NEWBORN SAFETY DEVICE

Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HB2492

Select Language

×

The Illinois General Assembly offers the Google Translate™ service for visitor convenience. In no way should it be considered accurate as to the translation of any content herein.

Visitors of the Illinois General Assembly website are encouraged to use other translation services available on the internet.

The English language version is always the official and authoritative version of this website.

NOTE: To return to the original English language version, select the "Show Original" button on the Google Translate™ menu bar at the top of the window.

Choose Language

English

Afrikaans

Albanian

Arabic

Armenian

Azerbaijani

Basque

Bengali

Bosnian

Catalan

Croatian

Czech

Danish

Dutch

Esperanto

Estonian

Filipino

Finnish

French

Galician

Georgian

German

Greek

Gujarati

Haitian Creole

Hausa

Hawaiian

Hebrew

Hindi

Hungarian

Icelandic

Indonesian

Interlingua

Interlingue

Inuktitut

Irish

Italian

Japanese

Javanese

Kannada

Khmer

Korean

Latin

Latvian

Lithuanian

Luxembourgish

Macedonian

Malagasy

Malayalam

Maltese

Maori

Marathi

Myanmar

Nepali

Norwegian

Odia

Pashto

Punjabi

Romanian

Russian

Samoan

Sango

Sanskrit

Sardinian

Sindhi

Sinhala

Slovak

Slovenian

Somali

Southern Sotho

Spanish

Sundanese

Swahili

Swedish

Tamil

Telugu

Thai

Tigrinya

Tonga

Turkish

Ukrainian

Urdu

Vietnamese

Welsh

Xhosa

Yiddish

Yoruba

Zulu

Powered by
Translate

Close

Illinois General Assembly

Top Navigation Bar

Translate

Learn

Select General Assembly

Search the 104th General Assembly

Enter search terms for legislation, members, committees, or schedules.

ILGA.GOV

LEGISLATION & LAWS

Bills & Resolutions

Public Acts

Illinois Compiled Statutes

Illinois Constitution

Search Legislation

Glossary

Guide

Reports & Inquiry

Legislative Reports

Special Reports

FTP Site

Legislator Lookup

Capitol Complex Phone Numbers

Rules & Regulations

Illinois Register

Administrative Rules

Senate

Members

Schedules

Committees

Request for Remote Testimony

Journals

Transcripts

Rules

Audio/Video

FOIA Information

Senate Employment Opportunities

Media Guidelines

House

Members

Schedules

Committees

Submit testimony for House Committees

Journals

Transcripts

Rules

Audio/Video

FOIA Information

House Employment Opportunities

Log In

Mobile Top Bar

Search the 104th General Assembly

Enter keywords to search the Illinois General Assembly website.

Full Text of HB2492

Home

Legislation

Full Text

HB2492 - 104th General Assembly

Bill Status

Full Text

Votes

Witness Slips

Select Menu

Bill Status

Full Text

Votes

Witness Slips

Printer Friendly Version

Introduced

Printer Friendly Version

Introduced

Open PDF

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB2492

Introduced 2/4/2025, by Rep. Anne Stava-Murray

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

325 ILCS 2/10
325 ILCS 2/16 new
325 ILCS 2/22
325 ILCS 2/30
325 ILCS 2/35

Amends the Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act. Provides that as
soon as practicable, the Department of Children and Family Services, in
consultation with the county board of each county, shall identify hospital
emergency departments, fire stations, emergency medical facilities, and
police stations to install, maintain, and provide outreach regarding
newborn safety devices. Provides that each county having a population less
than 500,000 shall identify one hospital emergency department, fire
station, emergency medical facility, or police station to install a
newborn safety device; and each county having a population greater than
500,000 shall identify a total of 4 hospital emergency departments, fire
stations, emergency medical facilities, or police stations, or any
combination of those facilities, to install a newborn safety device.
Requires the Department to award grants to the designated facilities of
each county to pay for the installation of a newborn safety device and any
other costs associated with maintaining proper operation of the device.
Provides that a designated facility's acceptance of the grant award and
any agreement to install and maintain a newborn safety device shall be
strictly voluntary. Provides that a hospital emergency department, fire
station, emergency medical facility, or police station that operates a
newborn safety device is immune from civil liability for an act or omission
relating to the operation of the newborn safety device unless the act or
omission constitutes gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.
Makes conforming changes throughout the Act.
LRB104 08116 KTG 18162 b

A BILL FOR

HB2492
LRB104 08116 KTG 18162 b
1

AN ACT concerning children.

2

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3
represented in the General Assembly:

4

Section 5.
The Abandoned Newborn Infant Protection Act is
5
amended by changing Sections 10, 20, 22, 30, and 35 and by
6
adding Section 16 as follows:

7

(325 ILCS 2/10)
8

Sec. 10.
Definitions.
In this Act:
9

"Abandon" has the same meaning as in the Abused and
10
Neglected Child Reporting Act.
11

"Abused child" has the same meaning as in the Abused and
12
Neglected Child Reporting Act.
13

"Child welfare agency" means an Illinois licensed public
14
or private agency that receives a child for the purpose of
15
placing or arranging for the placement of the child in a foster
16
or pre-adoptive family home or other facility for child care,
17
apart from the custody of the child's parents.
18

"Department" or "DCFS" means the Illinois Department of
19
Children and Family Services.
20

"Emergency medical facility" means a freestanding
21
emergency center or trauma center, as defined in the Emergency
22
Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act.
23

"Emergency medical professional" includes licensed

HB2492
- 2 -
LRB104 08116 KTG 18162 b
1
physicians, and any emergency medical technician, emergency
2
medical technician-intermediate, advanced emergency medical
3
technician, paramedic, trauma nurse specialist, and
4
pre-hospital registered nurse, as defined in the Emergency
5
Medical Services (EMS) Systems Act.
6

"Fire station" means a fire station within the State with
7
at least one staff person.
8

"Hospital" has the same meaning as in the Hospital
9
Licensing Act.
10

"Legal custody" means the relationship created by a court
11
order in the best interest of a newborn infant that imposes on
12
the infant's custodian the responsibility of physical
13
possession of the infant, the duty to protect, train, and
14
discipline the infant, and the duty to provide the infant with
15
food, shelter, education, and medical care, except as these
16
are limited by parental rights and responsibilities.
17

"Neglected child" has the same meaning as in the Abused
18
and Neglected Child Reporting Act.
19

"Newborn infant" means a child who a licensed physician
20
reasonably believes is 30 days old or less at the time the
21
child is initially relinquished to a hospital, police station,
22
fire station, or emergency medical facility, and who is not an
23
abused or a neglected child.
24

"Newborn safety device" means a device or container to
25
accept delivery of a newborn infant less than 31 days old that:
26

(1) is voluntarily installed by a hospital emergency

HB2492
- 3 -
LRB104 08116 KTG 18162 b
1

department, fire station, emergency medical facility, or
2

police station that has medical, fire, or police personnel
3

available 24-hours, 7-days a week to take possession of
4

any newborn infant who is voluntarily left in the newborn
5

safety device;
6

(2) is physically located as part of a hospital
7

emergency department, fire station, emergency medical
8

facility, or police station;
9

(3) is located in an area that is conspicuous and
10

visible to the employees of the hospital emergency
11

department, fire station, emergency medical facility, or
12

police station;
13

(4) is accessible to a person transferring the newborn
14

infant in a manner that allows the newborn infant to be
15

placed anonymously inside the newborn safety device from
16

outside the hospital emergency department, fire station,
17

emergency medical facility, or police station;
18

(5) is locked after a newborn infant is placed in it so
19

a person outside the hospital emergency department, fire
20

station, emergency medical facility, or police station
21

cannot access the child;
22

(6) provides a controlled environment for the care and
23

protection of the newborn infant;
24

(7) notifies a centralized location in the hospital
25

emergency department, fire station, emergency medical
26

facility, or police station within 30 seconds of the

HB2492
- 4 -
LRB104 08116 KTG 18162 b
1

newborn infant being placed in the newborn safety device;
2

and
3

(8) triggers a 9-1-1 call if staff at the hospital
4

emergency department, fire station, emergency medical
5

facility, or police station do not respond within a
6

reasonable amount of time after a newborn infant is placed
7

in the newborn safety device.
8

"Parent" or "biological parent" or "birth parent" means a
9
person who has established maternity or paternity of the
10
newborn infant through genetic testing.
11

"Police station" means a municipal police station, a
12
county sheriff's office, a campus police department located on
13
any college or university owned or controlled by the State or
14
any private college or private university that is not owned or
15
controlled by the State when employees of the campus police
16
department are present, or any of the district headquarters of
17
the Illinois State Police.
18

"Relinquish" means to bring a newborn infant, who a
19
licensed physician reasonably believes is 30 days old or less,
20
to a hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency
21
medical facility and to leave the infant with personnel of the
22
facility, if the person leaving the infant does not express an
23
intent to return for the infant or states that the person will
24
not return for the infant.
"Relinquish" also means to
25
voluntarily leave a newborn infant in a newborn safety device.

26
In the case of a person who gives birth to an infant in a

HB2492
- 5 -
LRB104 08116 KTG 18162 b
1
hospital, the person's act of leaving that newborn infant at
2
the hospital (i) without expressing an intent to return for
3
the infant or (ii) stating that the person will not return for
4
the infant is not a "relinquishment" under this Act.
5

"Temporary protective custody" means the temporary
6
placement of a newborn infant within a hospital or other
7
medical facility out of the custody of the infant's parent.
8
(Source: P.A. 103-22, eff. 8-8-23; 103-501, eff. 1-1-24;
9
103-605, eff. 7-1-24.)

10

(325 ILCS 2/16 new)
11

Sec. 16.
Grant awards for the installation of newborn
12
safety devices.
As soon as practicable, the Department, in
13
consultation with the county board of each county, shall
14
identify hospital emergency departments, fire stations,
15
emergency medical facilities, and police stations to install,
16
maintain, and provide outreach regarding newborn safety
17
devices. Each county having a population less than 500,000
18
shall identify one hospital emergency department, fire
19
station, emergency medical facility, or police station to
20
install a newborn safety device. Each county having a
21
population greater than 500,000 shall identify a total of 4
22
hospital emergency departments, fire stations, emergency
23
medical facilities, or police stations, or any combination of
24
those facilities, to install a newborn safety device. The
25
Department shall award grants to the designated facilities of

HB2492
- 6 -
LRB104 08116 KTG 18162 b
1
each county to pay for the installation of a newborn safety
2
device and any other costs associated with maintaining proper
3
operation of the device. A designated facility's acceptance of
4
the grant award and any agreement to install and maintain a
5
newborn safety device shall be strictly voluntary. Upon the
6
receipt of grant funds, a designated facility shall install,
7
as soon as practicable, a newborn safety device that meets all
8
applicable safety and installation requirements.
9

A hospital emergency department, fire station, or
10
emergency medical facility that operates a newborn safety
11
device must accept and provide all necessary emergency
12
services and care to a relinquished newborn infant in
13
accordance with this Act. A police station that operates a
14
newborn safety device must accept a relinquished newborn
15
infant in accordance with this Act.

16

A hospital emergency department, fire station, emergency
17
medical facility, or police station that operates a newborn
18
safety device in accordance with this Act is immune from civil
19
liability for an act or omission relating to the operation of
20
the newborn safety device unless the act or omission
21
constitutes gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.
22
Nothing in this subsection limits liability for negligence for
23
care and medical treatment.

24

(325 ILCS 2/22)
25

Sec. 22.
Signage.
Every hospital, fire station, emergency

HB2492
- 7 -
LRB104 08116 KTG 18162 b
1
medical facility, and police station that is required to
2
accept a relinquished newborn infant in accordance with this
3
Act must post, either by physical or electronic means, a sign
4
in a conspicuous place on the exterior of the building housing
5
the facility informing persons that a newborn infant may be
6
relinquished at the facility
or, if applicable, left in a
7
newborn safety device located at the facility
in accordance
8
with this Act. The Department shall prescribe specifications
9
for the signs and for their placement that will ensure
10
statewide uniformity.
11
(Source: P.A. 102-4, eff. 4-27-21; 103-501, eff. 1-1-24
.)

12

(325 ILCS 2/30)
13

Sec. 30.
Anonymity of relinquishing person.
If there is no
14
evidence of abuse or neglect of a relinquished newborn infant,
15
the relinquishing person has the right to remain anonymous and
16
to leave the hospital, police station, fire station, or
17
emergency medical facility at any time and not be pursued or
18
followed.
Except for a person who relinquishes a newborn
19
infant by placing the infant in a newborn safety device,
20
before

Before
the relinquishing person leaves the hospital,
21
police station, fire station, or emergency medical facility,
22
the hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency
23
medical facility personnel shall (i) verbally inform the
24
relinquishing person that by relinquishing the child
25
anonymously, the relinquishing person will have to petition

HB2492
- 8 -
LRB104 08116 KTG 18162 b
1
the court if the relinquishing person desires to prevent the
2
termination of parental rights and regain custody of the child
3
and (ii) offer the relinquishing person the information packet
4
described in Section 35 of this Act. However, nothing in this
5
Act shall be construed as precluding the relinquishing person
6
from providing the relinquishing person's identity or
7
completing the application forms for the Illinois Adoption
8
Registry and Medical Information Exchange and requesting that
9
the hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency
10
medical facility forward those forms to the Illinois Adoption
11
Registry and Medical Information Exchange.
12
(Source: P.A. 103-22, eff. 8-8-23; 103-605, eff. 7-1-24.)

13

(325 ILCS 2/35)
14

Sec. 35.
Information for relinquishing person.
15

(a)
Except when a newborn infant is left in a newborn
16
safety device, the

The
hospital, police station, fire station,
17
or emergency medical facility that receives a newborn infant
18
relinquished in accordance with this Act shall offer to the
19
relinquishing person information about the relinquishment
20
process and, either in writing or by referring such person to a
21
website or other electronic resource, such information shall
22
state that the relinquishing person's acceptance of the
23
information is completely voluntary. The information packet
24
must include all of the following:
25

(1) (Blank).

HB2492
- 9 -
LRB104 08116 KTG 18162 b
1

(2) Written notice of the following:
2

(A) No sooner than 60 days following the date of
3

the initial relinquishment of the infant to a
4

hospital, police station, fire station, or emergency
5

medical facility, the child welfare agency or the
6

Department will commence proceedings for the
7

termination of parental rights and placement of the
8

infant for adoption.
9

(B) Failure of a parent of the infant to contact
10

the Department and petition for the return of custody
11

of the infant before termination of parental rights
12

bars any future action asserting legal rights with
13

respect to the infant.
14

(3) A resource list of providers of counseling
15

services including grief counseling, pregnancy counseling,
16

and counseling regarding adoption and other available
17

options for placement of the infant.
18

Upon request of a parent, the Department of Public Health
19
shall provide the application forms for the Illinois Adoption
20
Registry and Medical Information Exchange.
21

(b) The information offered to a relinquishing person in
22
accordance with this Act shall include, in addition to other
23
information required under this Act, the following:
24

(1) Information that describes this Act and the rights
25

of birth parents, including an option for the parent to
26

complete and mail to the Department of Children and Family

HB2492
- 10 -
LRB104 08116 KTG 18162 b
1

Services a form that shall ask for basic anonymous
2

background information about the relinquished child. This
3

form shall be maintained by the Department on its website.
4

(2) Information about the Illinois Adoption Registry,
5

including a toll-free number and website information.
6

(3) Information about a mother's postpartum health.
7

The information provided in writing or through electronic
8
means shall be designed in coordination between the Office of
9
Vital Records and the Department of Children and Family
10
Services. The Failure to provide such information under this
11
Section or the failure of the relinquishing person to accept
12
such information shall not invalidate the relinquishment under
13
this Act.
14
(Source: P.A. 103-22, eff. 8-8-23; 103-501, eff. 1-1-24;
15
103-605, eff. 7-1-24.)

Footer

Disclaimer

This site is maintained for the Illinois General Assembly by the
Legislative Information System, 705 Stratton Building, Springfield, Illinois 62706.

Contact ILGA Webmaster

ILGA.gov uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to browse ILGA.gov you consent to our use of cookies.
Read About Cookies

ILGA.GOV

2026 ILGA.gov | All Rights Reserved |
ADA

|
Disclaimers
|
Learn

This site is maintained for the Illinois General Assembly by the
Legislative Information System, 705 Stratton Building, Springfield, Illinois 62706.
Contact ILGA Webmaster

ILGA.gov uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to browse ILGA.gov you consent to our use of cookies.
Read About Cookies

ILGA.GOV

2026 ILGA.gov | All Rights Reserved |
ADA

|
Disclaimers
|
Learn