A. The public health authority may exercise, for such period as the state of catastrophic health emergency exists, the following powers regarding the safe disposal of human remains:

1. To adopt and enforce measures to provide for the safe disposal of human remains as may be reasonable and necessary to respond to the catastrophic health emergency. Such measures may include, but are not limited to, the embalming, burial, cremation, interment, disinterment, transportation, and disposal of human remains;

2. To take possession or control of any human remains; and

3. To order the disposal of any human remains of a person who has died of a transmissible disease through burial or cremation within twenty-four (24) hours after death. To the extent possible, religious, cultural, family, and individual beliefs of the deceased person or the family of the deceased person shall be considered when disposing of any human remains.

B. Any human remains prior to disposal shall be clearly labeled with all available information to identify the decedent and the circumstances of death. Any human remains of a deceased person with a transmissible disease shall have an external, clearly visible tag indicating that the human remains are infected and, if known, the transmissible disease.

C. Every person in charge of disposing of any human remains during a catastrophic health emergency shall maintain a written or electronic record of the human remains and all available information to identify the decedent and the circumstances of death and disposal. If human remains cannot be identified prior to disposal, a qualified person shall, to the extent possible, take fingerprints and photographs of the human remains, obtain identifying dental information, and collect a DNA specimen. All information gathered under this subsection shall be promptly forwarded to the public health authority.

Added by Laws 2003, c. 473, § 15.