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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
ENGROSSED SENATE
BILL NO. 707 By: Rosino of the Senate
and
Roe of the House
An Act relating to public health and safety; amending
63 O.S. 2021, Section 1-317, as last amended by
Section 1, Chapter 184, O.S.L. 2022 (63 O.S. Supp.
2022, Section 1-317), which relates to death
certificates; extending time periods of certain
requirements; removing obsolete and duplicative
language; clarifying appli cability of certain
provision; specifying certain procedures for filing
of death certificate; gr anting immunity from civil
damages under certain conditions; amending 63 O.S.
2021, Section 941, whic h relates to investigation by
the Office of the Chief Medic al Examiner; imposing
timeline for conclusion of investigation except under
certain circumstance s; requiring the Office to make a
good faith effort to provide certain disclosure;
requiring certain notice to contain specified
information; requiring licensed funeral director to
make good faith effort to provide certain assistance;
directing creation of certain process; amending 63
O.S. 2021, Section 947, which relates to certificate
of death; requiring final certification of death to
be signed immediately upo n conclusion of
investigation; updating statutory language; providing
for codification; and prov iding an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STAT E OF OKLAHOMA:
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SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 63 O.S. 2021, Section 1 -317, as
last amended by Section 1, Chapter 184, O.S.L. 2022 (63 O.S. Supp.
2022, Section 1-317), is amended to read as follows:
Section 1-317. A. A death certificate for each death which
occurs in this state sha ll be filed with the State Department of
Health, within three (3) ten (10) calendar days after such death.
B. The It shall be the duty of the funeral director shall
personally sign the death certificate and shall be responsible for
filing to file the death certificate. If the funeral director is
not available, the person acting as such who first assumes custody
of a dead body in accordance with Section 1158 of Title 21 of the
Oklahoma Statutes shall personally sign and file the de ath
certificate. The funeral director shall obtain the personal data
shall be obtained from the next of kin or the best qualified person
or source available. The certificate shall be completed as to
personal data and delivered to the attending physician or the
medical examiner responsibl e for completing the medical
certification portion of the certificate o f death within twenty-four
(24) hours after the death. No later than July 1, 2012, the
personal data, and no later than July 1, 2017, the medical
certificate portion, shall be entered, enter the personal data into
the prescribed electronic system provided prescribed by the State
Registrar of Vital Statistics, and the information submitted to the
State Registrar of Vital Statistics. The resultant electronically
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transmit the partial certificate produced by the electronic system
shall be provided to the physician, physician assistant, Advanced
Practice Registered Nurse, or medical examiner responsible for
completing the medical certification portion of the certificate of
death within twenty-four (24) hours after the death.
C. 1. The medical certification sh all be completed and signed
within forty-eight (48) hours certified within five (5) calendar
days after death receipt of the partial certificate by the
physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice re gistered
nurse Advanced Practice Registered Nurse in charge of the patient’s
care for the illness or condition which resulted in death, except
when inquiry as to the ca use of death is required by S ection 938 of
this title. No later than July 1, 2017, the The physician,
physician assistant, or Advanced Practice Registered Nu rse shall
enter and certify the medical certification portion of certificate
data shall be entered into in the prescribed electronic system
provided prescribed by the State Registrar of Vital Statistics and
the information submitted to the State Registrar of Vital
Statistics.
D. 2. In the event that the physician, physician assistant, or
advanced practice re gistered nurse Advanced Practice Re gistered
Nurse in charge of the patient’s care for the illness or condition
which resulted in death is not in attendance at the time of death ,
the medical certification shall be completed and signed within
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forty-eight (48) hours five (5) calendar days after death receipt of
the partial certificate by the physician, physician assistant, or
advanced practice registered nurse Advanced Practice Registered
Nurse in attendance at the time of death, except:
1. When
a. when the patient is under hospi ce care at the time of
death, the medical certification may be signed by the
hospice’s medical director;, and
2. When
b. when inquiry as to the cause of death is required by
Section 938 of this title.
Provided, that such certification, if sig ned by other than the
attending physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice
registered nurse Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, shall note on
the face the name of the attending physician, physician assistant,
or advanced practice re gistered nurse Advanced Practice Registered
Nurse and that the information shown is only as reported.
D. Within four (4) calendar days after receipt of the medical
certification from the physician, physician assistant, or Advanc ed
Practice Registered Nurse as described in subsection C of this
section, the funeral director shall conduct a final review of the
personal data and the medical c ertification, electronically sign the
death certificate, and submit the death certificate to the State
Registrar of Vital Statistics through the electronic system
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prescribed by the State Registrar of Vital Statistics for official
registration.
E. A certifier completing cause of death on a certificate of
death who knows that a lethal drug, overdose or other means of
assisting suicide within the meaning of Section s 3141.2 through
3141.4 of this title caus ed or contributed to the death shall list
that means among the chain of events under cause of death or list it
in the box that describes how the injury occurred. If such means is
in the chain of events under cause of death or in the box that
describes how the injury occurred, the certifier shall indicate
“suicide” as the manner of death.
F. The authority of a physician assistant to carry out the
functions described in this section shall be governed by the
practice agreement as provided by Section 519.6 of Title 59 of the
Oklahoma Statutes.
G. A physician, physician assistant, or Advanced Practice
Registered Nurse completing and signing a medical certification in
accordance with this section shall not be liable in a civil action
to recover damages for any acts or omissions relating to the medical
certification if the cause of death is determined in good faith
using the individual’s best clinical judgment consistent with
current guidance provided by the applicable licensing board, u nless
the acts or omissions amount to willful or wanton misconduct. The
immunity provided by this subsection shall be in addition to any
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other immunity from liability to wh ich these individuals may be
entitled.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 63 O.S. 2021, Section 941, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 941. A. Upon receipt of noti ce of death of any person
which under Section 931 et seq. of this title is subject to
investigation, a representative Death Investigator death
investigator from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall
immediately initiate an investigation and shall document in detail,
by the end of his or her assigned shift, all the known and available
facts of the death scene in the electronic database of the Chief
Medical Examiner. Decedent specimens, evidence, a nd photographs
shall be sent to the Office of the Chief Medical Examine r. The
investigating official of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
may take charge of any object or writing found on or near the body
which is deemed necessary for the purpose o f establishing the cause
and/or manner of death.
B. Upon conclusion of the investigation and determination that
such objects or writings are no longer needed as evidence, the
medical examiner or the medical examiner ’s designee may deliver them
to the district attorney, law enforcement a gency, or family for
disposition.
C. The investigating medical examiner or the medical examiner’s
designee shall have access at all times to any and all medical and
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dental records and his tory of the deceased , including, but not
limited to, radiographs and medical records, in the course of his or
her official investigation to determine the cause and manner of
death. Such records may not be released to any other person by the
medical examiner, and the custodians of such recor ds shall incur no
liability by reason of the release of such records to the medical
examiner.
D. 1. The body of the deceased shall be turned over to the
funeral director designated by the person responsible for burial
within twenty-four (24) hours of rec eipt of the decedent unless a
longer period is necessary to complete th e required investigation.
2. The investigation shall be concluded and the case completed
within sixty (60) calendar days after the Office of the Chief
Medical Examiner assumes custody of the body, unless circumstances
exist that prevent adherence to this timeline.
SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 944.3 of Title 63, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. If, in the course of an investigation, the Office of the
Chief Medical Examiner declines to conduct an autopsy under Section
944 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes, the Office shall make a
good faith effort to so inform the person legally entitled to th e
custody of the body of the deceased through a written or electronic
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notice upon or before release of the body. The notice shall
contain:
1. A statement disclosing that an autopsy was not conducted;
2. The contact information of a family assistance coordinator
as described in subsection C of this section;
3. A statement that the person may have the right to request a
private autopsy at personal expense from an authorized physician or
hospital under Section 1154 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes
prior to the final disposition of the body; and
4. A statement that the person may request reports produced by
the Office as provided by law upon conclusion of the investigation
and completion of th e case.
B. A licensed funeral director shall make a good fa ith effort
to assist the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in implementing
the requirements of subsection A of this section including, but not
limited to, by providing the Office with the contact information of
the person legally entitled to the custody of the body upon request
by the Office.
C. The Office shall create a process by which the person
legally entitled to the custody of a body or his or her
representative may ask questions of, and receive responses from, a
family assistance coordinator regarding the medicolegal
investigation and other relevant topics within the purview of the
Office.
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SECTION 4. AMENDATORY 63 O.S. 2021, Section 947, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 947. A. The certification of death of any per son whose
death is investigated under S ection 931 et seq. of this title shall
be made by the Chief Medical Examiner or his or her designee upon a
medical examiner death certificate p rovided by the State Registrar
of Vital Statistics. Such death certificat es shall be valid only
when signed by the Chief Medical Examiner or his or her designee.
Copies of all such certificates shall be forwarded immediately up on
receipt by the State Reg istrar of Vital Statistics to the Office o f
the Chief Medical Examiner . The final certification of death issued
under this section shall be signed by the Chief Medical Examiner or
his or her designee immediately upon conclusion of the investigation
and completion of the case .
B. Any certificatio n of death by an attending physi cian may be
referred by the State Regis trar of Vital Statistics to the Chief
Medical Examiner for investigation and the amending of the original
certificate of death by the filing of a medical examiner death
certificate by the Chief Medical Examiner or his or her designee
when the death is dete rmined by the Chief Medical Examiner to be one
properly requiring investigation under Section 938 of this title.
C. Medical examiner death cer tificates will shall not be
required in cases investigated solely for the purpose of issuing a
permit for transport of a body out of state.
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SECTION 5. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC HEALTH, dated 04/13/2023 -
DO PASS.