Until a permit for disposal has been issued in accordance with this section, no dead human body whose death occurred within the State of Oklahoma shall be cremated, buried at sea, or made unavailable for further pathologic study by other recognized means of destruction or dissolution of such remains.

When the person legally responsible for disposition of a dead human body, whose death occurred or was pronounced within this state, desires that the body be cremated, buried at sea, or made unavailable for further pathologic study by other recognized means of destruction or dissolution of such remains, that person shall complete an application-permit form for such procedure provided by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, in accordance with Section 948.1 of this title, shall charge a fee for each cremation permit issued. The Medical Examiner shall be notified, as required in Section 938 of this title. He or she shall perform the required investigation and shall issue a valid death certificate as required by Section 947 of this title and execute the permit in accordance with rules established by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. In order to be valid, each permit must contain an individual number assigned to the particular permit by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. A copy of the application-permit form and the original death certificate shall be filed with the State Registrar. The original application-permit form shall be filed by the funeral director with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Such filing shall occur or be postmarked within forty-eight (48) hours of the death.

If death occurred or was pronounced outside the geographic limits of the State of Oklahoma and the body is brought into this state for such disposal, a transit permit or a permit for removal, issued in accordance with the laws and regulations in force where the death occurred shall authorize the transportation of the body into or through this state and shall be accepted in lieu of a certificate of death as required above. A valid permit issued for disposal of such body in accordance with the laws in the jurisdiction where the body died or death was pronounced shall be authority for cremation or burial at sea or to make the body otherwise unavailable for further pathologic study by other recognized means of destruction or dissolution of such remains.

Added by Laws 1978, c. 114, § 2, eff. Jan. 1, 1979. Amended by Laws 1993, c. 269, § 18, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Laws 2011, c. 105, § 17, eff. Nov. 1, 2011; Laws 2017, c. 385, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2017.