H-4416.3          _______________________________________________

 

                            SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2300

                  _______________________________________________

 

State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1992 Regular Session

 

By House Committee on Local Government (originally sponsored by Representative Peery)

 

Read first time 02/07/92.  Revising the procedures for death certificates.


     AN ACT Relating to death and burial records; adding a new section to chapter 70.58 RCW; and repealing RCW 70.58.160, 70.58.170, 70.58.180, and 70.58.190.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

 

     NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 70.58 RCW to read as follows:

     (1) A certificate of death for each death that occurs in this state shall be filed with the local registrar of the district in which the death or fetal death occurred within three working days after a death is known and prior to final disposition.  All items on the death certificate form shall be completed.

     (a) If the place of death is unknown but the dead body is found in Washington state, the certificate of death shall be completed and filed in the registration district in which the body is found.  If the date of death is unknown, it shall be determined by approximation.

     (b) If the death occurs in a moving conveyance in the United States and the body is first removed from the conveyance in Washington state, the death shall be registered in the registration district in which the body is removed.  If a death occurs in a moving conveyance while in international waters or air space or in a foreign country or its air space and the body is first removed from the conveyance in Washington state, the death shall be registered in the registration district in which the body is removed, but the certificate shall show the actual place of death insofar as can be determined.

     (2) The funeral director or person acting as such who first assumes custody of the dead body shall file the certificate of death.  He or she shall obtain the personal data from the next of kin or the best qualified person or source available and shall obtain the cause of death from the attending physician, coroner, or medical examiner.

     (3) The cause of death section shall be completed, signed, and made available to the funeral director within forty-eight hours after death by the physician in attendance or physician's designee at the time of death according to his or her best knowledge and belief.  If there is no attending physician or physician's designee or if the attending physician and the physician's designee will be unavailable for signature for forty-eight hours after death, the certificate shall be completed and signed by one of the following:

     (a) Any physician who has access to the decedent's medical history; and

     (b) The physician, coroner, or medical examiner who obtains jurisdiction over the decedent under RCW 68.50.010.

     (4) If the cause of death cannot be determined within forty-eight hours after death, the attending physician, coroner, or medical examiner shall state the cause of death as pending investigation or unknown and the death certificate shall be made available to the funeral director or the person acting as such.  If the cause of death becomes known, the attending physician, coroner, or medical examiner shall complete an affidavit for correction and file it with the local registrar.

     (5) Final disposition or removal from the state of Washington shall not be made until authorized by the local registrar or subdeputy local registrar.

 

     NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.      The following acts or parts of acts are each repealed:

     (1) RCW 70.58.160 and 1961 ex.s. c 5 s 12 & 1945 c 159 s 1;

     (2) RCW 70.58.170 and 1979 ex.s. c 162 s 1, 1961 ex.s. c 5 s 13, & 1945 c 159 s 2;

     (3) RCW 70.58.180 and 1961 ex.s. c 5 s 14, 1953 c 188 s 5, & 1945 c 159 s 3; and

     (4) RCW 70.58.190 and 1945 c 159 s 4.