Florida Senate - 2015                       CS for CS for SB 640
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Fiscal Policy; and Health Policy; and
       Senator Detert
       
       
       
       
       594-03784-15                                           2015640c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to vital statistics; amending s.
    3         382.002, F.S.; providing and revising definitions;
    4         amending s. 382.003, F.S.; authorizing the Department
    5         of Health to produce and maintain paper death
    6         certificates and fetal death certificates and issue
    7         burial-transit permits; amending s. 382.006, F.S.;
    8         requiring a funeral director to provide burial-transit
    9         permits to certain persons; deleting provisions
   10         requiring a funeral director to sign an application
   11         for a burial-transit permit and to provide certain
   12         information on the application; assigning
   13         responsibility for manually filed paper death records
   14         to the subregistrar; deleting a provision authorizing
   15         burial-transit permits filed with a local registrar to
   16         be destroyed after a certain period; authorizing the
   17         department to adopt rules; amending s. 382.007, F.S.;
   18         revising provisions relating to the final dispositions
   19         and records of final dispositions of dead bodies;
   20         requiring maintenance of records for a specified
   21         period; amending s. 382.008, F.S.; requiring
   22         electronic filing of death and fetal death
   23         certificates with the department or local registrar on
   24         a prescribed form; requiring the department, rather
   25         than the local registrar, to register the certificate;
   26         authorizing certain legally authorized persons to
   27         provide personal data about the deceased; authorizing
   28         the department, rather than the local registrar, to
   29         grant an extension of time for providing certain
   30         information regarding a death or a fetal death;
   31         amending s. 382.0085, F.S.; conforming a cross
   32         reference; amending s. 382.011, F.S.; providing that a
   33         funeral director retains the responsibility to file a
   34         death or fetal death certificate with the department,
   35         rather than with the local registrar; amending s.
   36         382.0135, F.S.; requiring the department to
   37         electronically notify the United States Social
   38         Security Administration of deaths in the state;
   39         providing an effective date.
   40          
   41  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   42  
   43         Section 1. Present subsections (1) through (17) of section
   44  382.002, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (2)
   45  through (18), respectively, a new subsection (1) is added to
   46  that section, and present subsections (8) and (9) of that
   47  section are amended, to read:
   48         382.002 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term:
   49         (1) “Burial-transit permit” means a permit issued by the
   50  department which authorizes the final disposition of a dead
   51  body.
   52         (9)(8) “Final disposition” means the burial, interment,
   53  entombment, cremation, removal from the state, anatomical
   54  donation, or other authorized disposition of a dead body or a
   55  fetus as described in subsection (8) (7). In the case of
   56  cremation, dispersion of ashes or cremation residue is
   57  considered to occur after final disposition; the cremation
   58  itself is considered final disposition. In the case of
   59  anatomical donation of a dead body, the donation itself is
   60  considered final disposition.
   61         (10)(9) “Funeral director” means a licensed funeral
   62  director or direct disposer licensed pursuant to chapter 497 who
   63  first assumes custody of or effects the final disposition of a
   64  dead body or a fetus as described in subsection (8) (7).
   65         Section 2. Subsection (9) of section 382.003, Florida
   66  Statutes, is amended to read:
   67         382.003 Powers and duties of the department.—The department
   68  shall:
   69         (9) Appoint one or more suitable persons to act as
   70  subregistrars, who shall be authorized to produce and maintain
   71  paper receive death certificates and fetal death certificates
   72  and to issue burial-transit burial permits in and for such
   73  portions of one or more districts as may be designated. A
   74  subregistrar may be removed from office by the department for
   75  neglect of or failure to perform his or her duty in accordance
   76  with this chapter.
   77         Section 3. Subsections (1) and (6) of section 382.006,
   78  Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (7) is added to
   79  that section, to read:
   80         382.006 Burial-transit permit.—
   81         (1) The funeral director who first assumes custody of a
   82  dead body or fetus must obtain a burial-transit permit before
   83  prior to final disposition and within 5 days after death. The
   84  funeral director shall provide the manually produced burial
   85  transit permit or the electronic burial-transit permit generated
   86  from the electronic death registration system to the person in
   87  charge of the place of final disposition The application for a
   88  burial-transit permit must be signed by the funeral director and
   89  include the funeral director’s license number. The funeral
   90  director must attest on the application that he or she has
   91  contacted the physician’s or medical examiner’s office and has
   92  received assurance that the physician or medical examiner will
   93  provide medical certification of the cause of death within 72
   94  hours after receipt of the death certificate from the funeral
   95  director.
   96         (6) For manually filed paper death records, the
   97  subregistrar in the licensed funeral or direct disposal
   98  establishment is responsible for producing and maintaining death
   99  and fetal death certificates and burial-transit permits in
  100  accordance with this chapter Burial-transit permits filed with
  101  the local registrar under the provisions of this chapter may be
  102  destroyed after the expiration of 3 years from the date of
  103  filing.
  104         (7) The department may adopt rules to implement this
  105  section.
  106         Section 4. Section 382.007, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  107  read:
  108         382.007 Final dispositions prohibited without burial
  109  transit permit; records of dead bodies disposed.—A person in
  110  charge of any premises on which final dispositions are made
  111  shall not dispose inter or permit the interment or other
  112  disposition of any dead body unless it is accompanied by a
  113  burial-transit permit. Any Such person shall enter endorse upon
  114  the permit the date of final interment, or other disposition,
  115  over his or her signature, and shall return all permits so
  116  endorsed to the local registrar of the district where the place
  117  of final disposition is located within 10 days from the date of
  118  interment or other disposition. He or she shall keep a record of
  119  all dead bodies interred or otherwise disposed of on the
  120  premises under his or her charge, in each case stating the name
  121  of each deceased person, place of death, date of final burial or
  122  other disposition, and name and address of the funeral director,
  123  which record shall at all times be open to official inspection.
  124  The burial-transit permit on file may satisfy this requirement.
  125  The funeral director, when disposing of burying a dead body in a
  126  cemetery having no person in charge, shall enter the date of
  127  final disposition on sign the burial-transit permit, giving the
  128  date of burial, and shall write across the face of the permit
  129  the words “No person in charge,on the permit, and keep the
  130  permit on file for at least 3 years after the date of final
  131  disposition and file the permit within 10 days after burial with
  132  the local registrar of the district in which the cemetery is
  133  located.
  134         Section 5. Subsection (1), paragraph (a) of subsection (2),
  135  and paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 382.008, Florida
  136  Statutes, are amended to read:
  137         382.008 Death and fetal death registration.—
  138         (1) A certificate for each death and fetal death which
  139  occurs in this state shall be filed electronically on the
  140  department electronic death registration system or on a form
  141  prescribed by the department with the department or local
  142  registrar of the district in which the death occurred on a form
  143  prescribed by the department. A certificate shall be filed
  144  within 5 days after such death and prior to final disposition,
  145  and shall be registered by the department such registrar if it
  146  has been completed and filed in accordance with this chapter or
  147  adopted rules. The certificate shall include the decedent’s
  148  social security number, if available. In addition, each
  149  certificate of death or fetal death:
  150         (a) If requested by the informant, shall include aliases or
  151  “also known as” (AKA) names of a decedent in addition to the
  152  decedent’s name of record. Aliases shall be entered on the face
  153  of the death certificate in the space provided for name if there
  154  is sufficient space. If there is not sufficient space, aliases
  155  may be recorded on the back of the certificate and shall be
  156  considered part of the official record of death;
  157         (b) If the place of death is unknown, shall be registered
  158  in the registration district in which the dead body or fetus was
  159  is found within 5 days after such occurrence; and
  160         (c) If death occurs in a moving conveyance, shall be
  161  registered in the registration district in which the dead body
  162  was first removed from such conveyance.
  163         (2)(a) The funeral director who first assumes custody of a
  164  dead body or fetus shall file the certificate of death or fetal
  165  death. In the absence of the funeral director, the physician or
  166  other person in attendance at or after the death or the district
  167  medical examiner of the county in which the death occurred or
  168  the body was found shall file the certificate of death or fetal
  169  death. The person who files the certificate shall obtain
  170  personal data from a legally authorized person as defined in s.
  171  497.005 the next of kin or the best qualified person or source
  172  available. The medical certification of cause of death shall be
  173  furnished to the funeral director, either in person or via
  174  certified mail or electronic transfer, by the physician or
  175  medical examiner responsible for furnishing such information.
  176  For fetal deaths, the physician, midwife, or hospital
  177  administrator shall provide any medical or health information to
  178  the funeral director within 72 hours after expulsion or
  179  extraction.
  180         (3) Within 72 hours after receipt of a death or fetal death
  181  certificate from the funeral director, the medical certification
  182  of cause of death shall be completed and made available to the
  183  funeral director by the decedent’s primary or attending
  184  physician or, if s. 382.011 applies, the district medical
  185  examiner of the county in which the death occurred or the body
  186  was found. The primary or attending physician or medical
  187  examiner shall certify over his or her signature the cause of
  188  death to the best of his or her knowledge and belief. As used in
  189  this section, the term “primary or attending physician” means a
  190  physician who treated the decedent through examination, medical
  191  advice, or medication during the 12 months preceding the date of
  192  death.
  193         (a) The department local registrar may grant the funeral
  194  director an extension of time if upon a good and sufficient
  195  showing of any of the following conditions exist:
  196         1. An autopsy is pending.
  197         2. Toxicology, laboratory, or other diagnostic reports have
  198  not been completed.
  199         3. The identity of the decedent is unknown and further
  200  investigation or identification is required.
  201         Section 6. Subsection (9) of section 382.0085, Florida
  202  Statutes, is amended to read:
  203         382.0085 Stillbirth registration.—
  204         (9) This section or s. 382.002(16) s. 382.002(15) may not
  205  be used to establish, bring, or support a civil cause of action
  206  seeking damages against any person or entity for bodily injury,
  207  personal injury, or wrongful death for a stillbirth.
  208         Section 7. Subsection (3) of section 382.011, Florida
  209  Statutes, is amended to read:
  210         382.011 Medical examiner determination of cause of death.—
  211         (3) The funeral director shall retain the responsibility
  212  for preparation of the death or fetal death certificate,
  213  obtaining the necessary signatures, filing with the department
  214  local registrar in a timely manner, and arranging for final
  215  disposition of the body when disposing of the remains when the
  216  remains are released by the medical examiner.
  217         Section 8. Section 382.0135, Florida Statutes, is amended
  218  to read:
  219         382.0135 Social security numbers; electronic notification
  220  of deaths; enumeration-at-birth program.—The department shall
  221  make arrangements with the United States Social Security
  222  Administration to provide electronic notification of deaths that
  223  occur in the state and to participate in the voluntary
  224  enumeration-at-birth program. The State Registrar is authorized
  225  to take any actions necessary to administer the program in this
  226  state, including modifying the procedures and forms used in the
  227  birth registration process.
  228         Section 9. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.