(a) Any physician, undertaker, law enforcement officer, or other person having knowledge of the death of any person from violence or trauma of any type, suddenly when in apparent health, sudden unexpected death of infants and children, deaths of prisoners or persons in state custody, deaths on the job or related to employment, deaths believed to represent a threat to public health, deaths where neglect or abuse of extended care residents are suspected or confirmed, deaths where the identity of the person is unknown or unclear, deaths in any suspicious/unusual/unnatural manner, found dead, or where the body is to be cremated, shall immediately notify the county medical examiner or the district attorney general, the local police or the county sheriff, who in turn shall notify the county medical examiner. The notification shall be directed to the county medical examiner in the county in which the death occurred.
(b) Whenever a death occurs under the circumstances as set forth in this part, the body shall not be removed from its position or location without authorization by the county medical examiner, except to preserve the body from loss or destruction or to maintain the flow of traffic on a highway, railroad, or airport. No body subject to post-mortem examination as provided by this part shall be embalmed without authorization by the county medical examiner.
(c)
(1) If a body is subject to post-mortem examination under this part, this part shall be suspended to the extent necessary for the preservation of any body or part of the body, as defined in § 68-30-102, where an anatomical gift of the body or part of the body has been made in accordance with the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, compiled in title 68, chapter 30, part 1.
(2) Any physician, surgeon, undertaker, law enforcement officer, hospital, hospital personnel, or other person who acts in good faith in compliance with this subsection (c) for the purposes established shall be immune from civil or criminal liability for removing, transplanting, or otherwise preserving such body or part of a body.
(3) This subsection (c) shall govern and supersede any conflicting provisions of law.
(4) The chief medical examiner of the state and the organ procurement agencies serving the state shall develop a protocol for those instances in which this subsection (c) is applicable. The protocol shall be filed with the department of health and shall be reviewed and updated as necessary.
Copyright ©2024 LegalFix. All rights reserved. LegalFix is not a law firm, is not licensed to practice law, and does not provide legal advice, services, or representation. The information on this website is an overview of the legal plans you can purchase—or that may be provided by your employer as an employee benefit or by your credit union or other membership group as a membership benefit.
LegalFix provides its members with easy access to affordable legal services through a network of independent law firms. LegalFix, its corporate entity, and its officers, directors, employees, agents, and contractors do not provide legal advice, services, or representation—directly or indirectly.
The articles and information on the site are not legal advice and should not be relied upon—they are for information purposes only. You should become a LegalFix member to get legal services from one of our network law firms.
You should not disclose confidential or potentially incriminating information to LegalFix—you should only communicate such information to your network law firm.
The benefits and legal services described in the LegalFix legal plans are not always available in all states or with all plans. See the legal plan Benefit Overview and the more comprehensive legal plan contract during checkout for coverage details in your state.
Use of this website, the purchase of legal plans, and access to the LegalFix networks of law firms are subject to the LegalFix Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.