(55 ILCS 5/3-15003.6)
Sec. 3-15003.6. Pregnant female prisoners.
(a) Definitions. For the purpose of this Section:
(1) "Restraints" means any physical restraint or
mechanical device used to control the movement of a prisoner's body or limbs, or both, including, but not limited to, flex cuffs, soft restraints, hard metal handcuffs, a black box, Chubb cuffs, leg irons, belly chains, a security (tether) chain, or a convex shield, or shackles of any kind.
(2) "Labor" means the period of time before a birth
and shall include any medical condition in which a woman is sent or brought to the hospital for the purpose of delivering her baby. These situations include: induction of labor, prodromal labor, pre-term labor, prelabor rupture of membranes, the 3 stages of active labor, uterine hemorrhage during the third trimester of pregnancy, and caesarian delivery including pre-operative preparation.
(3) "Post-partum" means, as determined by her
physician, the period immediately following delivery, including the entire period a woman is in the hospital or infirmary after birth.
(4) "Correctional institution" means any entity under
the authority of a county law enforcement division of a county of more than 3,000,000 inhabitants that has the power to detain or restrain, or both, a person under the laws of the State.
(5) "Corrections official" means the official that is
responsible for oversight of a correctional institution, or his or her designee.
(6) "Prisoner" means any person incarcerated or
detained in any facility who is accused of, convicted of, sentenced for, or adjudicated delinquent for, violations of criminal law or the terms and conditions of parole, probation, pretrial release, or diversionary program, and any person detained under the immigration laws of the United States at any correctional facility.
(7) "Extraordinary circumstance" means an
extraordinary medical or security circumstance, including a substantial flight risk, that dictates restraints be used to ensure the safety and security of the prisoner, the staff of the correctional institution or medical facility, other prisoners, or the public.
(b) A county department of corrections shall not apply security restraints to a prisoner that has been determined by a qualified medical professional to be pregnant and is known by the county department of corrections to be pregnant or in postpartum recovery, which is the entire period a woman is in the medical facility after birth, unless the corrections official makes an individualized determination that the prisoner presents a substantial flight risk or some other extraordinary circumstance that dictates security restraints be used to ensure the safety and security of the prisoner, her child or unborn child, the staff of the county department of corrections or medical facility, other prisoners, or the public. The protections set out in clauses (b)(3) and (b)(4) of this Section shall apply to security restraints used pursuant to this subsection. The corrections official shall immediately remove all restraints upon the written or oral request of medical personnel. Oral requests made by medical personnel shall be verified in writing as promptly as reasonably possible.
(1) Qualified authorized health staff shall have
the authority to order therapeutic restraints for a pregnant or postpartum prisoner who is a danger to herself, her child, unborn child, or other persons due to a psychiatric or medical disorder. Therapeutic restraints may only be initiated, monitored and discontinued by qualified and authorized health staff and used to safely limit a prisoner's mobility for psychiatric or medical reasons. No order for therapeutic restraints shall be written unless medical or mental health personnel, after personally observing and examining the prisoner, are clinically satisfied that the use of therapeutic restraints is justified and permitted in accordance with hospital policies and applicable State law. Metal handcuffs or shackles are not considered therapeutic restraints.
(2) Whenever therapeutic restraints are used by
medical personnel, Section 2-108 of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code shall apply.
(3) Leg irons, shackles or waist shackles shall not
be used on any pregnant or postpartum prisoner regardless of security classification. Except for therapeutic restraints under clause (b)(2), no restraints of any kind may be applied to prisoners during labor.
(4) When a pregnant or postpartum prisoner must be
restrained, restraints used shall be the least restrictive restraints possible to ensure the safety and security of the prisoner, her child, unborn child, the staff of the county department of corrections or medical facility, other prisoners, or the public, and in no case shall include leg irons, shackles or waist shackles.
(5) Upon the pregnant prisoner's entry into a
hospital room, and completion of initial room inspection, a corrections official shall be posted immediately outside the hospital room, unless requested to be in the room by medical personnel attending to the prisoner's medical needs.
(6) The county department of corrections shall
provide adequate corrections personnel to monitor the pregnant prisoner during her transport to and from the hospital and during her stay at the hospital.
(7) Where the county department of corrections
requires prisoner safety assessments, a corrections official may enter the hospital room to conduct periodic prisoner safety assessments, except during a medical examination or the delivery process.
(8) Upon discharge from a medical facility,
postpartum prisoners shall be restrained only with handcuffs in front of the body during transport to the county department of corrections. A corrections official shall immediately remove all security restraints upon written or oral request by medical personnel. Oral requests made by medical personnel shall be verified in writing as promptly as reasonably possible.
(c) Enforcement. No later than 30 days before the end of each fiscal year, the county sheriff or corrections official of the correctional institution where a pregnant prisoner has been restrained during that previous fiscal year, shall submit a written report to the Illinois General Assembly and the Office of the Governor that includes an account of every instance of prisoner restraint pursuant to this Section. The written report shall state the date, time, location and rationale for each instance in which restraints are used. The written report shall not contain any individually identifying information of any prisoner. Such reports shall be made available for public inspection.
(Source: P.A. 97-660, eff. 6-1-12.)
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Last modified: February 18, 2015