State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
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91_HB2500

 
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 1        AN ACT to amend the Criminal Code  of  1961  by  changing
 2    Sections 12-19 and 12-21.

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

 5        Section 5.  The Criminal  Code  of  1961  is  amended  by
 6    changing Sections 12-19 and 12-21 as follows:

 7        (720 ILCS 5/12-19) (from Ch. 38, par. 12-19)
 8        Sec.  12-19.  Abuse and Gross Neglect of a Long Term Care
 9    Facility Resident.
10        (a) Any person or any owner or licensee of  a  long  term
11    care  facility  who abuses a long term care facility resident
12    is guilty of a Class 3 felony.  Any person or  any  owner  or
13    licensee  of a long term care facility who grossly neglects a
14    long term care facility resident  is  guilty  of  a  Class  4
15    felony  for a first conviction, a Class 3 felony for a second
16    conviction, or a Class 1 felony for  a  third  or  subsequent
17    conviction.
18        It  shall be an affirmative defense to any charge brought
19    pursuant to this subsection (a) that the  individual  charged
20    is  However,  nothing  herein  shall  be deemed to apply to a
21    physician licensed to practice medicine in all  its  branches
22    or  a  duly licensed nurse providing care within the scope of
23    his or her professional  judgment  and  within  the  accepted
24    standards of care within the community.
25        (b)  Notwithstanding the penalties in subsections (a) and
26    (c) and in addition thereto, if a licensee or owner of a long
27    term  care  facility  or  his  or  her employee has caused or
28    permitted neglect of a resident, the  licensee  or  owner  is
29    guilty  of  a  business  petty  offense for which a fine over
30    $1,000 but not over $10,000 shall  be  imposed  for  a  first
31    offense and a fine not less than $5,000 nor more than $50,000
 
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 1    shall  be  imposed  for  a  second or subsequent offense.  An
 2    owner or licensee is guilty under this subsection (b) only if
 3    the owner or licensee failed to exercise reasonable  care  in
 4    the  hiring,  training, supervising, or providing of staff or
 5    other related routine administrative responsibilities.
 6        (c)  Notwithstanding the penalties in subsections (a) and
 7    (b) and in addition thereto, if a licensee or owner of a long
 8    term care facility or his  or  her  employee  has  caused  or
 9    permitted  gross neglect of a resident, the licensee or owner
10    is guilty of a business offense for which a fine of not less
11    more than $10,000 nor in excess  of  $100,000  shall  may  be
12    imposed.    An   owner  or  licensee  is  guilty  under  this
13    subsection (c) only  if  the  owner  or  licensee  failed  to
14    exercise reasonable care in the hiring, training, supervising
15    or providing of staff or other related routine administrative
16    responsibilities.
17        (d)  For the purpose of this Section:
18             (1)  "Abuse"   means   intentionally   or  knowingly
19        causing any physical or mental injury or  committing  any
20        sexual offense set forth in this Code.
21             (2)  "Gross  neglect"  means  recklessly  failing to
22        provide adequate medical or personal care or maintenance,
23        which failure results in physical or mental injury or the
24        deterioration of a physical or mental condition.
25             (3)  "Neglect" means negligently failing to  provide
26        adequate  medical  or personal care or maintenance, which
27        failure results in  physical  or  mental  injury  or  the
28        deterioration of a physical or mental condition.
29             (4)  "Resident"  means  a  person residing in a long
30        term care facility.
31             (5)  "Owner" means the person who owns a  long  term
32        care  facility  as  provided  under the Nursing Home Care
33        Act.
34             (6)  "Licensee"  means  the  individual  or   entity
 
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 1        licensed  to  operate  a  facility under the Nursing Home
 2        Care Act.
 3             (7)  "Facility" or "long term care facility" means a
 4        private home, institution, building,  residence,  or  any
 5        other  place,  whether  operated  for profit or not, or a
 6        county home for the infirm and chronically  ill  operated
 7        pursuant  to  Division 5-21 or 5-22 of the Counties Code,
 8        or any similar  institution  operated  by  the  State  of
 9        Illinois   or  a  political  subdivision  thereof,  which
10        provides, through its ownership or  management,  personal
11        care, sheltered care or nursing for 3 or more persons not
12        related  to the owner by blood or marriage. The term also
13        includes skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care
14        facilities as defined in Title XVIII and Title XIX of the
15        federal Social Security Act.
16        (e)  Nothing contained in this Section shall be deemed to
17    apply to the medical supervision, regulation  or  control  of
18    the  remedial  care  or  treatment of residents in a facility
19    conducted for those who rely  upon  treatment  by  prayer  or
20    spiritual means in accordance with the creed or tenets of any
21    well recognized church or religious denomination and which is
22    licensed in accordance with Section 3-803 of the Nursing Home
23    Care Act.
24    (Source: P.A. 86-820; 86-1475.)

25        (720 ILCS 5/12-21) (from Ch. 38, par. 12-21)
26        Sec.  12-21.  Criminal  neglect of an elderly or disabled
27    person.
28        (a)  A person commits the offense of criminal neglect  of
29    an  elderly  or disabled person when he is a caregiver and he
30    knowingly:
31             (1)  performs  acts  which  cause  the  elderly   or
32        disabled  person's  life  to  be endangered, health to be
33        injured, or pre-existing physical or mental condition  to
 
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 1        deteriorate; or
 2             (2)  fails   to  perform  acts  which  he  knows  or
 3        reasonably should  know  are  necessary  to  maintain  or
 4        preserve  the  life  or health of the elderly or disabled
 5        person and such failure causes the  elderly  or  disabled
 6        person's  life  to be endangered, health to be injured or
 7        pre-existing physical or mental condition to deteriorate;
 8        or
 9             (3)  abandons the elderly or disabled person.
10        Criminal neglect of an elderly person  is  a  Class  4  3
11    felony  for  a  first violation, the fine for which shall not
12    exceed $100,000, and  a  Class  1  felony  for  a  second  or
13    subsequent  violation,  the  fine  for which shall not exceed
14    $500,000.
15        (b)  For purposes of this Section:
16             (1)  "Elderly person" means a person 60 years of age
17        or older who is suffering from  a  disease  or  infirmity
18        associated  with advanced age and manifested by physical,
19        mental or emotional dysfunctioning  to  the  extent  that
20        such  person is incapable of adequately providing for his
21        own health and personal care.
22             (2)  "Disabled person" means a  person  who  suffers
23        from a permanent physical or mental impairment, resulting
24        from  disease,  injury, functional disorder or congenital
25        condition  which  renders  such   person   incapable   of
26        adequately  providing  for  his  own  health and personal
27        care.
28             (3)  "Caregiver" means a person who has  a  duty  to
29        provide  for  an  elderly or disabled person's health and
30        personal care,  at  such  person's  place  of  residence,
31        including   but  not  limited  to,  food  and  nutrition,
32        shelter, hygiene, prescribed medication and medical  care
33        and treatment.
34             "Caregiver" shall include:
 
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 1                  (A)  a  parent,  spouse,  adult  child or other
 2             relative by blood or marriage who  resides  with  or
 3             resides  in  the  same  building  with and regularly
 4             visits the elderly  or  disabled  person,  knows  or
 5             reasonably  should know of such person's physical or
 6             mental impairment and  knows  or  reasonably  should
 7             know  that  such  person  is  unable  to  adequately
 8             provide for his own health and personal care;
 9                  (B)  a person who is employed by the elderly or
10             disabled  person  or  by  another  to reside with or
11             regularly visit the elderly or disabled  person  and
12             provide for such person's health and personal care;
13                  (C)  a  person who has agreed for consideration
14             to reside with or regularly  visit  the  elderly  or
15             disabled person and provide for such person's health
16             and personal care; and
17                  (D)  a  person  who  has  been  appointed  by a
18             private or public agency or by a court of  competent
19             jurisdiction  to provide for the elderly or disabled
20             person's health and personal care.
21             "Caregiver"  shall  not  include  a  long-term  care
22        facility licensed or certified  under  the  Nursing  Home
23        Care   Act   or  any  administrative,  medical  or  other
24        personnel of such a facility, or a health  care  provider
25        who  is  licensed  under the Medical Practice Act of 1987
26        and  renders  care  in  the  ordinary   course   of   his
27        profession.
28             (4)  "Abandon"  means to desert or knowingly forsake
29        an elderly or  disabled  person  under  circumstances  in
30        which  a reasonable person would continue to provide care
31        and custody.
32        (c)  Nothing in this Section shall be construed to  limit
33    the  remedies  available  to  the  victim  under the Illinois
34    Domestic Violence Act.
 
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 1        (d)  Nothing in this Section shall be construed to impose
 2    criminal liability on a person who  has  made  a  good  faith
 3    effort  to  provide  for  the  health and personal care of an
 4    elderly or disabled person, but through no fault of  his  own
 5    has been unable to provide such care.
 6        (e)  Nothing  in  this  Section  shall  be  construed  as
 7    prohibiting  a  person  from providing treatment by spiritual
 8    means through prayer alone and care consistent  therewith  in
 9    lieu  of  medical  care  and treatment in accordance with the
10    tenets and practices of any church or religious  denomination
11    of which the elderly or disabled person is a member.
12        (f)  It  shall not be a defense to criminal neglect of an
13    elderly  or  disabled  person  that  the  accused  reasonably
14    believed that the victim  was  not  an  elderly  or  disabled
15    person.
16    (Source: P.A. 90-14, eff. 7-1-97.)

17        Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect upon
18    becoming law.

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