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AN ACT relating to certificates of death. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
ď˘Section 1. KRS 213.076 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) (a) A certificate of death or a provisional certificate of death for each death which 4
occurs in the Commonwealth shall be filed with the cabinet or as otherwise 5
directed by the state registrar prior to final disposition, and it shall be 6
registered if it has been completed and filed in accordance with this section. 7
The funeral director, or person acting as such, who first takes custody of a 8
dead body shall be responsible for filing the certificate of death. The funeral 9
director, or person acting as such, shall obtain the required personal and 10
statistical particulars from the person best qualified to supply them over the 11
signature and address of the informant. [Effective January 1, 2015, ]All 12
certificates of death shall be filed with the cabinet using the Kentucky 13
Electronic Death Registration System in a manner directed by the state 14
registrar. 15
(b) At the time of obtaining the required personal and statistical particulars from 16
the informant referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the funeral 17
director, or person acting as such, shall ask the informant if the deceased ever 18
served in the military. If the informant answers in the affirmative, then the 19
funeral director, or person acting as such, shall provide the informant with a 20
fact sheet stating military burial rights supplied by the Kentucky Department 21
of Veterans' Affairs. 22
(c) The funeral director, or person acting as such, shall within five (5) days of the 23
death, present the certificate to the attending physician, advanced practice 24
registered nurse, or physician assistant, if any, to the physician pronouncing 25
death, or to the health officer or coroner as directed by the state registrar, for 26
the medical certificate of the cause of death and other particulars necessary to 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS SB 17/GA
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complete the record as required by this chapter. 1
(d) It shall be unlawful for an institution to release a dead human body until the 2
funeral director, or person acting as such, has completed and filed with the 3
local registrar or person in charge of the institution, a provisional certificate of 4
death. If death occurs outside an institution, the provisional certificate shall be 5
filed with the local registrar by the funeral director, or person acting as such, 6
prior to final disposition of the dead body. A copy of the provisional 7
certificate of death signed by the person with whom it was filed, shall 8
constitute authority for the possession, transportation, and, except for 9
cremation, final disposition of the body. 10
(e) All persons having in their possession a completed provisional certificate of 11
death shall file the certificate at not more than weekly intervals with the local 12
registrar. 13
(f) If the place of death is unknown but the dead body is found in the 14
Commonwealth, the certificate of death shall be completed and filed in 15
accordance with this section. The place where the body is found shall be 16
shown as the place of death. If the date of death is unknown, it shall be 17
determined by approximation subject to amendment upon completion of any 18
postmortem examination required to be performed. 19
(g) If death occurs in a moving conveyance in the United States and the body is 20
first removed from the conveyance in the Commonwealth, the death shall be 21
registered in Kentucky, and the place where it is first removed shall be 22
considered the place of death. If a death occurs on a moving conveyance 23
while in international waters or air space or in a foreign country or its air 24
space, and the body is first removed from the conveyance in the 25
Commonwealth, the death shall be registered in Kentucky, but the certificate 26
shall show the actual place of death insofar as can be determined. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS SB 17/GA
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(2) If any certificate of death is incomplete or unsatisfactory, the state registrar shall 1
call attention to the defects in the certificate and require the person responsible for 2
the entry to complete or correct. The state registrar may also require additional 3
information about the circumstances and medical conditions surrounding a death in 4
order to properly code and classify the underlying cause. A funeral director shall 5
not be held responsible for the failure of a physician, advanced practice registered 6
nurse, physician assistant, dentist, chiropractor, or coroner to complete or correct 7
the entry for which he or she is responsible. 8
(3) (a) The medical certification shall be completed, signed, and returned to the 9
funeral director within five (5) working days after presentation to the 10
physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, dentist, or 11
chiropractor in charge of the patient's care for the illness or condition which 12
resulted in death, except when inquiry is required by KRS 72.400 to 72.475. 13
In such cases, or if the cause of death is unknown or under investigation, the 14
medical certification shall be completed[cause of death shall be shown as 15
such on the certificate. A supplemental report providing the medical 16
information omitted from the original certificate shall be filed by the certifier 17
with the state registrar] within five (5) days after receiving results of the 18
inquiry as required by KRS 72.400 to 72.475. [ The supplemental report shall 19
be made a part of the existing death certificate. This report shall be considered 20
an amendment, and the death certificate shall be marked "Amended."] 21
(b) In the absence of the physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician 22
assistant, dentist, or chiropractor, or with such person's approval, the 23
certificate may be completed and signed by his or her associate physician, 24
advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, dentist, or 25
chiropractor, or the chief medical officer of the institution in which death 26
occurred, or the physician who performed an autopsy upon the decedent, or a 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS SB 17/GA
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physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant employed 1
by the local health department, if the individual has access to the medical 2
history of the case and death is due to natural causes. 3
(4) If death occurs more than thirty-six (36) hours after the decedent was last treated or 4
attended by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, 5
dentist, or chiropractor, the case shall be referred to the coroner for investigation to 6
determine and certify the cause of death. In the event that a coroner is not available 7
to sign the certificate and there is no duly appointed deputy, the county 8
judge/executive shall appoint a competent person to investigate the death and 9
certify to its cause. 10
(5) (a) The physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, dentist, 11
chiropractor, or coroner who certifies to the cause of death shall return the 12
certificate to the funeral director, or person acting as such, who, in turn, shall 13
file the certificate directly with the Vital Statistics Branch. Any certified 14
copies of the record requested at the time of filing shall be issued in not more 15
than two (2) working days. 16
(b) In the case of a death in which diabetes was known to be an underlying cause 17
or contributing condition, diabetes shall be listed in the appropriate location 18
on the death certificate by the physician, advanced practice registered nurse, 19
physician assistant, dentist, chiropractor, or coroner who certifies to the cause 20
of death. 21
(6) Three (3) free verification-of-death statements shall be provided to the funeral 22
director by the Vital Statistics Branch for every death in the Commonwealth of 23
Kentucky. 24
(7) The body of any person whose death occurs in Kentucky shall not be interred, 25
deposited in a vault or tomb, cremated, or otherwise disposed of, or removed from 26
or into any registration district, until a provisional certificate of death has been filed 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS SB 17/GA
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with the local registrar of the registration district in which the death occurs. If the 1
death occurred from a disease declared by the Cabinet for Health and Family 2
Services to be infectious, contagious, or communicable and dangerous to the public 3
health, no permit for the removal or other disposition of the body shall be granted 4
by the registrar except under conditions prescribed by the Cabinet for Health and 5
Family Services and the local health department. The Cabinet for Health and 6
Family Services shall identify by regulation those communicable diseases which 7
require blood and body fluid precautions. If a person who has been diagnosed as 8
being infected with a communicable disease for which blood and body fluid 9
precautions are required, dies within a health facility as defined in KRS 216B.015, 10
the facility shall notify any embalmer or funeral director to whom the body will be 11
transported of the need for such precautions. The notice shall be provided by 12
including the statement "Blood and Body Fluid Precautions" on the provisional 13
report-of-death form as prescribed by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. 14
Lack of this notice shall not relieve any embalmer or funeral director from taking 15
universal blood and body fluid precautions as are recommended by the United 16
States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control for 17
Morticians' Services. No embalmer or funeral director shall charge more for 18
embalming the remains of a person with a communicable disease which requires 19
blood and body fluid precautions than the price for embalming services listed on the 20
price list funeral providers are required to maintain and provide to consumers 21
pursuant to 16 C.F.R. sec. 453.2[ (1988)]. 22
(8) A burial-transit permit for the final disposition issued under the law of another state 23
which accompanies a dead body or fetus brought into the Commonwealth shall be 24
the authority for final disposition of the body or fetus in the Commonwealth and 25
may be accepted in lieu of a certificate of death. There shall be noted on the face of 26
the record made for return to the local registrar that the body was shipped to 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 24 RS SB 17/GA
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Kentucky for interment and the actual place of death. 1
(9) Nothing in this section shall be construed to delay, beyond a reasonable time, the 2
interment or other disposition of a body unless the services of the coroner or the 3
health officer are required or the Department for Public Health deems it necessary 4
for the protection of the public health. If compliance with this section would result 5
in unreasonable delay in the disposition of the body the funeral director, or person 6
acting as such, shall file with the local registrar or deputy registrar prior to 7
interment a provisional certificate of death which shall contain the name, date, and 8
place of death of the deceased, the name of the medical certifier, and an agreement 9
to furnish within ten (10) days a complete and satisfactory certificate of death. 10
(10) No sexton or other person in charge of any place in which interment or other 11
disposition of dead bodies is made shall inter or allow interment or other disposition 12
of a dead body or fetus unless it is accompanied by a copy of the provisional 13
certificate of death. The sexton, or if there is no sexton, the funeral director, or 14
person acting as such, shall enter on the provisional certificate over his or her 15
signature, the date, place, and manner of final disposition and file the certificate 16
within five (5) days with the local registrar. 17
(11) Authorization for disinterment, transportation, and reinterment or other disposition 18
shall be required prior to disinterment of any human remains. The authorization 19
shall be issued by the state registrar upon proper application. The provisions of this 20
subsection shall apply to all manners of disposition except cremation and without 21
regard for the time and place of death. The provisions of KRS 381.765 shall not 22
apply to remains removed for scientific study and the advancement of knowledge. 23
(12) After a death certificate has been on file for five (5) years, it may not be changed in 24
any manner except upon order of a court. Prior to that time, requests for corrections, 25
amendments, or additions shall be accompanied by prima facie evidence which 26
supports the requested change. 27