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HCS/SS/SB 116 - This act repeals provisions of law relating to the notification of death filed by a funeral director with the local registrar authorizing final disposition. Additionally, this act permits funeral directors to affix a tag containing identifying information of the deceased to a container placed in the casket. This act repeals provisions of law relating to the transportation of dead bodies and requires the Department of Health and Senior Services to issue regulations governing such transportation on common carriers in Missouri. This act repeals provisions of law requiring any cemetery owner or operator moving a properly buried or interred body for transportation outside the cemetery to, prior to disinterment, notify the closest known living relative of the move. Current law provides a list, in the order of priority, of next-of-kin who have the right to control the disposition of a dead human body. This act provides that the surviving spouse shall not be considered as next-of-kin if an action for dissolution of marriage has been filed and is pending in a court of competent jurisdiction. Additionally, the next-of-kin of a deceased person may delegate the final disposition of the deceased to an agent through a power of attorney. Under this act, an individual with a superior claim to the disposition of the deceased may be notified in person or by written notice with delivery confirmation, rather than "personally served with written notice", by a person with an inferior claim who has the desire to exercise the right to control the final disposition of the deceased. Currently, all data providers in the death registration process shall be required to use the electronic death registration system, with exceptions. This act repeals provisions of current law permitting a funeral director to enter data into the electronic death registration system and presenting the signed cause of death certificate to the local registrar if the person or entity certifying the cause of death is not part of the electronic system, as well as repeals provisions permitting the state registrar to adopt pilot programs until the electronic death registration system is certified. Currently, a certified copy of a death record by a local registrar can only be issued within 24 hours of receipt of the record by the local registrar, including computer generated certifications of death records. Under this act, a certified copy of a death record can only be issued after acceptance and registration with the state registrar. Provisions of this act are identical to SB 421 (2023), HB 2163 (2022), and a provision in SB 1070 (2022). SARAH HASKINS
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