BILL REQ. #:  Z-0127.2 

Read first time 01/21/09.   Referred to Committee on Health & Long-Term Care.

     AN ACT Relating to allowing electronic approval of vital records; and amending RCW 70.58.005, 70.58.170, 70.58.180, 70.58.230, 70.58.240, 70.58.250, and 70.58.260.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 70.58.005 and 2005 c 365 s 151 are each amended to read as follows:
     The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Business days" means Monday through Friday except official state holidays.
     (2) "Department" means the department of health.
     (3) "Electronic approval" or "electronically approve" means approving the content of an electronically filed vital record through the processes provided by the department. Electronic approval processes shall be consistent with policies, standards, and procedures developed by the information services board under RCW 43.105.041.
     (4) "Embalmer" means a person licensed as required in chapter 18.39 RCW and defined in RCW 18.39.010.
     (((4))) (5) "Funeral director" means a person licensed as required in chapter 18.39 RCW and defined in RCW 18.39.010.
     (((5))) (6) "Vital records" means records of birth, death, fetal death, marriage, dissolution, annulment, and legal separation, as maintained under the supervision of the state registrar of vital statistics.

Sec. 2   RCW 70.58.170 and 2005 c 365 s 154 are each amended to read as follows:
     The funeral director or person having the right to control the disposition of the human remains under RCW 68.50.160 shall file the certificate of death or fetal death. In preparing such certificate, the funeral director or person having the right to control the disposition of the human remains under RCW 68.50.160 shall obtain and enter on the certificate such personal data as the certificate requires from the person or persons best qualified to supply them. He or she shall present the certificate of death to the physician, physician's assistant, or advanced registered nurse practitioner last in attendance upon the deceased, or, if the deceased died without medical attendance, to the health officer, medical examiner, coroner, or prosecuting attorney having jurisdiction, who shall ((thereupon)) certify the cause of death according to his or her best knowledge and belief and shall sign or electronically approve the certificate of death or fetal death within two business days after being presented with the certificate unless good cause for not signing or electronically approving the certificate within the two business days can be established. He or she shall present the certificate of fetal death to the physician, physician's assistant, advanced registered nurse practitioner, midwife, or other person in attendance at the fetal death, who shall certify the fetal death and such medical data pertaining thereto as he or she can furnish.

Sec. 3   RCW 70.58.180 and 2005 c 365 s 155 are each amended to read as follows:
     If the death occurred without medical attendance, the funeral director or person having the right to control the disposition of the human remains under RCW 68.50.160 shall notify the coroner, medical examiner, or prosecuting attorney if there is no coroner or medical examiner in the county. If the circumstances suggest that the death or fetal death was caused by unlawful or unnatural causes or if there is no local health officer with jurisdiction, the coroner((, or if none)) or medical examiner, or the prosecuting attorney shall complete and sign or electronically approve the certification, noting upon the certificate that no physician, physician's assistant, or advanced registered nurse practitioner was in attendance at the time of death. In case of any death without medical attendance in which there is no suspicion of death from unlawful or unnatural causes, the local health officer or his or her deputy, the coroner or medical examiner, and if none, the prosecuting attorney, shall complete and sign or electronically approve the certification, noting upon the certificate that no physician, physician's assistant, or advanced registered nurse practitioner was in attendance at the time of death, and noting the cause of death without the holding of an inquest or performing of an autopsy or post mortem, but from statements of relatives, persons in attendance during the last sickness, persons present at the time of death or other persons having adequate knowledge of the facts.
     The cause of death, the manner and mode in which death occurred, as noted by the coroner or medical examiner, or if none, the prosecuting attorney or the health officer and incorporated in the death certificate filed with the ((bureau of vital statistics of the board of health)) department shall be the legally accepted manner and mode by which the deceased came to his or her death and shall be the legally accepted cause of death.

Sec. 4   RCW 70.58.230 and 2005 c 365 s 157 are each amended to read as follows:
     It shall be unlawful for any person to inter, deposit in a vault, grave, or tomb, cremate, or otherwise dispose of, or disinter or remove from one registration district to another, or hold for more than three business days after death, the human remains of any person whose death occurred in this state or any human remains which shall be found in this state, without obtaining, from the local registrar of the district in which the death occurred or in which the human remains were found, a permit for the burial, disinterment, or removal of the human remains. However, a licensed funeral director or embalmer of this state or a funeral establishment licensed in another state contiguous to Washington, with a current certificate of removal registration issued by the director of the department of licensing, may remove human remains from the district where the death occurred to another registration district or Oregon or Idaho without having obtained a permit but in such cases the funeral director or embalmer shall at the time of removing human remains file with or mail to the local registrar of the district where the death occurred a notice of removal upon a blank to be furnished by the state registrar. The notice of removal shall be signed or electronically approved by the funeral director or embalmer and shall contain the name and address of the local registrar with whom the certificate of death will be filed and the burial-transit permit secured. Every local registrar, accepting a death certificate and issuing a burial-transit permit for a death that occurred outside his or her district, shall be entitled to a fee of one dollar to be paid by the funeral director or embalmer at the time the death certificate is accepted and the permit is secured. It shall be unlawful for any person to bring into or transport within the state or inter, deposit in a vault, grave, or tomb, or cremate or otherwise dispose of human remains of any person whose death occurred outside this state unless the human remains are accompanied by a removal or transit permit issued in accordance with the law and health regulations in force where the death occurred, or unless a special permit for bringing the human remains into this state shall be obtained from the state registrar.

Sec. 5   RCW 70.58.240 and 2005 c 365 s 158 are each amended to read as follows:
     Each funeral director or person having the right to control the disposition of the human remains under RCW 68.50.160 shall obtain a certificate of death, sign or electronically approve and file the certificate with the local registrar, and secure a burial-transit permit, prior to any permanent disposition of the human remains. He or she shall obtain the personal and statistical particulars required, from the person best qualified to supply them. He or she shall present the certificate to the attending physician or in case the death occurred without any medical attendance, to the proper official for certification for the medical certificate of the cause of death and other particulars necessary to complete the record. He or she shall supply the information required relative to the date and place of disposition and he or she shall sign or electronically approve and present the completed certificate to the local registrar, for the issuance of a burial-transit permit. He or she shall deliver the burial permit to the sexton, or person in charge of the place of burial, before interring the human remains; or shall attach the transit permit to the box containing the corpse, when shipped by any transportation company, and the permit shall accompany the corpse to its destination.

Sec. 6   RCW 70.58.250 and 1961 ex.s. c 5 s 18 are each amended to read as follows:
     The burial-transit permit shall contain a statement by the local registrar and over his or her signature or electronic approval, that a satisfactory certificate of death having been filed with him or her, as required by law, permission is granted to inter, remove, or otherwise dispose of the body; stating the name of the deceased and other necessary details upon the form prescribed by the state registrar.

Sec. 7   RCW 70.58.260 and 2005 c 365 s 159 are each amended to read as follows:
     It shall be unlawful for any person in charge of any premises in which bodies of deceased persons are interred, cremated, or otherwise permanently disposed of, to permit the interment, cremation, or other disposition of any body upon such premises unless it is accompanied by a burial, removal, or transit permit as provided in this chapter. It shall be the duty of the person in charge of any such premises to, in case of the interment, cremation, or other disposition of human remains therein, endorse upon the permit the date and character of such disposition, over his or her signature or electronic approval, to return all permits so endorsed to the local registrar of the district in which the death occurred within ten days from the date of such disposition, and to keep a record of all human remains disposed of on the premises under his or her charge, stating, in each case, the name of the deceased person, if known, the place of death, the date of burial or other disposition, and the name and address of the undertaker, which record shall at all times be open to public inspection, and it shall be the duty of every undertaker, or person acting as such, when burying human remains in a cemetery or burial grounds having no person in charge, to sign or electronically approve the burial, removal, or transit permit, giving the date of burial, write across the face of the permit the words "no person in charge", and file the burial, removal, or transit permit within ten days with the registrar of the district in which the death occurred.