MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2021 Regular Session
To: Public Health and Human Services
By: Representative Williams-Barnes
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 41-39-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE A PERSON WHO ACQUIRES POSSESSION OF A DEAD HUMAN BODY THAT IS NOT CLAIMED FOR BURIAL OR CREMATION WITHIN FORTY-EIGHT HOURS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO NOTIFY THE CORONER, WHO SHALL TAKE POSSESSION OF THE BODY AND CAUSE THE BODY TO BE ENTRUSTED TO A FUNERAL HOME IN THE COUNTY WHERE THE BODY IS FOUND; TO PROVIDE THAT EXCEPT IN COUNTIES WHERE THE CORONER HAS ESTABLISHED A PREFERRED FUNERAL HOME USING A QUALIFIED BIDDING PROCESS, DISPOSITION OF DEAD BODIES SHALL BE ON A ROTATION BASIS, WHICH SHALL TREAT EQUALLY ALL FUNERAL HOMES DESIRING TO PARTICIPATE, SUCH ROTATION TO BE ESTABLISHED BY THE CORONER AFTER CONSULTATION WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE FUNERAL HOMES IN THE COUNTY OR COUNTIES INVOLVED; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 41-39-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
41-39-5. (1) Any
physician, hospital, funeral director, embalmer * * * or other person acquiring possession
of a dead human body or portion thereof * * * for which the deceased
had made no prior plans for the disposition of and there is no other person who
claims the body or portion thereof for burial or cremation within forty-eight
(48) hours of its acquisition, shall notify the coroner, who shall take
possession of the body or portion thereof and cause the body or portion thereof
to be entrusted to a funeral home in the county where the body or portion
thereof is found. Except in counties where the coroner has established a
preferred funeral home using a qualified bidding process, disposition of dead
bodies or portions thereof shall be on a rotation basis, which shall equally
treat all funeral homes desiring to participate, such rotation to be
established by the coroner after consultation with representatives of the
funeral homes in the county or counties involved. If a dead human body or
portion thereof is initially in possession of the coroner, the coroner shall
cause the body or portion thereof to be entrusted to a funeral home in same
manner as if the body was transferred to the coroner by another person.
(2) If a funeral home
that receives a body or portion thereof under the provisions of subsection (1)
of this section is unable or unwilling to make final disposition of the body or
portion thereof, the funeral home shall give written notice thereof to the
board of supervisors, or a member thereof, of the county in which the dead body
or portion thereof is located, furnishing such identification of the decedent
as may be available. The board of supervisors or the coroner shall make
reasonable efforts to notify members of the decedent's family or other known
interested persons, and, if the dead body or portion thereof * * * is not * * * claimed for burial or cremation by any
interested person within five (5) days of the * * * written notice, the board of
supervisors or coroner shall, as soon as it may think appropriate, authorize
and direct the burial or cremation and burial of the residue of * * * the dead body or portion thereof.
In its discretion and where otherwise permitted to do so by law, the board of
supervisors may direct the disposition of the dead body or portion thereof as provided
by Section 41-39-7. The reasonable expense of * * * the burial or cremation and burial
of the residue of a dead body or portion thereof shall be borne by the
estate of the decedent or of any person liable at law for the necessities of
the decedent during his lifetime or, if they are unable to pay the same, by the
county of residence or settlement of the decedent, if known, and, if not known,
by the county in which the dead body or portion thereof is located.
(3) If * * * a funeral home has
possession of * * *
a dead human body or portion thereof * * * that it received under the
provisions of subsection (1) of this section and for which it is unable or
unwilling to make final disposition of and has no available means of
preserving the * * *
body or portion thereof until it is buried or cremated under the provisions
of subsection (2) of this section, the funeral home * * * shall * * * notify the board of supervisors, or a member
thereof, of the county in which the dead body or portion thereof is located, and
it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors to make arrangements for the
preservation of the same until burial or cremation and burial of the residue of
the dead body or portion thereof as * * * provided in subsection (2),
and the expense of * * *
the preservation shall be borne as * * * provided in subsection (2)
with respect to the expense of burial or cremation.
(4) No county funds may be expended in excess of the amount budgeted for the purposes of this section without the prior approval of the board of supervisors of the county.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2021.