SPRINGFIELD – State Senator Doris Turner has announced she is standing alongside families impacted by the Carlinville funeral home’s insufficient handling of human remains, with a plan to reestablish integrity and trust in the death care industry.
Senate Bill 2643 would require the death care industry in the state as well as state regulators to implement a mandatory unique identification tagging system for all human remains. It also would establish a chain of custody system that tracks the human remains of a deceased individual whose death occurred in the state from death to final disposition, if the final disposition is in Illinois.
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“The status quo isn’t working,” said Turner (D-Springfield). “These are people who deserve dignity and respect. This legislation will ensure that no family will have to worry that the death of their loved ones aren’t handled with dignity and respect.”
Turner’s measure would put procedures and protocols in place that aim to prevent the misidentification and misplacement of dead bodies or human remains, and conduct that results in a method of final disposition that differs from what is stipulated by the deceased individual or the deceased’s next of kin.
Turner said the proposed legislation will help assure families that their voices were heard, after being victimized by these egregious acts.
"The reestablishing integrity in death care act will hold individuals who are responsible for taking care of our loved and lost to a higher standard,” said Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon. “Mandating universal identification of the deceased and establishing a chain of custody will help give the families of the deceased reassurance that their loved ones will be handled appropriately and given the dignity they deserve.”
The legislation is in response after an investigation of Heinz Funeral Home/Family Cremations in Carlinville. The Sangamon County Coroner's Office and Sheriff's Office raised the initial concerns and discovered multiple remains were returned to wrong families without cremations. The Illinois State Police has also been investigating the situation.
The Carlinville Funeral Home had been in business for over 160 years when this investigation started.
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