House Bill 952

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 73-11-58 AND 73-11-69, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE FUNERAL ESTABLISHMENTS AND CREMATORIES TO FAX OR MAIL A COPY OF THE DEATH CERTIFICATE OF A DECEDENT, WHOSE BODY IS DISPOSED OF OR CREMATED BY SUCH FUNERAL ESTABLISHMENT OR CREMATORY, TO THE CLERK OF THE COUNTY IN WHICH THE DECEDENT RESIDED BEFORE DEATH; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 73-11-58, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

73-11-58. (1) If a decedent has left no written authorization for the cremation and/or disposition of the decedent's body as permitted by law, the following competent persons, in the order of priority listed below, may authorize the type, method, place, cremation and/or other disposition of the decedent's body:

(a) The surviving spouse.

(b) The surviving children who are at least eighteen (18) years of age and can be located after reasonable efforts.

(d) The surviving siblings who are at least eighteen (18) years of age and can be located after reasonable efforts.

(e) A person in the class of the next degree of kinship, in descending order, who, under state law, would inherit the decedent's estate if the decedent died intestate who are at least eighteen (18) years of age and can be located with reasonable effort.

(f) A person who has exhibited special care and concern for the decedent and is willing and able to make decisions about the cremation and disposition.

(g) In the case of indigents or any other individuals whose final disposition is the responsibility of the state or any of its instrumentalities, a public administrator, medical examiner, coroner, state-appointed guardian, or any other public official charged with arranging the final disposition of the decedent may serve as the authorizing agent.

(h) In the case of individuals who have donated their bodies to science or whose death occurred in a nursing home or private institution and in which the institution is charged with making arrangements for the final disposition of the decedent, a representative of the institution may serve as the authorizing agent in the absence of any of the above.

(i) In the absence of any of the above, any person willing to assume responsibility for the cremation and disposition of the decedent.

(2) No funeral establishment shall accept a dead human body from any public officer or employee or from the official of any institution, hospital or nursing home, or from a physician or any person having a professional relationship with a decedent, without having first made due inquiry as to the desires of the persons who have the legal authority to direct the disposition of the decedent's body. If any persons are found, their authority and directions shall govern the disposal of the remains of the decedent. Any funeral establishment receiving the remains in violation of this subsection shall make no charge for any service in connection with the remains before delivery of the remains as stipulated by the persons having legal authority to direct the disposition of the body. This section shall not prevent any funeral establishment from charging and being reimbursed for services rendered in connection with the removal of the remains of any deceased person in case of accidental or violent death and rendering necessary professional services required until the persons having legal authority to direct the disposition of the body have been notified.

(3) A funeral establishment shall fax or mail a copy of the death certificate of each decedent, whose remains such establishment disposes of, to the circuit clerk of the county in which the decedent resided before death.

SECTION 2. Section 73-11-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

73-11-69. (1) No person or party shall conduct, maintain, manage or operate a crematory unless a license for each such crematory has been issued by the board and is conspicuously displayed in such crematory.

(2) The operator of a crematory facility shall issue a certificate of cremation to the family of each person cremated in the facility, and a copy of such certificate shall be faxed or mailed to the circuit clerk of the county in which the decedent resided before death. In addition, the operator of the crematory facility shall maintain a log of all cremations performed in the facility, and this log shall match the certificates of cremation that have been issued by the facility.

(3) No operator of a crematory facility shall knowingly represent that an urn or temporary container contains the recovered cremated remains of specific decedent or of body parts removed from a specific decedent when it does not. This subsection does not prohibit the making of such a representation because of the presence in the recovered cremated remains of de minimis amounts of the cremated remains of another decedent or of body parts.

(4) The board shall inspect each licensed crematory facility during each licensure period, and at such other times as necessary, to verify that the crematory facility is in compliance with the requirements of this section. Any person who operates a crematory facility in this state without a license, or any person who otherwise violates any provision of this section, is guilty of a felony. Upon conviction for a violation of this section, in addition to any penalty that may be imposed by the court, the board may revoke the person's crematory facility license.

(5) If the retort of a crematory becomes in need of repair, then the operator of the crematory shall notify the board in writing and by telephone within forty-eight (48) hours of discovery of the need to repair, and no cremation shall be made from the time of discovery until satisfactory proof is provided to the board that the repair has been made.

(6) The board may promulgate such rules and regulations as deemed necessary for the proper licensure and regulation of crematory facilities in this state. Such rules and regulations shall include, but not be limited to, the following: crematory facility requirements, identification of deceased human beings, cremation process, processing of remains, comingling of human remains, disposition of cremated remains, removal of human remains and proper documentation requirements as prescribed by state agencies.

(7) Any crematory or funeral establishment may dispose of any remains unclaimed by the family after twelve (12) months after cremation by scattering or burial upon a final notification to the next of kin by certified mail to their last known address.

(8) The crematory retort operator must be a certified crematory operator as defined in Section 73-11-41.

(9) No crematory facility licensed by the board shall be used for the cremation of deceased animals.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.