CHAPTER 83
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CHAPTER 83
( SB 17 )
AN ACT relating to certificates of death.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
ď˘Section 1. KRS 213.076 is amended to read as follows:
(1) (a) A certificate of death or a provisional certificate of death for each death which occurs in the
Commonwealth shall be filed with the cabinet or as otherwise directed by the state registrar prior to
final disposition, and it shall be registered if it has been completed and filed in accordance with this
section. The funeral director, or person acting as such, who first takes custody of a dead body shall be
responsible for filing the certificate of death. The funeral director, or person acting as such, shall obtain
the required personal and statistical particulars from the person best qualified to supply them over the
signature and address of the informant. [Effective January 1, 2015, ]All certificates of death shall be
filed with the cabinet using the Kentucky Electronic Death Registration System in a manner directed by
the state registrar.
(b) At the time of obtaining the required personal and statistical particulars from the informant referred to
in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the funeral director, or person acting as such, shall ask the informant
if the deceased ever served in the military. If the informant answers in the affirmative, then the funeral
director, or person acting as such, shall provide the informant with a fact sheet stating military burial
rights supplied by the Kentucky Department of Veterans' Affairs.
(c) The funeral director, or person acting as such, shall within five (5) days of the death, present the
certificate to the attending physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant, if any,
to the physician pronouncing death, or to the health officer or coroner as directed by the state registrar,
for the medical certificate of the cause of death and other particulars necessary to complete the record as
required by this chapter.
(d) It shall be unlawful for an institution to release a dead human body until the funeral director, or person
acting as such, has completed and filed with the local registrar or person in charge of the institution, a
provisional certificate of death. If death occurs outside an institution, the provisional certificate shall be
filed with the local registrar by the funeral director, or person acting as such, prior to final disposition of
the dead body. A copy of the provisional certificate of death signed by the person with whom it was
filed, shall constitute authority for the possession, transportation, and, except for cremation, final
disposition of the body.
(e) All persons having in their possession a completed provisional certificate of death shall file the
certificate at not more than weekly intervals with the local registrar.
(f) If the place of death is unknown but the dead body is found in the Commonwealth, the certificate of
death shall be completed and filed in accordance with this section. The place where the body is found
shall be shown as the place of death. If the date of death is unknown, it shall be determined by
approximation subject to amendment upon completion of any postmortem examination required to be
performed.
(g) If death occurs in a moving conveyance in the United States and the body is first removed from the
conveyance in the Commonwealth, the death shall be registered in Kentucky, and the place where it is
first removed shall be considered the place of death. If a death occurs on 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 the Commonwealth, the death shall be registered in Kentucky, but the
certificate shall show the actual place of death insofar as can be determined.
(2) If any certificate of death is incomplete or unsatisfactory, the state registrar shall call attention to the defects in
the certificate and require the person responsible for the entry to complete or correct. The state registrar may
also require additional information about the circumstances and medical conditions surrounding a death in
order to properly code and classify the underlying cause. A funeral director shall not be held responsible for
the failure of a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, dentist, chiropractor, or
coroner to complete or correct the entry for which he or she is responsible. ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2
(3) (a) The medical certification shall be completed, signed, and returned to the funeral director within five (5)
working days after presentation to the physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant,
dentist, or chiropractor in charge of the patient's care for the illness or condition which resulted in death,
except when inquiry is required by KRS 72.400 to 72.475. In such cases, or if the cause of death is
unknown or under investigation, the medical certification shall be completed[cause of death shall be
shown as such on the certificate. A supplemental report providing the medical information omitted from
the original certificate shall be filed by the certifier with the state registrar] within five (5) days after
receiving results of the inquiry as required by KRS 72.400 to 72.475. [ The supplemental report shall be
made a part of the existing death certificate. This report shall be considered an amendment, and the
death certificate shall be marked "Amended."]
(b) In the absence of the physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, dentist, or
chiropractor, or with such person's approval, the certificate may be completed and signed by his or her
associate physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, dentist, or chiropractor, or
the chief medical officer of the institution in which death occurred, or the physician who performed an
autopsy upon the decedent, or a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant
employed by the local health department, if the individual has access to the medical history of the case
and death is due to natural causes.
(4) If death occurs more than thirty-six (36) hours after the decedent was last treated or attended by a physician,
advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, dentist, or chiropractor, the case shall be referred to the
coroner for investigation to determine and certify the cause of death. In the event that a coroner is not available
to sign the certificate and there is no duly appointed deputy, the county judge/executive shall appoint a
competent person to investigate the death and certify to its cause.
(5) (a) The physician, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, dentist, chiropractor, or coroner
who certifies to the cause of death shall return the certificate to the funeral director, or person acting as
such, who, in turn, shall file the certificate directly with the Vital Statistics Branch. Any certified copies
of the record requested at the time of filing shall be issued in not more than two (2) working days.
(b) In the case of a death in which diabetes was known to be an underlying cause or contributing condition,
diabetes shall be listed in the appropriate location on the death certificate by the physician, advanced
practice registered nurse, physician assistant, dentist, chiropractor, or coroner who certifies to the cause
of death.
(6) Three (3) free verification-of-death statements shall be provided to the funeral director by the Vital Statistics
Branch for every death in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
(7) The body of any person whose death occurs in Kentucky shall not be interred, deposited in a vault or tomb,
cremated, or otherwise disposed of, or removed from or into any registration district, until a provisional
certificate of death has been filed with the local registrar of the registration district in which the death occurs.
If the death occurred from a disease declared by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to be infectious,
contagious, or communicable and dangerous to the public health, no permit for the removal or other
disposition of the body shall be granted by the registrar except under conditions prescribed by the Cabinet for
Health and Family Services and the local health department. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services shall
identify by regulation those communicable diseases which require blood and body fluid precautions. If a
person who has been diagnosed as being infected with a communicable disease for which blood and body fluid
precautions are required, dies within a health facility as defined in KRS 216B.015, the facility shall notify any
embalmer or funeral director to whom the body will be transported of the need for such precautions. The
notice shall be provided by including the statement "Blood and Body Fluid Precautions" on the provisional
report-of-death form as prescribed by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Lack of this notice shall not
relieve any embalmer or funeral director from taking universal blood and body fluid precautions as are
recommended by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control
for Morticians' Services. No embalmer or funeral director shall charge more for embalming the remains of a
person with a communicable disease which requires blood and body fluid precautions than the price for
embalming services listed on the price list funeral providers are required to maintain and provide to consumers
pursuant to 16 C.F.R. sec. 453.2[ (1988)].
(8) A burial-transit permit for the final disposition issued under the law of another state which accompanies a dead
body or fetus brought into the Commonwealth shall be the authority for final disposition of the body or fetus in
the Commonwealth and may be accepted in lieu of a certificate of death. There shall be noted on the face of
the record made for return to the local registrar that the body was shipped to Kentucky for interment and the
actual place of death. CHAPTER 83
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(9) Nothing in this section shall be construed to delay, beyond a reasonable time, the interment or other
disposition of a body unless the services of the coroner or the health officer are required or the Department for
Public Health deems it necessary for the protection of the public health. If compliance with this section would
result in unreasonable delay in the disposition of the body the funeral director, or person acting as such, shall
file with the local registrar or deputy registrar prior to interment a provisional certificate of death which shall
contain the name, date, and place of death of the deceased, the name of the medical certifier, and an agreement
to furnish within ten (10) days a complete and satisfactory certificate of death.
(10) No sexton or other person in charge of any place in which interment or other disposition of dead bodies is
made shall inter or allow interment or other disposition of a dead body or fetus unless it is accompanied by a
copy of the provisional certificate of death. The sexton, or if there is no sexton, the funeral director, or person
acting as such, shall enter on the provisional certificate over his or her signature, the date, place, and manner
of final disposition and file the certificate within five (5) days with the local registrar.
(11) Authorization for disinterment, transportation, and reinterment or other disposition shall be required prior to
disinterment of any human remains. The authorization shall be issued by the state registrar upon proper
application. The provisions of this subsection shall apply to all manners of disposition except cremation and
without regard for the time and place of death. The provisions of KRS 381.765 shall not apply to remains
removed for scientific study and the advancement of knowledge.
(12) After a death certificate has been on file for five (5) years, it may not be changed in any manner except upon
order of a court. Prior to that time, requests for corrections, amendments, or additions shall be accompanied by
prima facie evidence which supports the requested change.
Signed by Governor April 5, 2024.