State has, in the past, paid for the 
    burial and funeral of indigent individuals;
        (7) that payment for such services is not now 
    consistent with the needs or demands of the current State 
    budget;
        (8) that the State has had a long-standing policy that 
    government officials who have custody of a body of any 
    deceased person shall transfer such custody to any State 
    medical college, school, or other institution of higher 
    science education or school of mortuary science for 
    advancement of medical, anatomical, biological, or 
    mortuary science; and
        (9) that current law provides that any county coroner 
    may donate bodies not claimed by family members or friends.

  
 
    Section 7. Definitions. As used in this Act:
    "Department" means the Department of Public Health.
    "Qualified medical science institution" means an 
institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences meeting the 
requirements of Section 25 of this Act.
    "State facility" means any facility, hospital, 
institution, morgue, or other place for bodies of deceased 
persons owned or operated by the State of Illinois, other than 
a qualified medical science institution.
 
    Section 10. Indigent funeral and burial. 
    (a) If private funds are not available to pay funeral and 
burial costs and a request is made for those costs to an 
official of State or local government by an appropriate family 
member, executor, or agent empowered to direct the disposition 
of the decedent's remains, the official shall inform the 
appropriate family member, executor, or agent empowered to 
direct the disposition of the decedent's remains of the option 
to donate the remains for use in the advancement of medical 
science subject to any written directive of a will or other 
written instrument identified in Section 65 of the Crematory 
Regulation Act or in subsection (a) of Section 40 of the 
Disposition of Remains Act.
    (b) The appropriate family member, executor, or agent 
empowered to direct the disposition of the decedent's remains 
is responsible for authorizing the use of such remains in 
accordance with the process of the specific qualified medical 
science institution.
    (c) If funds are not otherwise available for burial or the 
cadaver has not been claimed by a family member or other 
responsible person, the coroner with custody may donate the 
cadaver for medical science purposes pursuant to Section 3-3034 
of the Counties Code.
 
    Section 15. Donation of unclaimed cadavers in the custody 
of the State. 
    (a) The director of any State facility in custody of a 
cadaver shall make reasonable efforts to contact a family 
member or other person responsible for the disposition of the 
remains for the purpose of claiming the remains.
    (b) If a family member or other person responsible for the 
disposition of the remains requests the remains, the person 
must remove or make arrangements to remove the remains within 
72 hours of notice from the facility.
    (c) If, after making reasonable efforts to contact a family 
member or other person responsible for the disposition of the 
remains, the cadaver is unclaimed or if a person claiming the 
remains has failed to remove or make arrangements to remove the 
cadaver within 72 hours of notice from the facility, the State 
facility director shall contribute the cadaver to a qualified 
medical science institution for use in the advancement of 
medical science as designated by the Department under Section 
30 of this Act unless it is necessary to preserve the body for 
law enforcement purposes or the decedent has left written 
instructions that he or she does not wish to be cremated or 
donated for medical science.
    (d) The State facility director shall as soon as is 
practicable after the end of the 72-hour notice period:

        (1) verify, if known, or make good faith efforts to 
    discover, if not known, identifying information regarding 
    the decedent, including ethnicity, religious affiliation, 
    and former associations;
        (2) after such verification or discovery, provide to 
    the Department all information in its possession relating 
    to the decedent;
        (3) preserve all information submitted to the 
    Department along with information on how the State facility 
    obtained or attempted to obtain information regarding the 
    decedent, including persons contacted, time of contact, 
    name of contact, and documents reviewed.
    (e) If a cadaver is contributed to a qualified medical 
science institution under this Section, the State facility 
director shall provide to the institution the name, address, 
e-mail address, and telephone number of the family member or 
other responsible party, if known.
    (f)  A qualified medical science institution receiving a 
cadaver pursuant to this Section is responsible for all costs 
related to the contribution, including transportation of the 
remains.

 
    Section 20. Institution of medical, mortuary, or other 
sciences. 
    (a) A qualified medical science institution receiving a 
cadaver pursuant to Section 15 of this Act shall:
        (1) hold the cadaver at its facility for 30 days after 
    receipt from the State facility; and
        (2) ensure during the 30-day period that the cadaver is 
    not used for any purpose other than for embalming.
    (b) After use of the remains, the qualified medical science 
institution shall cremate them pursuant to Section 19 of the 
Crematory Regulation Act and deliver them to the appropriate 
family member, executor, or agent empowered to direct the 
disposition of the decedent's cremated human remains. If no 
such person is available or if such person is unwilling to 
accept the remains, the qualified medical science institution 
shall inter the cremated human remains at a cemetery licensed 
under the Cemetery Oversight Act. Upon such interment, the 
institution shall notify the family member, executor, or agent 
empowered to direct the disposition of the decedent's remains, 
if known, by mail of the location of the remains. The 
institution shall maintain at all times a registry of such 
interred cremated human remains.
    (c) A qualified medical science institution is considered 
an authorizing agent under the Crematory Regulation Act only 
for the purpose of ordering the cremation and delivering or 
interring the remains following cremation as provided in this 
Section.

    (d) If at any time an appropriate family member, executor, 
or agent empowered to direct the disposition of the decedent's 
remains makes a written request concerning disposition or 
return of the remains, the qualified medical science 
institution shall, at its own expense, return the remains 
within a reasonable time.
    (e) A qualified medical science institution receiving a 
cadaver under Section 15 of this Act may not transfer a 
decedent's remains in a manner not authorized by this Act.
 
    Section 25. Registry of contributed cadavers and 
institutions of medical, mortuary, or other sciences. 
    (a) An institution of medical, mortuary, or other sciences 
is eligible to receive a contributed cadaver under Section 15 
of this Act if it meets the qualifications determined to be 
appropriate by the Department by rule and registers with the 
Department.  Under no circumstances is the harvesting and sale 
of body parts allowed, including after any medical, mortuary, 
or other sciences research has concluded. Qualified medical 
science institutions, at a minimum, must be either:
        (1) a medical college or school, or other institution 
    of higher science education or school of mortuary science, 
    public or private;
        (2) a hospital; or
        (3) a not-for-profit corporation under Section 
    501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code registered under the 
    Charitable Trust Act.
    (b) The Department shall maintain a registry of:
        (1) cadavers that have been contributed to qualified 
    medical science institutions of Section 15; and
        (2) institutions qualifying as institutions of 
    medical, mortuary, or other sciences eligible to receive 
    donations under this Act.
    The Department shall update the registry with any new 
information within 24 hours of receiving the information.

    (c) Each qualified medical science institution shall 
submit its request for cadavers in State custody. The 
Department shall designate the next institution to receive a 
cadaver when requested by a State facility.
    (d) If the number of cadavers is insufficient for the use 
of the relevant institutions, the Department shall determine 
which institution shall receive them, taking into account the 
relative proportion of the numbers of students at each 
institution.
 
    Section 30. Rules. The Department may adopt rules as 
necessary to implement this Act. 
 
    Section 35. Repealer. This Act is repealed on December 31, 
2022.
 
    Section 90. The Crematory Regulation Act is amended by 
changing Section 5 as follows:
 


    (410 ILCS 18/5)




    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2021)
    Sec. 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:

    "Address of record" means the designated address recorded 
by the Comptroller in the applicant's or licensee's application 
file or license file. It is the duty of the applicant or 
licensee to inform the Comptroller of any change of address 
within 14 days, and such changes must be made either through 
the Comptroller's website or by contacting the Comptroller. The 
address of record shall be the permanent street address of the 
crematory. 
    "Alternative container" means a receptacle, other than a 
casket, in
which human remains are transported to the crematory 
and placed in the
cremation chamber for cremation.  An 
alternative container shall be
(i) composed of readily 
combustible or consumable materials suitable for cremation, 
(ii) able
to be closed in order to provide a complete covering 
for the human remains,
(iii) resistant to leakage or spillage, 
(iv) rigid enough for handling with
ease, and (v) able to 
provide protection for the health, safety, and personal

integrity of crematory personnel.

    "Authorizing agent" means a person legally entitled to 
order the cremation and final
disposition of specific human 
remains. "Authorizing agent" includes an institution of 
medical, mortuary, or other sciences as provided in Section 20 
of the Disposition of Remains of the Indigent Act. 

    "Body parts" means limbs or other portions of the anatomy 
that are
removed from a person or human remains for medical 
purposes during treatment,
surgery, biopsy, autopsy, or 
medical research; or human bodies or any portion
of bodies that 
have been donated to science for medical research purposes.

    "Burial transit permit" means a permit for disposition of a 
dead human
body as required by Illinois law.

    "Casket" means a rigid container that is designed for the 
encasement of human
remains, is usually constructed of wood, 
metal, or like material and ornamented
and lined with fabric, 
and may or may not be combustible.


    "Comptroller" means the Comptroller of the State of 
Illinois.

    "Cremated remains" means all human remains recovered after 
the completion
of the cremation, which may possibly include the 
residue of any foreign matter
including casket material, 
bridgework, or eyeglasses, that  was cremated with
the human 
remains.

    "Cremation" means the technical process, using heat and 
flame, or alkaline hydrolysis that
reduces human remains to 
bone fragments.  The reduction takes place through
heat and 
evaporation or through hydrolysis. Cremation shall include the 
processing, and  may include
the pulverization, of the bone 
fragments.

    "Cremation chamber" means the enclosed space within which 
the  cremation
takes place.

    "Cremation interment container" means a rigid outer 
container that,
subject to a cemetery's rules and regulations, 
is composed of concrete, steel,
fiberglass, or some similar 
material in which an urn is placed prior to being
interred in 
the ground, and which is designed to withstand prolonged 
exposure
to the elements and to support  the earth above the 
urn.

    "Cremation room" means the room in which the cremation 
chamber is located.

    "Crematory" means the building or portion of a building 
that houses the
cremation room and the holding facility.

    "Crematory authority" means the legal entity which is 
licensed by
the Comptroller to
operate a crematory and to 
perform cremations.


    "Final disposition" means the burial, cremation, or other 
disposition of
a dead human body or parts of a dead human body.

    "Funeral director" means a person known by the title of 
"funeral
director", "funeral director and embalmer", or other 
similar words or
titles, licensed by the State to practice 
funeral directing or funeral
directing and embalming.

    "Funeral establishment" means a building or separate 
portion of a building
having a specific street address and 
location and devoted to activities
relating to the shelter, 
care, custody, and preparation of a deceased human
body and may 
contain facilities for funeral or wake  services.

    "Holding facility" means an area that (i) is designated for 
the retention of
human remains prior to cremation, (ii) 
complies with all applicable public
health law, (iii) preserves 
the  health and safety of the crematory authority
personnel, and 
(iv) is secure from access by anyone other than authorized

persons.  A holding facility may be located in a cremation room.

    "Human remains" means the body of a deceased person, 
including
any form of body prosthesis that has been permanently 
attached or
implanted in the body.

    "Licensee" means an entity licensed under this Act.  An 
entity that holds itself as a licensee or that is accused of 
unlicensed practice is considered a licensee for purposes of 
enforcement, investigation, hearings, and the Illinois 
Administrative Procedure Act. 
    "Niche" means a compartment or cubicle for the 
memorialization and permanent
placement of an urn containing 
cremated remains.

    "Person" means any person, partnership, association, 
corporation, limited liability company, or other entity, and in 
the case of any such business organization, its officers, 
partners, members, or shareholders possessing 25% or more of 
ownership of the entity. 
    "Processing" means the reduction of identifiable bone 
fragments after the
completion of the cremation process to 
unidentifiable bone fragments by manual
or mechanical means.

    "Pulverization" means the reduction of identifiable bone 
fragments after the
completion of the cremation process to 
granulated particles by  manual or
mechanical means.

    "Scattering area" means an area which may be designated by 
a cemetery and
located on dedicated cemetery property where 
cremated remains, which have been
removed
from their container, 
can be mixed with, or placed on top of, the soil or
ground 
cover.

    "Temporary container" means a receptacle for cremated

remains, usually composed of cardboard, plastic or similar 
material, that
can be closed in a manner that prevents the 
leakage or spillage of the
cremated remains or the entrance of 
foreign material, and is a single
container of sufficient size 
to hold the cremated remains until an urn is
acquired or the 
cremated remains are scattered.

    "Urn" means a receptacle
designed to encase the  cremated 
remains.

(Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-12; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12.)

 
    Section 95. The Disposition of Remains Act is amended  by 
changing Section 5 as follows:
 
    (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, 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 
    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; 
        (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, who have executed 
    cremation authorization forms under Section 65 of the 
    Crematory Regulation Act 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. 97-333, eff. 8-12-11; 98-463, eff. 8-16-13.)