720 ILCS 5/12-20.5

in effect

(720 ILCS 5/12-20.5) Sec. 12-20.5. Dismembering a human body. (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. (Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 96-1551, eff. 7-1-11.)

Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs.aspFetched: 10/17/2026