Funeral home operators could face felony charges for mishandling remains under new bill

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Local Republican lawmakers have filed a bill to hold funeral homes and crematoriums accountable if they mishandle human remains.

Operators could be charged with a Class 4 felony if they knowingly and intentionally misidentify human remains or store remains in violation of Illinois law.

Sen. Steve McClure (R-Springfield) said the plan is a direct response to the alleged mishandling and loss of human remains by the Heinz funeral home in Carlinville.

"This was criminal activity, and our laws should reflect that these are criminal acts," McClure said. "Families who have lost a loved one have suffered enough. It is unconscionable for anyone to try to victimize them in their time of sorrow."

McClure said the legislation is designed to ensure remains are treated with the serious dignity and respect they require. Rep. Wayne Rosenthal (R-Morrisonville) and Rep. Mike Coffey (R-Springfield) said anyone who violates the law should be punished accordingly.

"What's more disturbing is the fact that a local coroner raised a red flag to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations in March about the conditions at the funeral home and said they were unacceptable and criminal in nature," Rosenthal said. "For at least six months, the state of Illinois failed to investigate the alarming allegations while deceased remains continued to be intentionally mistreated."

Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon stood alongside the lawmakers Tuesday and said he strongly supports the idea. Allmon said his office's investigation has found close to 80 families have received the wrong cremains. He explained roughly half a dozen disinterments or exhumations have taken place, and there are several disinterments in other states that have yet to take place.

"We've taken hundreds of phone calls from families that are concerned now," Allmon said. "This just creates doubt throughout this whole thing because families are saying how do I know I have my dad? How do I know I have my mom or my daughter? And the honest answer is we don't know. We're 100% sure we don't know."

The Republican lawmakers hope to see this plan gain strong bipartisan support this spring. Senate Bill 3263 was not assigned to a committee as of Tuesday night.

Sen. Doris Turner (D-Springfield) hopes to pass a separate bill in the coming months to create an identification system for all human remains and a chain of custody for families to know where their loved one is from death to burial or cremation.

"How do you correct situations where you have someone who wants their ashes spread in a specific place and you think you've done that, but it wasn't their ashes and you don't know where their ashes are," Turner asked. "So, it's not just that family but the other family that's so traumatized."

Turner and Allmon will hold a press conference with families impacted by the tragedy Thursday morning. Senate Bill 2643 is assigned to the Senate Executive Committee.