Bill Text: MS SB2183 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Unclaimed dead bodies; board of supervisors or the coroners shall direct burial or cremation of.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Passed) 2016-05-13 - Approved by Governor [SB2183 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2016-SB2183-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2016 Regular Session
To: County Affairs
By: Senator(s) Parker, Massey, Blackwell
Senate Bill 2183
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 41-39-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE CORONER, INSTEAD OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, TO DIRECT THE BURIAL OR CREMATION OF UNCLAIMED DEAD BODIES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 41-39-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
41-39-5. Any physician,
hospital, funeral director, embalmer, coroner or other person acquiring
possession of a dead human body or portion thereof which is not claimed for
burial or cremation within forty-eight (48) hours of its acquisition shall give
written notice thereof to the board of supervisors, or a member thereof, of the
county in which the dead body or portion thereof is located, furnishing such
identification of the decedent as may be available. The board of supervisors or
the coroner shall make reasonable efforts to notify members of the
decedent's family or other known interested persons, and, if the dead body or
portion thereof shall not be claimed for burial or cremation by any interested
person within five (5) days of the aforementioned written notice, the * * * coroner shall, as
soon as it may think appropriate, authorize and direct the burial or cremation
and burial of the residue of such dead body or portion thereof. In its
discretion and where otherwise permitted to do so by law, the board of
supervisors may direct the disposition of the dead body or portion thereof as
provided by Section 41-39-7. The reasonable expense of such burial or
cremation and burial of the residue of a dead body shall be borne by the estate
of the decedent or of any person liable at law for the necessities of the
decedent during his lifetime or, if they are unable to pay the same, by the
county of residence or settlement of the decedent, if known, and, if not known,
by the county in which the dead body or portion thereof is located.
If the person having possession of such dead human body or portion thereof shall have no available means of preserving the same and shall so notify the board of supervisors, or a member thereof, of the county in which the dead body or portion thereof is located, it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors to make arrangements for the preservation of the same until burial or cremation and burial of the residue of the dead body as hereinabove provided, and the expense of such preservation shall be borne as hereinabove provided with respect to the expense of burial or cremation.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2016.
