S-5865.3

SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 6501

BySenate Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Senator Padden)

AN ACT Relating to the disposition of human remains and cremation; amending RCW 68.50.130, 18.39.170, 68.50.160, 68.50.270, 68.64.120, and 70.58.230; repealing 2020 c . . . s 6 and 2019 c 432 s 30; and prescribing penalties.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 68.50.130 and 2019 c 432 s 21 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Every person who performs a disposition of any human remains, except as otherwise provided by law, in any place, except in a cemetery or a building dedicated exclusively for religious purposes, is guilty of a misdemeanor, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section. Disposition of human remains following cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, or natural organic reduction may also occur on private property, with the consent of the property owner; and on public or government lands or waters, with the approval of the government agency that has either jurisdiction or control, or both, of the lands or waters.

Sec. 2. RCW 18.39.170 and 2019 c 432 s 37 are each amended to read as follows:

The director must appoint an agent whose title is "inspector of funeral establishments, crematories, alkaline hydrolysis, and natural organic reduction facilities, funeral directors, and embalmers of the state of Washington." A person is not eligible for such appointment unless he or she has been a licensed funeral director and embalmer in the state of Washington, with a minimum experience of not less than five consecutive years.

(1) The inspector must:

(a) Serve at the pleasure of the director; and

(b) At all times be under the supervision of the director.

(2) The inspector is authorized to:

(a) Enter the office, premises, establishment, or place of business, where funeral directing, cremation, embalming, alkaline hydrolysis, or natural organic reduction is carried on for the purpose of inspecting the premises;

(b) Inspect the licenses and registrations of funeral directors, embalmers, funeral director interns, and embalmer interns;

(c) Serve and execute any papers or process issued by the director under authority of this chapter; and

(d) Perform any other duty or duties prescribed or ordered by the director.

Sec. 3. RCW 68.50.160 and 2019 c 432 s 23 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A person has the right to control the disposition of his or her own remains without the predeath or postdeath consent of another person. A valid written document expressing the decedent's wishes regarding the place or method of disposition of his or her remains, signed by the decedent in the presence of a witness, is sufficient legal authorization for the procedures to be accomplished.

(2) Prearrangements that are prepaid, or filed with a licensed funeral establishment or cemetery authority, under RCW 18.39.280 through 18.39.345 and chapter 68.46 RCW are not subject to cancellation or substantial revision by survivors. Absent actual knowledge of contrary legal authorization under this section, a licensed funeral establishment or cemetery authority may not be held criminally nor civilly liable for acting upon such prearrangements.

(3) If the decedent has not made a prearrangement as set forth in subsection (2) of this section or the costs of executing the decedent's wishes regarding the disposition of the decedent's remains exceeds a reasonable amount or directions have not been given by the decedent, the right to control the disposition of the remains of a deceased person vests in, and the duty of disposition and the liability for the reasonable cost of preparation, care, and disposition of such remains devolves upon the following in the order named:

(a) The person designated by the decedent as authorized to direct disposition as listed on the decedent's United States department of defense record of emergency data, DD form 93, or its successor form, if the decedent died while serving in military service as described in 10 U.S.C. Sec. 1481(a) (1)-(8) in any branch of the United States armed forces, United States reserve forces, or national guard;

(b) The designated agent of the decedent as directed through a written document signed and dated by the decedent in the presence of a witness. The direction of the designated agent is sufficient to direct the type, place, and method of disposition;

(c) The surviving spouse or state registered domestic partner;

(d) The majority of the surviving adult children of the decedent;

(e) The surviving parents of the decedent;

(f) The majority of the surviving siblings of the decedent;

(g) A court-appointed guardian for the person at the time of the person's death.

(4) If any person to whom the right of control has vested pursuant to subsection (3) of this section has been arrested or charged with first or second degree murder or first degree manslaughter in connection with the decedent's death, the right of control is relinquished and passed on in accordance with subsection (3) of this section.

(5) If a cemetery authority as defined in RCW 68.04.190 or a funeral establishment licensed under chapter 18.39 RCW has made a good faith effort to locate the person cited in subsection (3)(a) through (g) of this section or the legal representative of the decedent's estate, the cemetery authority or funeral establishment has the right to rely on an authority to bury or make final disposition of the human remains, executed by the most responsible party available, and the cemetery authority or funeral establishment may not be held criminally or civilly liable for burying or performing final disposition of the human remains. In the event any government agency or charitable organization provides the funds for the disposition of any human remains, the cemetery authority, crematory, alkaline hydrolysis, natural organic reduction facility, or funeral establishment may not be held criminally or civilly liable for making final disposition of the human remains.

(6) The liability for the reasonable cost of preparation, care, and disposition devolves jointly and severally upon all kin of the decedent in the same degree of kindred, in the order listed in subsection (3) of this section, and upon the estate of the decedent.

Sec. 4. RCW 68.50.270 and 2019 c 432 s 27 are each amended to read as follows:

The person or persons determined under RCW 68.50.160 as having authority to order disposition is entitled to possession of the reduced human remains without further intervention by the state or its political subdivisions.

Sec. 5. RCW 68.64.120 and 2019 c 432 s 28 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) When a hospital refers an individual at or near death to a procurement organization, the organization shall make a reasonable search of the records of the department of licensing and any donor registry that it knows exists for the geographical area in which the individual resides to ascertain whether the individual has made an anatomical gift.

(2) A procurement organization must be allowed reasonable access to information in the records of the department of licensing to ascertain whether an individual at or near death is a donor.

(3) When a hospital refers an individual at or near death to a procurement organization, the organization may conduct any reasonable examination necessary to ensure the medical suitability of a part that is or could be the subject of an anatomical gift for transplantation, therapy, research, or education from a donor or a prospective donor. During the examination period, measures necessary to ensure the medical suitability of the part may not be withdrawn unless the hospital or procurement organization knows that the individual expressed a contrary intent.

(4) Unless prohibited by law other than this chapter, at any time after a donor's death, the person to which a part passes under RCW 68.64.100 may conduct any reasonable examination necessary to ensure the medical suitability of the body or part for its intended purpose.

(5) Unless prohibited by law other than this chapter, an examination under subsection (3) or (4) of this section may include an examination of all medical records of the donor or prospective donor.

(6) Upon the death of a minor who was a donor or had signed a refusal, unless a procurement organization knows the minor is emancipated, the procurement organization shall conduct a reasonable search for the parents of the minor and provide the parents with an opportunity to revoke or amend the anatomical gift or revoke the refusal.

(7) Upon referral by a hospital under subsection (1) of this section, a procurement organization shall make a reasonable search for any person listed in RCW 68.64.080 having priority to make an anatomical gift on behalf of a prospective donor. If a procurement organization receives information that an anatomical gift to any other person was made, amended, or revoked, it shall promptly advise the other person of all relevant information.

(8) Subject to RCW 68.64.100(9), 68.64.190, and 68.64.901, the rights of the person to which a part passes under RCW 68.64.100 are superior to the rights of all others with respect to the part. The person may accept or reject an anatomical gift in whole or in part. Subject to the terms of the document of gift and this chapter, a person that accepts an anatomical gift of an entire body may allow embalming, burial, cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, natural organic reduction, and use of remains in a funeral service. If the gift is of a part, the person to which the part passes under RCW 68.64.100, upon the death of the donor and before embalming or final disposition, must cause the part to be removed without unnecessary mutilation.

(9) Neither the physician who attends the decedent at death nor the physician who determines the time of the decedent's death may participate in the procedures for removing or transplanting a part from the decedent.

(10) A physician or technician may remove a donated part from the body of a donor that the physician or technician is qualified to remove.

Sec. 6. RCW 70.58.230 and 2019 c 432 s 30 are each amended to read as follows:

It is unlawful for any person to inter; deposit in a vault, grave, or tomb; cremate or perform alkaline hydrolysis or natural organic reduction as defined in RCW 68.04.310; 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 must 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 must be signed or electronically approved by the funeral director or embalmer and must 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, is 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 is 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 is obtained from the state registrar.

(1) 2020 c ... s 6 (section 6 of this act); and

(2) 2019 c 432 s 30.

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