§ 11A — Emergency contact database

(a) The Secretary of State shall establish a database of the emergency contacts of persons who hold identification cards. Information in the database shall be accessible only to employees of the Office of the Secretary and law enforcement officers employed by a law enforcement agency. Law enforcement officers may share information contained in the emergency contact database, including disabilities and special needs information, with other public safety workers on scene, as needed to conduct official law enforcement duties. (b) Any person holding an identification card shall be afforded the opportunity to provide the Secretary of State, in a manner and form designated by the Secretary of State, the name, address, telephone number, and relationship to the holder of no more than 2 emergency contact persons whom the holder wishes to be contacted by a law enforcement officer if the holder is involved in a motor vehicle crash or other emergency situation and the holder is unable to communicate with the contact person or persons and may designate whether the holder has a disability or is a special needs individual. A contact person need not be the holder's next of kin. (c) The Secretary shall adopt rules to implement this Section. At a minimum, the rules shall address all of the following: (1) the method whereby a holder may provide the Secretary of State with emergency contact, disability, and special needs information; (2) the method whereby a holder may provide the Secretary of State with a change to the emergency contact, disability, and special needs information; and (3) any other aspect of the database or its operation that the Secretary determines is necessary to implement this Section. (d) If a person involved in a motor vehicle crash or other emergency situation is unable to communicate with the contact person or persons specified in the database, a law enforcement officer shall make a good faith effort to notify the contact person or persons of the situation. Neither the law enforcement officer nor the law enforcement agency that employs that law enforcement officer incurs any liability, however, if the law enforcement officer is not able to make contact with the contact person. Except for willful or wanton misconduct, neither the law enforcement officer, nor the law enforcement agency that employs the law enforcement officer, shall incur any liability relating to the reporting or use of the database during a motor vehicle crash or other emergency situation. (e) The Secretary of State shall make a good faith effort to maintain accurate data as provided by the identification card holder and to provide that information to law enforcement as provided in subsection (a). The Secretary of State is not liable for any damages, costs, or expenses, including, without limitation, consequential damages, arising or resulting from any inaccurate or incomplete data or system unavailability. Except for willful or wanton misconduct, the Secretary of State shall not incur any liability relating to the reporting of disabilities or special needs individuals. (f) As used in this Section: "Disability" means an individual's physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities; a record of such impairment; or when the individual is regarded as having such impairment. "Public safety worker" means a person employed by this State or a political subdivision thereof that provides firefighting, law enforcement, medical, or other emergency services. "Special needs individuals" means those individuals who have or are at increased risk for a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional condition and who also require health and related services of a type or amount beyond that required by individuals generally.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 102-982, eff. 7-1-23 .)