House committee unanimously approves Bomke, Brauer legislation         

[MARCH 25, 2006]  SPRINGFIELD -- The House Local Government Committee overwhelmingly approved legislation introduced by state Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, and sponsored by state Rep. Rich Brauer, R-Springfield, that would exempt county jails from being financially responsible for the medical expenses of prisoners with a self-inflicted injury that occurred during the course of an arrest.

Bomke explained that Menard County State's Attorney Kenneth Baumgarten approached him with the proposal following an incident that resulted in significant financial obligations for Menard County.

"A criminal defendant in Menard County injured himself, and as a result the county initially received a hospital bill that would have posed a devastating economic loss," said Bomke. "The proposal that State's Attorney Baumgarten came to me with will amend current law, to exempt counties from the financial responsibility of paying for the medical costs of a prisoner who, during the course of his or her arrest, incurred a self-inflicted wound."

Under current law, counties are financially responsible for the medical expenses of an arrestee who suffered any type of injury during the course of his or her arrest.

"In the event a similar situation occurs, no county should be responsible for such a huge sum of money," said Brauer. "This legislation will protect Illinois counties from this fiscal liability in the future."

The bill now proceeds to the House of Representatives for consideration. If approved, Senate Bill 2967 will head to the governor for final approval.

[News release from Illinois Senate Republicans]