Illinois § 12-20.5 Dismembering a human body

Illinois Statutes

§ 12-20.5 — Dismembering a human body

Illinois § 12-20.5

JurisdictionIllinois

TopicRIGHTS AND REMEDIES

Ch. 720CRIMINAL OFFENSES

Act 720 ILCS 5/Criminal Code of 2012.

Art.Title III - Specific Offenses

This text of Illinois § 12-20.5 (Dismembering a human body) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

720 Ill. Comp. Stat. 12-20.5 (2026).

Text

(a)A person commits dismembering a human body when he or she knowingly dismembers, severs, separates, dissects, or mutilates any body part of a deceased's body.

(b)This Section does not apply to:

(1)an anatomical gift made in accordance with the Illinois Anatomical Gift Act;

(2)(blank);

(3)the purchase or sale of drugs, reagents, or other substances made from human body parts, for the use in medical or scientific research, treatment, or diagnosis;

(4)persons employed by a county medical examiner's office or coroner's office acting within the scope of their employment while performing an autopsy;

(5)the acts of a licensed funeral director or embalmer while performing acts authorized by the Funeral Directors and Embalmers Licensing Code;

(6)the acts of emergency medical personnel or

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(a) A person commits dismembering a human body when he or she knowingly dismembers, severs, separates, dissects, or mutilates any body part of a deceased's body. (b) This Section does not apply to: (1) an anatomical gift made in accordance with the Illinois Anatomical Gift Act; (2) (blank); (3) the purchase or sale of drugs, reagents, or other substances made from human body parts, for the use in medical or scientific research, treatment, or diagnosis; (4) persons employed by a county medical examiner's office or coroner's office acting within the scope of their employment while performing an autopsy; (5) the acts of a licensed funeral director or embalmer while performing acts authorized by the Funeral Directors and Embalmers Licensing Code; (6) the acts of emergency medical personnel or physicians performed in good faith and according to the usual and customary standards of medical practice in an attempt to resuscitate a life; or (7) physicians licensed to practice medicine in all of its branches or holding a visiting professor, physician, or resident permit under the Medical Practice Act of 1987, performing acts in accordance with usual and customary standards of medical practice, or a currently enrolled student in an accredited medical school in furtherance of his or her education at the accredited medical school. (c) It is not a defense to a violation of this Section that the decedent died due to natural, accidental, or suicidal causes. (d) Sentence. Dismembering a human body is a Class X felony.