Signed by Governor JB Pritzker

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to concur with House amendments and pass a bill that increases regulations on the "chain of custody" for human remains handled by funeral home directors and lays out requirements for identifying remains in Illinois.

Highlights:

• Amends the Funeral Directors and Embalmers Licensing Code (Sec. 1). 

• Defines "chain of custody record" and "uniquely identified" (Sec. 1). 

• Requires that the examination to qualify as an embalmer or funeral director shall embrace the subject of identification rules and regulation in relation to the handling and storing of human bodies (Sec. 1). 

• Requires that when the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation receives a complaint against a licensee regarding violations of the Act, the Department shall inspect the premises of the licensee (Sec. 1). 

• Specifies that when the Department receives a complaint against a licensee relating to the mishandling of human remains or the misidentification of human remains, the Department shall inspect the premises named in the complaint within 10 calendar days after receipt of the complaint (Sec. 1). 

• Amends provisions concerning grounds for discipline (Sec. 1). 

• Establishes provisions providing criminal penalties for certain violations of the Act (Sec. 1). 

• Requires that the Department shall require a funeral establishment to maintain an identification system that ensures that a funeral establishment is able to identify the human remains in its possession through final disposition (Sec. 1). 

• Amends the Crematory Regulation Act (Sec. 1). 

• Specifies Provides that a crematory authority shall maintain a chain of custody record, which is an identification system that ensures that a crematory authority is able to identify the human remains in its possession throughout all phases of the cremation process (Sec. 1).

Full Bill Text