1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the completion, filing, and registration of certain
1-3 death records.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 193.004(a) and (b), Health and Safety
1-6 Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-7 (a) The person required to file a death certificate shall
1-8 obtain [:]
1-9 [(1)] the required personal information from a
1-10 competent person with knowledge of the facts [; and]
1-11 [(2) the required medical certification from the
1-12 physician who was last in attendance on the decedent if the death
1-13 occurred with medical attendance].
1-14 (b) The person required to file a fetal death certificate
1-15 shall obtain[:]
1-16 [(1)] the required personal information from the
1-17 person best qualified to furnish the information [; and]
1-18 [(2) the required medical certification from the
1-19 person in attendance at the fetal death if the death occurred with
1-20 medical attendance].
1-21 SECTION 2. Section 193.005, Health and Safety Code, is
1-22 amended to read as follows:
1-23 Sec. 193.005. PERSONAL INFORMATION [DEATH WITHOUT MEDICAL
1-24 ATTENDANCE]. (a) A person required to file a death certificate or
2-1 fetal death certificate shall obtain the required medical
2-2 certification from an attending physician if the death occurred
2-3 under medical attendance for the care and treatment of the
2-4 condition or disease process that contributed to the death.
2-5 (b) The attending physician shall complete the medical
2-6 certification not later than five days after receiving the death
2-7 certificate.
2-8 (c) An associate physician, the chief medical officer of the
2-9 institution where the death occurred, or the physician who
2-10 performed an autopsy on the decedent may complete the medical
2-11 certification if:
2-12 (1) the attending physician is unavailable;
2-13 (2) the attending physician approves; and
2-14 (3) the person completing the medical certification
2-15 has access to the medical history of the case and the death is due
2-16 to natural causes.
2-17 (d) If a death or fetal death occurs without medical
2-18 attendance or is otherwise subject to Chapter 49, Code of Criminal
2-19 Procedure, the person required to file the death or fetal death
2-20 certificate shall notify the appropriate authority of the death.
2-21 (e) A person conducting an inquest required by Chapter 49,
2-22 Code of Criminal Procedure, shall:
2-23 (1) complete the medical certification not later than
2-24 five days after receiving the death or fetal death certificate; and
2-25 (2) state on the medical certification the disease
2-26 that caused the death or, if the death was from external causes,
2-27 the means of death and whether the death was probably accidental,
3-1 suicidal, or homicidal, and any other information required by the
3-2 state registrar to properly classify the death.
3-3 (f) If the identity of the decedent is unknown, the person
3-4 conducting the inquest shall obtain and forward to the Department
3-5 of Public Safety:
3-6 (1) the decedent's fingerprints;
3-7 (2) information concerning the decedent's hair color,
3-8 eye color, height, weight, deformities, and tattoo marks; and
3-9 (3) other facts required for assistance in identifying
3-10 the decedent.
3-11 (g) If the medical certification cannot be completed in a
3-12 timely manner, the person required to complete the medical
3-13 certification shall give the funeral director or the person acting
3-14 as funeral director notice of the reason for the delay. Final
3-15 disposition of the body may not be made unless specifically
3-16 authorized by the person responsible for completing the medical
3-17 certification.
3-18 (h) The person completing the medical certification shall
3-19 attest to its validity either by signature or by an electronic
3-20 process approved by the state registrar.
3-21 (i) On receipt of autopsy results or other information that
3-22 would change the information in the medical certification on the
3-23 death certificate, the appropriate certifier shall immediately
3-24 report the change in a manner prescribed by the department to amend
3-25 the death certificate. [(a) If a death or fetal death occurs
3-26 without medical attendance, the funeral director or the person
3-27 acting as funeral director shall notify the local registrar of the
4-1 death.]
4-2 [(b) The local registrar shall refer the case to the local
4-3 health authority for immediate investigation and certification. If
4-4 there is no local health authority, the local registrar may
4-5 complete the death certificate or fetal death certificate and
4-6 return from the statement of relatives or other persons having
4-7 adequate knowledge of the facts.]
4-8 [(c) The local health authority or local registrar, as
4-9 appropriate, shall refer the case to the justice of the peace or
4-10 the medical examiner, as appropriate, for inquest, investigation,
4-11 and certification if:]
4-12 [(1) the authority or registrar is in doubt as to the
4-13 cause of death; or]
4-14 [(2) the case is otherwise properly referable for
4-15 inquest.]
4-16 [(d) If a case is referred for inquest, the person
4-17 conducting the inquest shall state in the death certificate or
4-18 fetal death certificate:]
4-19 [(1) the disease that caused the death or, if the
4-20 death was from external causes, the means of death and whether the
4-21 death was probably accidental, suicidal, or homicidal; and]
4-22 [(2) any information required by the state registrar
4-23 to properly classify the death.]
4-24 [(e) If a case referred for inquest is of a person who was
4-25 not a resident of the registration district or was unknown in the
4-26 district, the person conducting the inquest shall obtain:]
4-27 [(1) the decedent's fingerprints;]
5-1 [(2) information concerning the decedent's hair color,
5-2 eye color, height, weight, deformities, and tattoo marks; and]
5-3 [(3) other facts required by the board for assistance
5-4 in identifying the decedent.]
5-5 [(f) Fingerprints and information relating to other physical
5-6 identification marks required under Subsection (e) shall be placed
5-7 on a form prescribed by the department. The report showing the
5-8 fingerprints and other physical identification marks shall be
5-9 attached to the death certificate or fetal death certificate. The
5-10 state registrar shall forward a copy of the report to the
5-11 Department of Public Safety.]
5-12 SECTION 3. Section 193.007, Health and Safety Code, is
5-13 amended to read as follows:
5-14 Sec. 193.007. DELAYED REGISTRATION OF DEATH. (a) A death
5-15 that occurred more than 10 days but less than one year before the
5-16 date of an application for registration of death may be recorded on
5-17 a death certificate and submitted for filing with the local
5-18 registrar of the registration district in which the death occurred.
5-19 (b) To file a record of a death that occurred in this state
5-20 but was not registered within one year of the date of death [in the
5-21 period provided by Section 193.003], a person shall submit a record
5-22 of the death to the county probate court in the county in which the
5-23 death occurred.
5-24 (c) [(b)] The bureau of vital statistics shall furnish a
5-25 form for filing records under this section. Records submitted
5-26 under this section must be on the form furnished by the bureau.
5-27 The state registrar may accept a certificate that is verified as
6-1 provided by this section.
6-2 (d) [(c)] The certificate must be supported by the affidavit
6-3 of:
6-4 (1) the physician last in attendance on the decedent
6-5 or the funeral director who buried the body; or
6-6 (2) if the affidavit of the physician or funeral
6-7 director cannot be obtained:
6-8 (A) any person who was acquainted with the facts
6-9 surrounding the death when the death occurred; and
6-10 (B) another person who was acquainted with the
6-11 facts surrounding the death but who is not related to the decedent
6-12 by consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573,
6-13 Government Code.
6-14 (e) [(d)] For each application under this section, the court
6-15 shall collect a $1 fee. The court retains 50 cents of the fee and
6-16 the remaining 50 cents is allocated to the clerk of the court for
6-17 recording the certificate.
6-18 (f) [(e)] Not later than the seventh day after the date on
6-19 which a certificate is accepted and ordered filed by a court under
6-20 this section, the clerk of the court shall forward to the bureau of
6-21 vital statistics:
6-22 (1) the certificate; and
6-23 (2) an order from the court that the state registrar
6-24 accept the certificate.
6-25 SECTION 4. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
6-26 (b) The change in law made by this Act applies to:
6-27 (1) any death that occurs on or after the effective
7-1 date of this Act; and
7-2 (2) any procedure relating to the administration of
7-3 death records that occurs on or after the effective date to which
7-4 the change may be made applicable without undue disruption of
7-5 services or administrative inconvenience.
7-6 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
7-7 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-8 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-9 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-10 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2866 was passed by the House on April
25, 1997, by a non-record vote; and that the House concurred in
Senate amendments to H.B. No. 2866 on May 28, 1997, by a non-record
vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2866 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 26, 1997, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor