S-2927.2          _______________________________________________

                                 SENATE BILL 6149

                  _______________________________________________

State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1992 Regular Session

By Senators Moore, Talmadge and Skratek

Read first time 01/20/92.  Referred to Committee on Governmental Operations.Requiring newspapers to print death and funeral notices without charge.

     AN ACT Relating to death and funeral notices; adding a new section to chapter 65.16 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 65.16 RCW to read as follows:

     (1)  A daily or weekly newspaper of general circulation published in the state of Washington that qualifies as a legal newspaper under this chapter shall print a death or funeral notice without charge if:

     (a)  The deceased person was a resident at the time of death of a county within which the newspaper is a legal newspaper;

     (b)  The request for publication of such death or funeral notice is submitted by a resident of the state of Washington who is an immediate family member of the deceased person, except that if there is no immediate family member of the deceased who is a resident of the state of Washington, such notice may be submitted by any interested party who is a resident of the state of Washington; and

     (c)  The request is submitted within one month of the date of death in writing to the appropriate notice or advertisement department of the newspaper.

     (2)  This section does not apply to any additional notices requested of any newspaper after a notice is printed without charge.

     (3)  The notice may not exceed one hundred eighty words in length and shall contain, in addition to any other information the requesting immediate family member deems appropriate, the following information:

     (a) Name of the deceased, to be printed in prominent bold type;

     (b) Age at time of death;

     (c) Place of death;

     (d) Nature of illness if revealed by the requesting immediate family member or interested party;

     (e) Place of birth;

     (f) Extent of formal education;

     (g) Professional, civic, and fraternal affiliations, if any;

     (h) Religious affiliation and church membership, if any;

     (i) Date, time, and place of memorial service, if any;

     (j) Names of surviving family members, if any;

     (k) Name of funeral home; and

     (l) Where donations, memorials, or remembrances may be made.

     (4)  For the purposes of this section, "immediate family member" means a parent, spouse, or adult child of the deceased person.

     (5)(a)  The editor of a newspaper that violates this section is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.

     (b)  A newspaper determined in a civil proceeding to have violated this section shall forfeit the tax exemption under RCW 82.08.0253 for one year.