1-1 By: Chavez (Senate Sponsor - Harris) H.B. No. 2866
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 27, 1997;
1-3 April 29, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on Health
1-4 and Human Services; May 17, 1997, reported favorably, as amended,
1-5 by the following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 0; May 17, 1997, sent to
1-6 printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1 By: Harris
1-8 Amend the engrossed version of House Bill No. 2866, on page
1-9 1, lines 41 and 59, by striking "three" and inserting the work
1-10 "five".
1-11 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-12 AN ACT
1-13 relating to the completion, filing, and registration of certain
1-14 death records.
1-15 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-16 SECTION 1. Sections 193.004(a) and (b), Health and Safety
1-17 Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-18 (a) The person required to file a death certificate shall
1-19 obtain [:]
1-20 [(1)] the required personal information from a
1-21 competent person with knowledge of the facts [; and]
1-22 [(2) the required medical certification from the
1-23 physician who was last in attendance on the decedent if the death
1-24 occurred with medical attendance].
1-25 (b) The person required to file a fetal death certificate
1-26 shall obtain[:]
1-27 [(1)] the required personal information from the
1-28 person best qualified to furnish the information [; and]
1-29 [(2) the required medical certification from the
1-30 person in attendance at the fetal death if the death occurred with
1-31 medical attendance].
1-32 SECTION 2. Section 193.005, Health and Safety Code, is
1-33 amended to read as follows:
1-34 Sec. 193.005. PERSONAL INFORMATION [DEATH WITHOUT MEDICAL
1-35 ATTENDANCE]. (a) A person required to file a death certificate or
1-36 fetal death certificate shall obtain the required medical
1-37 certification from an attending physician if the death occurred
1-38 under medical attendance for the care and treatment of the
1-39 condition or disease process that contributed to the death.
1-40 (b) The attending physician shall complete the medical
1-41 certification not later than three days after receiving the death
1-42 certificate.
1-43 (c) An associate physician, the chief medical officer of the
1-44 institution where the death occurred, or the physician who
1-45 performed an autopsy on the decedent may complete the medical
1-46 certification if:
1-47 (1) the attending physician is unavailable;
1-48 (2) the attending physician approves; and
1-49 (3) the person completing the medical certification
1-50 has access to the medical history of the case and the death is due
1-51 to natural causes.
1-52 (d) If a death or fetal death occurs without medical
1-53 attendance or is otherwise subject to Chapter 49, Code of Criminal
1-54 Procedure, the person required to file the death or fetal death
1-55 certificate shall notify the appropriate authority of the death.
1-56 (e) A person conducting an inquest required by Chapter 49,
1-57 Code of Criminal Procedure, shall:
1-58 (1) complete the medical certification not later than
1-59 three days after receiving the death or fetal death certificate;
1-60 and
1-61 (2) state on the medical certification the disease
1-62 that caused the death or, if the death was from external causes,
1-63 the means of death and whether the death was probably accidental,
1-64 suicidal, or homicidal, and any other information required by the
2-1 state registrar to properly classify the death.
2-2 (f) If the identity of the decedent is unknown, the person
2-3 conducting the inquest shall obtain and forward to the Department
2-4 of Public Safety:
2-5 (1) the decedent's fingerprints;
2-6 (2) information concerning the decedent's hair color,
2-7 eye color, height, weight, deformities, and tattoo marks; and
2-8 (3) other facts required for assistance in identifying
2-9 the decedent.
2-10 (g) If the medical certification cannot be completed in a
2-11 timely manner, the person required to complete the medical
2-12 certification shall give the funeral director or the person acting
2-13 as funeral director notice of the reason for the delay. Final
2-14 disposition of the body may not be made unless specifically
2-15 authorized by the person responsible for completing the medical
2-16 certification.
2-17 (h) The person completing the medical certification shall
2-18 attest to its validity either by signature or by an electronic
2-19 process approved by the state registrar.
2-20 (i) On receipt of autopsy results or other information that
2-21 would change the information in the medical certification on the
2-22 death certificate, the appropriate certifier shall immediately
2-23 report the change in a manner prescribed by the department to amend
2-24 the death certificate. [(a) If a death or fetal death occurs
2-25 without medical attendance, the funeral director or the person
2-26 acting as funeral director shall notify the local registrar of the
2-27 death.]
2-28 [(b) The local registrar shall refer the case to the local
2-29 health authority for immediate investigation and certification. If
2-30 there is no local health authority, the local registrar may
2-31 complete the death certificate or fetal death certificate and
2-32 return from the statement of relatives or other persons having
2-33 adequate knowledge of the facts.]
2-34 [(c) The local health authority or local registrar, as
2-35 appropriate, shall refer the case to the justice of the peace or
2-36 the medical examiner, as appropriate, for inquest, investigation,
2-37 and certification if:]
2-38 [(1) the authority or registrar is in doubt as to the
2-39 cause of death; or]
2-40 [(2) the case is otherwise properly referable for
2-41 inquest.]
2-42 [(d) If a case is referred for inquest, the person
2-43 conducting the inquest shall state in the death certificate or
2-44 fetal death certificate:]
2-45 [(1) the disease that caused the death or, if the
2-46 death was from external causes, the means of death and whether the
2-47 death was probably accidental, suicidal, or homicidal; and]
2-48 [(2) any information required by the state registrar
2-49 to properly classify the death.]
2-50 [(e) If a case referred for inquest is of a person who was
2-51 not a resident of the registration district or was unknown in the
2-52 district, the person conducting the inquest shall obtain:]
2-53 [(1) the decedent's fingerprints;]
2-54 [(2) information concerning the decedent's hair color,
2-55 eye color, height, weight, deformities, and tattoo marks; and]
2-56 [(3) other facts required by the board for assistance
2-57 in identifying the decedent.]
2-58 [(f) Fingerprints and information relating to other physical
2-59 identification marks required under Subsection (e) shall be placed
2-60 on a form prescribed by the department. The report showing the
2-61 fingerprints and other physical identification marks shall be
2-62 attached to the death certificate or fetal death certificate. The
2-63 state registrar shall forward a copy of the report to the
2-64 Department of Public Safety.]
2-65 SECTION 3. Section 193.007, Health and Safety Code, is
2-66 amended to read as follows:
2-67 Sec. 193.007. DELAYED REGISTRATION OF DEATH. (a) A death
2-68 that occurred more than 10 days but less than one year before the
2-69 date of an application for registration of death may be recorded on
3-1 a death certificate and submitted for filing with the local
3-2 registrar of the registration district in which the death occurred.
3-3 (b) To file a record of a death that occurred in this state
3-4 but was not registered within one year of the date of death [in the
3-5 period provided by Section 193.003], a person shall submit a record
3-6 of the death to the county probate court in the county in which the
3-7 death occurred.
3-8 (c) [(b)] The bureau of vital statistics shall furnish a
3-9 form for filing records under this section. Records submitted
3-10 under this section must be on the form furnished by the bureau.
3-11 The state registrar may accept a certificate that is verified as
3-12 provided by this section.
3-13 (d) [(c)] The certificate must be supported by the affidavit
3-14 of:
3-15 (1) the physician last in attendance on the decedent
3-16 or the funeral director who buried the body; or
3-17 (2) if the affidavit of the physician or funeral
3-18 director cannot be obtained:
3-19 (A) any person who was acquainted with the facts
3-20 surrounding the death when the death occurred; and
3-21 (B) another person who was acquainted with the
3-22 facts surrounding the death but who is not related to the decedent
3-23 by consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573,
3-24 Government Code.
3-25 (e) [(d)] For each application under this section, the court
3-26 shall collect a $1 fee. The court retains 50 cents of the fee and
3-27 the remaining 50 cents is allocated to the clerk of the court for
3-28 recording the certificate.
3-29 (f) [(e)] Not later than the seventh day after the date on
3-30 which a certificate is accepted and ordered filed by a court under
3-31 this section, the clerk of the court shall forward to the bureau of
3-32 vital statistics:
3-33 (1) the certificate; and
3-34 (2) an order from the court that the state registrar
3-35 accept the certificate.
3-36 SECTION 4. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
3-37 (b) The change in law made by this Act applies to:
3-38 (1) any death that occurs on or after the effective
3-39 date of this Act; and
3-40 (2) any procedure relating to the administration of
3-41 death records that occurs on or after the effective date to which
3-42 the change may be made applicable without undue disruption of
3-43 services or administrative inconvenience.
3-44 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-45 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-46 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-47 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-48 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
3-49 * * * * *