87R3201 EAS-D
 
  By: Buckingham, et al. S.B. No. 701
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the continuation and transfer of the regulation of
  willed body programs to the Texas Funeral Service Commission and to
  the creation of the State Anatomical Advisory Committee;
  authorizing a fee.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
  ARTICLE 1. STATE ANATOMICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE; TEXAS FUNERAL
  SERVICE COMMISSION
         SECTION 1.01.  The heading to Chapter 691, Health and Safety
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 691. DONATION OF BODIES AND ANATOMICAL SPECIMENS
  [ANATOMICAL BOARD OF THE STATE OF TEXAS]
         SECTION 1.02.  The heading to Subchapter A, Chapter 691,
  Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS; STATE [ORGANIZATION OF]
  ANATOMICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE [BOARD OF THE STATE OF TEXAS]
         SECTION 1.03.  Section 691.001, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended by amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivisions (4) and
  (5) to read as follows:
               (1)  "Advisory committee [Board]" means the State
  Anatomical Advisory Committee [Board of the State of Texas].
               (4)  "Commission" means the Texas Funeral Service
  Commission. 
               (5)  "Willed body program" means a program operated at
  an institution of higher education in this state and approved by the
  commission that allows a living individual to donate the
  individual's body or anatomical specimen for educational or
  research purposes.
         SECTION 1.04.  Section 691.002, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 691.002.  ADVISORY COMMITTEE [COMPOSITION OF BOARD].
  (a) The State Anatomical Advisory Committee is established to
  advise the commission on matters related to the regulation and
  operation of willed body programs in this state.
         (b)  The advisory committee is composed of representatives
  appointed by the commission from institutions of higher education
  that operate willed body programs [The Anatomical Board of the
  State of Texas is composed of one representative from each school or
  college of chiropractic, osteopathy, medicine, or dentistry
  incorporated in this state].
         (c)  Members of the advisory committee serve two-year terms
  [(b)  On March 1 of each odd-numbered year, the chief executive
  officer of each institution described by Subsection (a) shall
  appoint as the institution's representative on the board one
  professor of surgery or of basic anatomical sciences who is
  associated with the institution].
         (d) [(c)]  Appointments to the advisory committee [board]
  shall be made without regard to the race, creed, sex, religion, or
  national origin of the appointees.
         (e)  Sections 2110.002 and 2110.008, Government Code, do not
  apply to the advisory committee.
         SECTION 1.05.  Section 691.007(c), Health and Safety Code,
  is redesignated as Section 691.011, Health and Safety Code, and
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 691.011.  RECORDS. [(c)] The commission [board] shall
  keep identification records of each body donated to the commission
  [board] and of each body or anatomical specimen distributed by the
  commission [board].
         SECTION 1.06.  Section 691.008(a), Health and Safety Code,
  is redesignated as Section 691.012, Health and Safety Code, and
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 691.012.  FEES. [(a)] The commission [board] may set
  and collect reasonable and necessary fees for:
               (1)  receiving and distributing bodies and anatomical
  specimens; and
               (2)  conducting inspections of institutions or other
  persons authorized to receive and use bodies or anatomical
  specimens under this chapter.
         SECTION 1.07.  Section 691.010, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 691.010.  PUBLIC INFORMATION AND PARTICIPATION;
  COMPLAINTS.  (a)  The commission [board] shall prepare information
  of public interest describing the functions of the commission under
  this chapter [board] and the commission's [board's] procedures by
  which complaints are filed with and resolved by the commission
  [board].  The commission [board] shall make the information
  available to the public and appropriate state agencies.
         (b)  The commission [board] by rule shall establish methods
  by which service recipients can be notified of the name, mailing
  address, and telephone number of the commission [board] for the
  purpose of directing complaints to the commission [board].  The
  commission [board] may provide for that notification by including
  the information on each written contract relating to bodies willed
  or donated to an entity regulated by the commission [board] or
  authorized by the commission [board] to receive bodies.
         (c)  The commission [board] shall keep an information file
  about each complaint filed with the commission [board] relating to
  its functions under this chapter.  If a written complaint is filed
  with the commission [board] relating to a person or an entity
  regulated by the commission under this chapter [board], the
  commission [board, at least as frequently as quarterly and until
  final disposition of the complaint,] shall periodically notify the
  parties to the complaint of the status of the complaint until final
  disposition unless notice would jeopardize an undercover
  investigation.
         (d)  The commission [board] shall develop and implement
  policies that provide the public with a reasonable opportunity to
  appear before the commission [board] and to speak on any issue under
  the jurisdiction of the commission [board].
         SECTION 1.08.  Section 691.022, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 691.022.  GENERAL DUTIES. (a) The commission [board]
  shall distribute bodies and anatomical specimens to institutions of
  higher education that operate willed body programs and other
  institutions and persons authorized to receive a body or specimen
  under this chapter [them].
         (b)  The commission [board] shall adopt rules to ensure that
  each body and anatomical specimen is treated with respect while in
  the custody of the commission [board] or an institution or person
  authorized to receive the body or specimen, including an
  institution of higher education that operates a willed body program
  [represented on the board is treated with respect].
         (c)  The commission may not adopt a rule related to standards
  of practice, ethics, qualifications, or disciplinary sanctions for
  institutions or persons regulated under this chapter unless the
  advisory committee first proposes the rule and the proposed rule is
  authorized by this chapter. The commission may not modify a rule
  described by this subsection that is proposed by the advisory
  committee. If the commission declines to adopt a rule proposed by
  the advisory committee, the commission shall return the rule to the
  advisory committee with an explanation of the reasons the
  commission declined to adopt the rule.
         (d)  The commission shall adopt rules, establish procedures,
  and prescribe forms necessary to administer and enforce this
  chapter.
         SECTION 1.09.  Section 691.0225, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 691.0225.  INFORMATIONAL DOCUMENT. The commission
  [board] shall develop a document to inform a person making a gift of
  a decedent's body or anatomical specimen for purposes of education,
  including forensic science education, or research of the risks and
  benefits associated with donation. The commission [board] shall
  make the document available on the commission's [board's] Internet
  website.
         SECTION 1.10.  Section 691.023, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 691.023.  DUTY TO DELIVER CERTAIN BODIES TO COMMISSION 
  [BOARD]. (a) An officer, employee, or representative of the state,
  of a political subdivision, or of an institution having charge or
  control of a body not claimed for burial or a body required to be
  buried at public expense shall:
               (1)  notify the commission [board] or the commission's 
  [board's] representative of the body's existence when the body
  comes into the person's possession, charge, or control if notified
  in writing to do so by the commission [board] or the commission's 
  [board's] representative;
               (2)  deliver the body in accordance with the direction
  of the commission [board]; and
               (3)  allow the commission [board], the commission's 
  [board's] representative, or a physician designated by the
  commission [board] who complies with this chapter to remove the
  body to be used for the advancement of medical or forensic science.
         (b)  If the commission [board] does not require a political
  subdivision or agency of the political subdivision to deliver a
  body under this section, the political subdivision shall pay all
  costs of preparation for burial, including costs of embalming.
         SECTION 1.11.  Section 691.025(c), Health and Safety Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (c)  A body that is not claimed for burial within 48 hours
  after a relative receives notification shall be delivered as soon
  as possible to the commission [board] or the commission's [board's]
  representative.
         SECTION 1.12.  Section 691.026, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 691.026.  BODY OF TRAVELER. If an unclaimed body is the
  body of a traveler who died suddenly, the commission [board] shall
  direct the institution or other person receiving the body to retain
  the body for six months for purposes of identification.
         SECTION 1.13.  Section 691.027, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 691.027.  AUTOPSY. Only the commission [board] may
  grant permission to perform an autopsy on an unclaimed body. The
  commission [board] may grant permission after receiving a specific
  request for an autopsy that shows sufficient evidence of medical
  urgency.
         SECTION 1.14.  Section 691.028(a), Health and Safety Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  An adult living in this state who is of sound mind may
  donate the adult's body by will or other written instrument to the
  commission [board], a medical or dental school, or another donee
  authorized by the commission [board,] to be used for the
  advancement of medical or forensic science.
         SECTION 1.15.  Section 691.029, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 691.029.  AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT BODIES FROM OUTSIDE THE
  STATE. The commission [board] may receive a body transported to the
  commission [board] from outside this state.
         SECTION 1.16.  Section 691.030, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 691.030.  COMMISSION'S [BOARD'S] AUTHORITY TO
  DISTRIBUTE BODIES AND ANATOMICAL SPECIMENS. (a) The commission
  [board] or the commission's [board's] representative shall
  distribute bodies donated to it and may redistribute bodies donated
  to medical or dental schools or other donees authorized by the
  commission [board] to:
               (1)  schools and colleges of chiropractic, osteopathy,
  medicine, or dentistry incorporated in this state;
               (2)  forensic science programs;
               (3)  search and rescue organizations or recovery teams
  that are recognized by the commission [board], are exempt from
  federal taxation under Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of
  1986, and use human remains detection canines with the
  authorization of a local or county law enforcement agency;
               (4)  physicians; and
               (5)  other persons as provided by this section.
         (b)  In making the distribution, the commission [board]
  shall give priority to the schools and colleges that need bodies for
  lectures and demonstrations.
         (c)  If the commission [board] has remaining bodies, the
  commission [board] or the commission's [board's] representative
  shall distribute or redistribute those bodies to the schools and
  colleges proportionately and equitably according to the number of
  students in each school or college receiving instruction or
  demonstration in normal or morbid anatomy and operative surgery.
  The dean of each school or college shall certify that number to the
  commission [board] when required by the commission [board].
         (d)  The commission [board] may transport a body or
  anatomical specimen to an authorized recipient in another state if
  the commission [board] determines that the supply of bodies or
  anatomical specimens in this state exceeds the need for bodies or
  anatomical specimens in this state and if:
               (1)  the deceased donated the deceased's [his] body in
  compliance with Section 691.028 and at the time of the donation
  authorized the commission [board] to transport the body outside
  this state; or
               (2)  the body was donated in compliance with Chapter
  692A and the person authorized to make the donation under Section
  692A.009 authorized the commission [board] to transport the body
  outside this state.
         SECTION 1.17.  Sections 691.031(a), (b), and (f), Health and
  Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The commission [board] shall adopt rules to ensure that:
               (1)  each body or anatomical specimen received or
  distributed by the commission [board] is properly transported;
               (2)  a label with the statement "CONTENTS DERIVED FROM
  DONATED HUMAN TISSUE" is affixed to the container in which the body
  or anatomical specimen is transported; and
               (3)  each person who has control or possession of a body
  or anatomical specimen:
                     (A)  satisfactorily completes the information
  required on a chain-of-custody form prescribed by the commission 
  [board];
                     (B)  maintains a copy of the form for the person's
  records; and
                     (C)  transfers the form to any other person to
  whom control or possession of the body or anatomical specimen is
  transferred.
         (b)  The commission [board] may employ a public carrier to
  transport bodies or anatomical specimens received or distributed by
  the commission [board].
         (f)  The sender and receiver of each body or anatomical
  specimen shall file the records required under this section in
  accordance with commission [board] rules so that the commission 
  [board] or a district or county attorney may inspect the records at
  any time.
         SECTION 1.18.  Section 691.032, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 691.032.  COSTS OF DISTRIBUTION. A person or
  institution receiving a body or anatomical specimen under this
  chapter shall pay in a manner specified by the commission [board],
  or as otherwise agreed on, all costs incurred in distributing the
  body or anatomical specimen so that the state, a county, a
  municipality, or an officer, employee, or representative of the
  state, a county, or a municipality does not incur any expense.
         SECTION 1.19.  Sections 691.033(a), (b), and (d), Health and
  Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  To further medical or forensic science, a school,
  college, or person designated by the commission [board] may use,
  dissect, operate on, examine, and experiment on a body or
  anatomical specimen distributed under this chapter.
         (b)  A school, college, or person shall keep a permanent
  record of each body or anatomical specimen received from the
  commission [board] or the commission's [board's] representative.
  The record must be sufficient to identify the body or anatomical
  specimen and may be inspected by the commission [board] or the
  commission's [board's] representative.
         (d)  To aid prosecutions under Section 42.08, Penal Code, the
  commission [board] shall adopt rules that clearly state the
  activities that are authorized by the commission [board] in
  relation to the use or dissection of a body.
         SECTION 1.20.  Section 691.034, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 691.034.  REGULATION OF PERSONS AND INSTITUTIONS USING
  BODIES AND ANATOMICAL SPECIMENS. (a) The commission [board] shall
  inspect and may approve institutions and other persons for the
  receipt and use of bodies and anatomical specimens under this
  chapter.
         (b)  The commission [board] may investigate a person or
  institution if the commission [board] has reason to believe that
  the person or institution has improperly used a body or anatomical
  specimen.
         (c)  The commission [board] may suspend or revoke a person's
  or institution's authorization to receive and use or dissect bodies
  or anatomical specimens if the commission [board] determines that
  the person or institution has improperly used a body or anatomical
  specimen.
         (d)  A person or institution is entitled to a hearing before
  the commission [board] or a hearing examiner appointed by the
  commission [board] before the commission [board] may revoke the
  person's or institution's authorization to receive and use or
  dissect bodies or anatomical specimens. The commission [board]
  shall make all final decisions to suspend or revoke an
  authorization.
         SECTION 1.21.  Subchapter A, Chapter 651, Occupations Code,
  is amended by adding Section 651.005 to read as follows:
         Sec. 651.005.  REGULATION OF WILLED BODY PROGRAMS.  The
  commission shall regulate willed body programs as provided by
  Chapter 691, Health and Safety Code, and in accordance with the
  powers and duties granted by this chapter to the extent necessary to
  regulate the programs under that chapter.
         SECTION 1.22.  The following provisions of the Health and
  Safety Code are repealed:
               (1)  Section 691.003;
               (2)  Section 691.004;
               (3)  Section 691.005;
               (4)  Section 691.006;
               (5)  Sections 691.007(a), (b), and (d);
               (6)  Sections 691.008(b) and (d);
               (7)  the headings to Sections 691.007 and 691.008; and
               (8)  Section 691.009.
  ARTICLE 2. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS
         SECTION 2.01.  Article 43.25, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Art. 43.25.  BODY OF CONVICT. The body of a convict who has
  been legally executed shall be embalmed immediately and so directed
  by the Director of the correctional institutions division of the
  Texas Department of Criminal Justice [Department of Corrections].
  If the body is not demanded or requested by a relative or bona fide
  friend within forty-eight hours after execution then it shall be
  delivered to the Texas Funeral Service Commission [Anatomical Board
  of the State of Texas], if requested by the commission [Board]. If
  the body is requested by a relative, a bona fide friend, or the
  Texas Funeral Service Commission [Anatomical Board of the State of
  Texas], such recipient shall pay a fee [of] not to exceed
  twenty-five dollars to the mortician for the mortician's [his]
  services in embalming the body for which the mortician shall issue
  to the recipient a written receipt. When such receipt is delivered
  to the Director of the correctional institutions division of the
  Texas Department of Criminal Justice [Department of Corrections],
  the body of the deceased shall be delivered to the party named in
  the receipt or the party's [his] authorized agent. If the body is
  not delivered to a relative, a bona fide friend, or the Texas
  Funeral Service Commission [Anatomical Board of the State of
  Texas], the Director of the correctional institutions division of
  the Texas Department of Criminal Justice [Department of
  Corrections] shall cause the body to be decently buried, and the fee
  for embalming shall be paid by the county in which the indictment
  which resulted in conviction was found.
         SECTION 2.02.  Section 404.093(b), Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (b)  This subchapter does not apply to:
               (1)  funds pledged to the payment of bonds, notes, or
  other debts if the funds are not otherwise required to be deposited
  in the treasury;
               (2)  funds held in trust or escrow for the benefit of a
  person or entity other than a state agency;
               (3)  funds set apart out of earnings derived from
  investment of funds held in trust for others, as administrative
  expenses of the trustee agency; or
               (4)  funds, grants, donations, and proceeds from funds,
  grants, and donations, given in trust to the Texas State Library and
  Archives Commission for the establishment and maintenance of
  regional historical resource depositories and libraries in
  accordance with Section 441.154[; or
               [(5)  funds under the management of the
  secretary-treasurer of the Anatomical Board of the State of Texas,
  as provided by Section 691.008, Health and Safety Code].
         SECTION 2.03. Sections 692A.011(a), (b), and (c), Health and
  Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  An anatomical gift may be made to the following persons
  named in the document of gift:
               (1)  an organ procurement organization to be used for
  transplantation, therapy, research, or education;
               (2)  a hospital to be used for research;
               (3)  subject to Subsection (d), an individual
  designated by the person making the anatomical gift if the
  individual is the recipient of the part;
               (4)  an eye bank or tissue bank, except that use of a
  gift of a whole body must be coordinated through the Texas Funeral
  Service Commission [Anatomical Board of the State of Texas];
               (5)  a forensic science program at:
                     (A)  a general academic teaching institution as
  defined by Section 61.003, Education Code; or
                     (B)  a private or independent institution of
  higher education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code;
               (6)  a search and rescue organization or recovery team
  that is recognized by the Texas Funeral Service Commission 
  [Anatomical Board of the State of Texas], is exempt from federal
  taxation under Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
  and uses human remains detection canines with the authorization of
  a local or county law enforcement agency; or
               (7)  the Texas Funeral Service Commission [Anatomical
  Board of the State of Texas].
         (b)  Except for donations described by Subsections (a)(1)
  through (6), the Texas Funeral Service Commission [Anatomical Board
  of the State of Texas] shall be the donee of gifts of bodies or parts
  of bodies made for the purpose of education or research that are
  subject to distribution by the commission [board] under Chapter
  691.
         (c)  A forensic science program that receives a donation
  under Subsection (a)(5) must submit a report to the Texas Funeral
  Service Commission [Anatomical Board of the State of Texas] on a
  quarterly basis that lists:
               (1)  the number of bodies or parts of bodies that the
  program received; and
               (2)  the method in which the program used the bodies or
  parts of bodies for education or research.
  ARTICLE 3. TRANSITIONS AND EFFECTIVE DATE
         SECTION 3.01.  (a) The Anatomical Board of the State of Texas
  is abolished but continues in existence until September 1, 2022,
  for the sole purpose of transferring obligations, property, rights,
  powers, and duties to the Texas Funeral Service Commission. The
  Texas Funeral Service Commission assumes all of the obligations,
  property, rights, powers, and duties of the Anatomical Board of the
  State of Texas as they exist immediately before the effective date
  of this Act. All unexpended and unobligated funds under the
  management of the secretary-treasurer of the Anatomical Board of
  the State of Texas, as provided by Section 691.008, Health and
  Safety Code, as that section existed immediately before the
  effective date of this Act, are transferred to the general revenue
  fund for the purpose of the Texas Funeral Service Commission
  administering duties under Chapter 691, Health and Safety Code, as
  amended by this Act.
         (b)  The Anatomical Board of the State of Texas and the Texas
  Funeral Service Commission shall, in consultation with appropriate
  state entities, ensure that the transfer of the obligations,
  property, rights, powers, and duties of the Anatomical Board of the
  State of Texas to the Texas Funeral Service Commission is completed
  not later than September 1, 2022.
         (c)  All rules of the Anatomical Board of the State of Texas
  are continued in effect as rules of the Texas Funeral Service
  Commission until superseded by a rule of the Texas Funeral Service
  Commission. An authorization issued by the Anatomical Board of the
  State of Texas is continued in effect as provided by the law in
  effect immediately before the effective date of this Act. An
  authorization pending on the effective date of this Act is
  continued without change in status after the effective date of this
  Act. A complaint, investigation, or other proceeding pending on the
  effective date of this Act is continued without change in status
  after the effective date of this Act.
         (d)  Unless the context indicates otherwise, a reference to
  the Anatomical Board of the State of Texas in a law or
  administrative rule means the Texas Funeral Service Commission.
         SECTION 3.02.  (a) Not later than the 60th day after the
  effective date of this Act, the Texas Funeral Service Commission
  shall appoint members to the State Anatomical Advisory Committee in
  accordance with Section 691.002, Health and Safety Code, as amended
  by this Act.
         (b)  The members of the Anatomical Board of the State of
  Texas whose terms expire under Section 3.01 of this Act shall
  continue to provide advice to the Texas Funeral Service Commission
  until a majority of the members of the State Anatomical Advisory
  Committee are appointed under Subsection (a) of this section and
  qualified.  A member of the Anatomical Board of the State of Texas
  described by this subsection may be appointed to the State
  Anatomical Advisory Committee if the member is otherwise eligible
  for appointment under Section 691.002, Health and Safety Code, as
  amended by this Act.
         SECTION 3.03.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.