Signed by Governor JB Pritzker

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that requires coroners to notify law enforcement when they find suspiciously high levels of fentanyl during an autopsy in Illinois.

Highlights:

• Requires coroners to go to where a body is located if one of the following circumstances is met and conduct a preliminary investigation for the cause of death (Sec. 5):

• A sudden or violent death

• Death due to sex crime

• Death where circumstances are suspicious or unexplained

• Death where addiction may have contributed

• A death caused by not receiving medical attention from a licensed physician

• Requires coroners to attempt to draw a 30 cc blood or urine sample from the body as soon as possible if the cause of death involved a motor vehicle and specifies if a county doesn’t have a lab able to analyze the blood and urine samples be sent to the Illinois State Police or other accredited lab (Sec. 5).

• Requires toxicology examinations in cases where drugs may be involved in the cause of death (Sec. 5).

• Requires blood and buccal specimens to be taken from the body and properly preserved when possible and turned over to the police if the cause of death appears to be a homicide (Sec. 5).

• Allows coroners to summon 8 jurors and select 6 in cases of apparent suicide, homicide, or accidental death with compensation provided for jurors (Sec. 5).

• Requires deaths caused by fire to be reported to the Office of the State Fire Marshal (Sec. 5).

• Requires reporting on deaths officially involving drug overdoses to the Department of Public Health, detailing if fentanyl was involved and if so, how much in comparison to any other drugs in the system (Sec. 5).

• Requires reporting of deaths where domestic violence was a contributing factor to the Illinois State Police (Sec. 5).

• Requires reporting of all deaths in state institutions or wards of care to the coroner with provisions for investigation if negligence or mistreatment is suspected (Sec. 5).

Full Bill Text