Download Zipped Enrolled WordPerfect HB0265.ZIP
[Introduced][Amended][Status][Bill Documents][Fiscal Note][Bills Directory]

---

H.B. 265 Enrolled

             1     

POSTMORTEM PROCEDURES AMENDMENTS
             2      2009 GENERAL SESSION
             3      STATE OF UTAH
             4      Chief Sponsor: Bradley M. Daw
             5      Senate Sponsor: Luz Robles
             6     
             7      LONG TITLE
             8      General Description:
             9          This bill amends provisions of the Utah Vital Statistics Act and the Division of
             10      Occupational and Professional Licensing Act relating to the signing and filing of a
             11      certificate of death, and the release, transportation, and disposition of a dead body or
             12      dead fetus.
             13      Highlighted Provisions:
             14          This bill:
             15          .    defines terms;
             16          .    provides that, if a funeral service director is not retained, a designated agent or the
             17      next of kin of a decedent may sign and file the decedent's certificate of death;
             18          .    describes other rights and responsibilities of a designated agent or the next of kin of
             19      a decedent, when a funeral service director is not retained;
             20          .    makes it a class B misdemeanor for a person to intentionally sign the portion of a
             21      certificate of death that is required to be signed by a funeral service director or a
             22      dispositioner, unless the person:
             23              .    is a funeral service director, employed by a licensed funeral establishment; or
             24              .    is a dispositioner, if a funeral service director is not retained;
             25          .    provides that a dispositioner may not sign a certificate of death, unless the
             26      signature is witnessed by the state registrar or a local registrar;
             27          .    requires the state registrar to post information on the state registrar's website,
             28      providing instructions to a dispositioner for complying with the requirements of
             29      law relating to the dispositioner's responsibilities for:

---

             30              .    completing and filing a certificate of death; and
             31              .    possessing, transporting, and disposing of a dead body or dead fetus;
             32          .    provides that it is unlawful for a dispositioner to charge for, or receive
             33      remuneration for, signing a certificate of death or performing other duties of a
             34      dispositioner;
             35          .    provides that the Utah Vital Statistics Act shall be construed to avoid interference,
             36      to the fullest extent possible, with the ceremonies, customs, rites, or beliefs of the
             37      decedent and the decedent's next of kin for disposing of a dead body or dead fetus;
             38          .    provides civil immunity to a person or institution who, in good faith, releases a
             39      dead body or dead fetus to a funeral service director or a dispositioner;
             40          .    provides that, if an authorizing agent informs a funeral service establishment of the
             41      presence of a pacemaker or other battery-powered, potentially hazardous implant,
             42      and the funeral service establishment fails to have the pacemaker or implant
             43      removed prior to cremation, then the funeral service establishment is liable for
             44      resulting damages; and
             45          .    makes technical changes.
             46      Monies Appropriated in this Bill:
             47          None
             48      Other Special Clauses:
             49          None
             50      Utah Code Sections Affected:
             51      AMENDS:
             52          26-2-2, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2006, Chapter 56
             53          26-2-13, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2007, Chapter 32
             54          26-2-16, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2006, Chapter 56
             55          26-2-23, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2000, Chapter 86
             56          58-9-610, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2008, Chapter 353
             57     

---

             58      Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
             59          Section 1. Section 26-2-2 is amended to read:
             60           26-2-2. Definitions.
             61          As used in this chapter:
             62          (1) "Custodial funeral service director" means a funeral service director who:
             63          (a) is employed by a licensed funeral establishment; and
             64          (b) has custody of a dead body.
             65          (2) "Dead body" or "decedent" means a human body or parts of the human body from
             66      the condition of which it reasonably may be concluded that death occurred.
             67          (3) "Dead fetus" means a product of human conception:
             68          (a) of 20 weeks' gestation or more, calculated from the date the last normal menstrual
             69      period began to the date of delivery; and
             70          (b) that was not born alive.
             71          (4) "Declarant father" means a male who claims to be the genetic father of a child,
             72      and, along with the biological mother, signs a voluntary declaration of paternity to establish
             73      the child's paternity.
             74          (5) "Dispositioner" means:
             75          (a) a person designated in a written instrument, under Subsection 58-9-602 (1), as
             76      having the right and duty to control the disposition of the decedent, if the person voluntarily
             77      acts as the dispositioner; or
             78          (b) the next of kin of the decedent, if:
             79          (i) (A) a person has not been designated as described in Subsection (5)(a); or
             80          (B) the person described in Subsection (5)(a) is unable or unwilling to exercise the
             81      right and duty described in Subsection (5)(a); and
             82          (ii) the next of kin voluntarily acts as the dispositioner.
             83          [(5)] (6) "File" means the submission of a completed certificate or other similar
             84      document, record, or report as provided under this chapter for registration by the state registrar
             85      or a local registrar.

---

             86          [(6)] (7) "Funeral service director" is as defined in Section 58-9-102 .
             87          [(7)] (8) "Health care facility" is as defined in Section 26-21-2 .
             88          [(8)] (9) "Licensed funeral establishment" means a funeral establishment, as defined in
             89      Section 58-9-102 , that is licensed under Title 58, Chapter 9, Funeral Services Licensing Act.
             90          [(9)] (10) "Live birth" means the birth of a child who shows evidence of life after [it]
             91      the child is entirely outside of the mother.
             92          [(10)] (11) "Local registrar" means a person appointed under Subsection 26-2-3 (2)(b).
             93          [(11)] (12) "Physician" means a person licensed to practice as a physician or osteopath
             94      in this state under Title 58, Chapter 67, Utah Medical Practice Act or Chapter 68, Utah
             95      Osteopathic Medical Practice Act.
             96          [(12)] (13) "Presumed father" means the father of a child conceived or born during a
             97      marriage as defined in Section 30-1-17.2 .
             98          [(13)] (14) "Registration" or "register" means acceptance by the local or state registrar
             99      of a certificate and incorporation of [it] the certificate into the permanent records of the state.
             100          [(14)] (15) "State registrar" means the state registrar of vital records appointed under
             101      Subsection 26-2-3 (1)(e).
             102          [(15)] (16) "Vital records" means:
             103          (a) registered certificates or reports of birth, death, fetal death, marriage, divorce,
             104      dissolution of marriage, or annulment[,];
             105          (b) amendments to any of [these] the registered certificates or reports[,] described in
             106      Subsection (16)(a); and
             107          (c) other similar documents.
             108          [(16)] (17) "Vital statistics" means the data derived from registered certificates and
             109      reports of birth, death, fetal death, induced termination of pregnancy, marriage, divorce,
             110      dissolution of marriage, or annulment.
             111          Section 2. Section 26-2-13 is amended to read:
             112           26-2-13. Certificate of death -- Execution and registration requirements.
             113          (1) (a) A certificate of death for each death [which] that occurs in this state shall be

---

             114      filed with the local registrar of the district in which the death occurs, or as otherwise directed
             115      by the state registrar, within five days after death and prior to the decedent's interment, any
             116      other disposal, or removal from the registration district where the death occurred.
             117          (b) A certificate of death shall be registered if [it] the certificate of death is completed
             118      and filed in accordance with this chapter.
             119          (2) (a) If the place of death is unknown but the dead body is found in this state[,]:
             120          (i) the certificate of death shall be completed and filed in accordance with this
             121      section[.]; and
             122          [(b) The] (ii) the place where the dead body is found shall be shown as the place of
             123      death.
             124          [(c)] (b) If the date of death is unknown, the date shall be determined by
             125      approximation.
             126          (3) (a) When death occurs in a moving conveyance in the United States and the
             127      decedent is first removed from the conveyance in this state:
             128          (i) the certificate of death shall be filed with:
             129          (A) the local registrar of the district where the decedent is removed; or
             130          (B) a person designated by the state registrar; and
             131          (ii) the place where the decedent is removed shall be considered the place of death.
             132          (b) When a death occurs on a moving conveyance outside the United States and the
             133      decedent is first removed from the conveyance in this state:
             134          (i) the certificate of death shall be filed with:
             135          (A) the local registrar of the district where the decedent is removed; or
             136          (B) a person designated by the state registrar; and
             137          (ii) the certificate of death shall show the actual place of death to the extent it can be
             138      determined.
             139          (4) (a) [The] Subject to Subsections (4)(d) and (10), a custodial funeral service
             140      director or, if a funeral service director is not retained, a dispositioner shall sign the certificate
             141      of death.

---

             142          (b) The custodial funeral service director [or], an agent of the custodial funeral service
             143      director, or, if a funeral service director is not retained, a dispositioner shall:
             144          (i) file the certificate of death prior to any disposition of a dead body or fetus; and
             145          (ii) obtain the decedent's personal data from the next of kin or the best qualified
             146      person or source available, including the decedent's Social Security number, if known[;
             147      however, the].
             148          (c) The certificate of death may not include the decedent's Social Security number.
             149          (d) A dispositioner may not sign a certificate of death, unless the signature is
             150      witnessed by the state registrar or a local registrar.
             151          (5) (a) The medical section of the certificate of death shall be completed, signed, and
             152      returned to the funeral service director, or, if a funeral service director is not retained, a
             153      dispositioner, within 72 hours after death by the physician who was in charge of the decedent's
             154      care for the illness or condition which resulted in death, except when inquiry is required by
             155      Title 26, Chapter 4, Utah Medical Examiner Act.
             156          (b) In the absence of the physician or with the physician's approval, the certificate of
             157      death may be completed and signed by an associate physician, the chief medical officer of the
             158      institution in which death occurred, or a physician who performed an autopsy upon the
             159      decedent, [provided] if:
             160          (i) the person has access to the medical history of the case[,];
             161          (ii) the person views the decedent at or after death[,]; and
             162          (iii) the death is not due to causes required to be investigated by the medical examiner.
             163          (6) When death occurs more than 30 days after the decedent was last treated by a
             164      physician, the case shall be referred to the medical examiner for investigation to determine and
             165      certify the cause, date, and place of death.
             166          (7) When inquiry is required by Title 26, Chapter 4, Utah Medical Examiner Act, the
             167      medical examiner shall make an investigation and complete and sign the medical section of
             168      the certificate of death within 72 hours after taking charge of the case.
             169          (8) If the cause of death cannot be determined within 72 hours after death:

---

             170          (a) the medical section of the certificate of death shall be completed as provided by
             171      department rule;
             172          (b) the attending physician or medical examiner shall give the funeral service director,
             173      or, if a funeral service director is not retained, a dispositioner, notice of the reason for the
             174      delay; and
             175          (c) final disposition of the decedent may not be made until authorized by the attending
             176      physician or medical examiner.
             177          (9) (a) When a death is presumed to have occurred within this state but the dead body
             178      cannot be located, a certificate of death may be prepared by the state registrar upon receipt of
             179      an order of a Utah district court.
             180          (b) The order described in Subsection (9)(a) shall include a finding of fact stating the
             181      name of the decedent, the date of death, and the place of death.
             182          (c) A certificate of death prepared under Subsection (9)(a) shall:
             183          (i) show the date of registration; and
             184          (ii) identify the court and the date of the order.
             185          (10) It is unlawful for a dispositioner to charge for or accept any remuneration for:
             186          (a) signing a certificate of death; or
             187          (b) performing any other duty of a dispositioner, as described in this section.
             188          Section 3. Section 26-2-16 is amended to read:
             189           26-2-16. Certificate of death -- Duties of a custodial funeral service director, an
             190      agent of a funeral service director, or a dispositioner -- Medical certification -- Records
             191      of funeral service director or dispositioner -- Information filed with local registrar --
             192      Unlawful signing of certificate of death.
             193          (1) The custodial funeral service director or, if a funeral service director is not
             194      retained, a dispositioner shall sign the certificate of death prior to any disposition of a dead
             195      body or dead fetus.
             196          (2) The custodial funeral service director [or], an agent of the custodial funeral service
             197      director, or, if a funeral service director is not retained, a dispositioner shall:

---

             198          (a) obtain personal and statistical information regarding the decedent from the
             199      available persons best qualified to provide the information;
             200          (b) present the certificate of death to the attending physician, if any, or to the medical
             201      examiner who shall certify the cause of death and other information required on the certificate
             202      of death;
             203          (c) provide the address of the custodial funeral service director or, if a funeral service
             204      director is not retained, a dispositioner;
             205          (d) certify the date and place of burial; and
             206          (e) file the certificate of death with the state or local registrar.
             207          (3) A funeral service director, dispositioner, embalmer, or other person who removes a
             208      dead body or dead fetus from the place of death or transports or is in charge of final disposal
             209      of a dead body or dead fetus, shall keep a record identifying the dead body or dead fetus, and
             210      containing information pertaining to receipt, removal, and delivery of the dead body or dead
             211      fetus as prescribed by department rule.
             212          (4) (a) Not later than the tenth day of each month, every licensed funeral service
             213      establishment shall send to the local registrar and the department a list of the information
             214      required in Subsection (3) for each casket furnished and for funerals performed when no
             215      casket was furnished, during the preceding month.
             216          (b) The list described in Subsection (4)(a) shall be in the form prescribed by the state
             217      registrar.
             218          (5) Any person who intentionally signs the portion of a certificate of death that is
             219      required to be signed by a funeral service director or a dispositioner under Subsection (1) is
             220      guilty of a class B misdemeanor, unless the person:
             221          (a) (i) is a funeral service director; and
             222          [(b)] (ii) is employed by a licensed funeral establishment[.]; or
             223          (b) is a dispositioner, if a funeral service director is not retained.
             224          (6) The state registrar shall post information on the state registrar's website, providing
             225      instructions to a dispositioner for complying with the requirements of law relating to the

---

             226      dispositioner's responsibilities for:
             227          (a) completing and filing a certificate of death; and
             228          (b) possessing, transporting, and disposing of a dead body or dead fetus.
             229          (7) The provisions of this chapter shall be construed to avoid interference, to the
             230      fullest extent possible, with the ceremonies, customs, rites, or beliefs of the decedent and the
             231      decedent's next of kin for disposing of a dead body or dead fetus.
             232          Section 4. Section 26-2-23 is amended to read:
             233           26-2-23. Records required to be kept by health care institutions -- Information
             234      filed with local registrar and department.
             235          (1) (a) All administrators or other persons in charge of hospitals, nursing homes, or
             236      other institutions, public or private, to which persons resort for treatment of diseases,
             237      confinements, or are committed by law, shall record all the personal and statistical information
             238      about patients of their institutions as required in certificates prescribed by this chapter.
             239          (b) [This] The information described in Subsection (1)(a) shall:
             240          (i) be recorded for collection at the time of admission of [the patients and shall] a
             241      patient;
             242          (ii) be obtained from the patient, if possible[,]; and
             243          (iii) if [not] the information cannot be obtained from the patient, the information shall
             244      be secured in as complete a manner as possible from other persons acquainted with the facts.
             245          (2) (a) When a dead body or dead fetus is released or disposed of by an institution, the
             246      person in charge of the institution shall keep a record showing:
             247          (i) the name of the deceased[,];
             248          (ii) the date of death[,] of the deceased;
             249          (iii) the name and address of the person to whom the dead body or dead fetus is
             250      released[,]; and
             251          (iv) the date [of removal] that the dead body or dead fetus is removed from the
             252      institution.
             253          (b) If final disposal is by the institution, the date, place, manner of disposition, and the

---

             254      name of the person authorizing disposition shall be recorded by the person in charge of the
             255      institution.
             256          (3) Not later than the tenth day of each month, the administrator of each institution
             257      shall cause to be sent to the local registrar and the department a list of all births, deaths, fetal
             258      deaths, and induced abortions occurring in [his] the institution during the preceding month.
             259      The [lists] list shall be in the form prescribed by the state registrar.
             260          (4) A person or institution who, in good faith, releases a dead body or dead fetus,
             261      under this section, to a funeral service director or a dispositioner, is immune from civil
             262      liability connected, directly or indirectly, with release of the dead body or dead fetus.
             263          Section 5. Section 58-9-610 is amended to read:
             264           58-9-610. Cremation procedures.
             265          (1) A funeral service establishment may not cremate human remains until a death
             266      certificate is completed and filed with the office of vital statistics and the county health
             267      department as indicated on the regular medical certificate of death or the coroner's certificate.
             268          (2) (a) A funeral service establishment may not cremate human remains with a
             269      pacemaker or other battery-powered potentially hazardous implant in place.
             270          (b) (i) An authorizing agent for the cremation of human remains is responsible for
             271      informing the funeral service establishment in writing on the cremation authorization form
             272      about the presence of a pacemaker or other battery-powered, potentially hazardous implant in
             273      the human remains to be cremated.
             274          (ii) (A) [The] Except as provided in Subsection (2)(b)(ii)(B), the authorizing agent is
             275      [ultimately] responsible to ensure that a pacemaker or other battery-powered, potentially
             276      hazardous implant is removed prior to cremation.
             277          (B) If the authorizing agent informs the funeral service establishment of the presence
             278      of a pacemaker or other battery-powered, potentially hazardous implant under Subsection
             279      (2)(b)(i), and the funeral service establishment fails to have [it] the pacemaker or other
             280      battery-powered, potentially hazardous implant removed prior to cremation, then the funeral
             281      service establishment [and the authorizing agent are jointly] is liable for all resulting damages.

---

             282          (3) Only authorized persons are permitted in the crematory while human remains are
             283      in the crematory area awaiting cremation, being cremated, or being removed from the
             284      cremation chamber.
             285          (4) (a) Simultaneous cremation of the human remains of more than one person within
             286      the same cremation chamber or processor is not allowed, unless the funeral service
             287      establishment has received specific written authorization to do so from the authorizing agent
             288      of each person to be cremated.
             289          (b) The written authorization, described in Subsection (4)(a), exempts the funeral
             290      license establishment from liability for co-mingling of the cremated remains during the
             291      cremation process.
             292          (5) A funeral service establishment shall:
             293          (a) verify the identification of human remains as indicated on a cremation container
             294      immediately before placing [them] the human remains in the cremation chamber [and];
             295          (b) attach a metal identification tag to the cremation container; [and]
             296          [(b)] (c) remove the identification tag from the cremation container; and
             297          (d) place the identification tag near the cremation chamber control where [it] the
             298      identification tag shall remain until the cremation process is complete.
             299          (6) Upon completion of a cremation, the funeral service establishment shall:
             300          (a) in so far as is possible, remove all of the recoverable residue of the cremation
             301      process from the cremation chamber;
             302          (b) separate all other residue from the cremation process from remaining bone
             303      fragments, in so far as possible, and process the bone fragments so as to reduce them to
             304      unidentifiable particles; and
             305          (c) remove anything other than the unidentifiable bone particles from the cremated
             306      residuals, as far as is possible, and dispose of that material.
             307          (7) (a) A funeral service establishment shall pack cremated remains, including the
             308      identification tag [referred to] described in Subsection (5)[(a)], in a temporary container or urn
             309      ordered by the authorizing agent.

---

             310          (b) The container or urn shall be packed in clean packing materials and not be
             311      contaminated with any other object, unless otherwise directed by the authorizing agent.
             312          (c) If the cremated remains cannot fit within the designated temporary container or
             313      urn, the funeral service establishment shall:
             314          (i) return the excess to the authorizing agent or the agent's representative in a separate
             315      container; and
             316          (ii) mark both containers or urns on the outside with the name of the deceased person
             317      and an indication that the cremated remains of the named decedent are in both containers or
             318      urns.
             319          (8) (a) If the cremated remains are to be shipped, then the funeral services
             320      establishment shall pack the designated temporary container or urn in a suitable, sturdy
             321      container.
             322          (b) The funeral service establishment shall have the remains shipped only by a method
             323      that:
             324          (i) has an available internal tracing system; and
             325          (ii) provides a receipt signed by the person accepting delivery.

---

[Bill Documents][Bills Directory]