CHAPTER 193.  DEATH RECORDS

Sec. 193.001.  Form of Certificate.

         (a) The department shall prescribe the form and contents of
death certificates and fetal death certificates.

         (b) The department shall require death certificates and fetal
death certificates to include the name of the place and the
specific number of the plot, crypt, lawn crypt, or niche in which
a decedent's remains will be interred or, if the remains will not
be interred, the place and manner of other disposition.

         (c) The bureau of vital statistics and each local registrar
shall make the information provided under Subsection (b)
available to the public and may charge a fee in an amount
prescribed under Section 191.0045 for providing that service.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 502, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,
1995.

Sec. 193.002.  Person Required to File.

         The person in charge of interment or in charge of removal of a
body from a registration district for disposition shall:

                       (1) obtain and file the death certificate or fetal death
         certificate; 

                       (2) enter on the certificate the information relating to
         disposition of the body; and

                       (3) sign the certificate.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 193.003.  Time and Place for Filing Death Certificate.

         (a) Not later than the 10th day after the date of a death that
occurs in this state, a death certificate shall be filed with the
local registrar of the registration district in which:

                       (1) the death occurs; or

                       (2) the body is found, if the place of death is not known.

         (b) Subject to board rules, a certificate of a fetal death that
occurs in this state shall be filed with the local registrar of
the registration district in which:

                       (1) the fetal death occurs; or

                       (2) the body is found, if the place of fetal death is not
         known.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 193.004.  Personal and Medical Information.

         (a) The person required to file a death certificate shall
obtain the required personal information from a competent person
with knowledge of the facts.

         (b) The person required to file a fetal death certificate shall
obtain the required personal information from the person best
qualified to furnish the information.

         (c) A person required to obtain information under this section
shall obtain the information over the signature of the person who
furnishes the information.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1425, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1997.

Sec. 193.005.  Personal Information.

         (a) A person required to file a death certificate or fetal
death certificate shall obtain the required medical certification
from an attending physician if the death occurred under medical
attendance for the care and treatment of the condition or disease
process that contributed to the death.

         (b) The attending physician shall complete the medical
certification not later than five days after receiving the death
certificate.

         (c) An associate physician, the chief medical officer of the
institution where the death occurred, or the physician who
performed an autopsy on the decedent may complete the medical
certification if:

                       (1) the attending physician is unavailable;

                       (2) the attending physician approves; and

                       (3) the person completing the medical certification has
         access to the medical history of the case and the death is due
         to natural causes.

         (d) If a death or fetal death occurs without medical attendance
or is otherwise subject to Chapter 49, Code of Criminal
Procedure, the person required to file the death or fetal death
certificate shall notify the appropriate authority of the death.

         (e) A person conducting an inquest required by Chapter 49, Code
of Criminal Procedure, shall:

                       (1) complete the medical certification not later than five
         days after receiving the death or fetal death certificate; and

                       (2) state on the medical certification the disease that
         caused the death or, if the death was from external causes, the
         means of death and whether the death was probably accidental,
         suicidal, or homicidal, and any other information required by
         the state registrar to properly classify the death.

         (f) If the identity of the decedent is unknown, the person
conducting the inquest shall obtain and forward to the Department
of Public Safety:

                       (1) the decedent's fingerprints;

                       (2) information concerning the decedent's hair color, eye
         color, height, weight, deformities, and tattoo marks; and

                       (3) other facts required for assistance in identifying the
         decedent.

         (g) If the medical certification cannot be completed in a
timely manner, the person required to complete the medical
certification shall give the funeral director or the person
acting as funeral director notice of the reason for the delay. 
Final disposition of the body may not be made unless specifically
authorized by the person responsible for completing the medical
certification.

         (h) The person completing the medical certification shall
attest to its validity either by signature or by an electronic
process approved by the state registrar.

         (i) On receipt of autopsy results or other information that
would change the information in the medical certification on the
death certificate, the appropriate certifier shall immediately
report the change in a manner prescribed by the department to
amend the death certificate. 

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1425, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,
1997.

Sec. 193.006.  Information Relating to Veterans.

         (a) This section applies to the death certificate of a person
who:

                       (1) served in a war, campaign, or expedition of the United
         States, the Confederate States of America, or the Republic of
         Texas; 

                       (2) was the wife or widow of a person who served in a war,
         campaign, or expedition of the United States, the Confederate
         States of America, or the Republic of Texas; or

                       (3) at the time of death was in the service of the United
         States.

         (b) The funeral director or the person in charge of the
disposition of the body shall supply on the reverse side of the
death certificate:

                       (1) the organization in which service was rendered; 

                       (2) the serial number on the discharge papers or the
         adjusted service certificate; and

                       (3) the name and mailing address of the decedent's next of
         kin or next friend.

         (c) When the death certificate is filed locally, the local
registrar shall immediately notify the nearest congressionally
chartered veteran organizations.

         (d) When the death certificate is filed with the bureau of
vital statistics, the state registrar shall notify the Texas
Veterans Commission.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. 
Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 260, Sec. 3, eff. Sept. 1,
1991.

Sec. 193.007.  Delayed Registration of Death.

         (a) A death that occurred more than 10 days but less than one
year before the date of an application for registration of death
may be recorded on a death certificate and submitted for filing
with the local registrar of the registration district in which
the death occurred.

         (b) To file a record of a death that occurred in this state but
was not registered within one year of the date of death, a person
shall submit a record of the death to the county probate court in
the county in which the death occurred.

         (c) The bureau of vital statistics shall furnish a form for
filing records under this section.  Records submitted under this
section must be on the form furnished by the bureau.  The state
registrar may accept a certificate that is verified as provided
by this section.

         (d) The certificate must be supported by the affidavit of:

                       (1) the physician last in attendance on the decedent or the
         funeral director who buried the body; or

                       (2) if the affidavit of the physician or funeral director
         cannot be obtained:

                      (A) any person who was acquainted with the facts
         surrounding the death when the death occurred; and

                      (B) another person who was acquainted with the facts
         surrounding the death but who is not related to the decedent
         by consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter
         573, Government Code.

         (e) For each application under this section, the court shall
collect a $1 fee.  The court retains 50 cents of the fee and the
remaining 50 cents is allocated to the clerk of the court for
recording the certificate.

         (f) Not later than the seventh day after the date on which a
certificate is accepted and ordered filed by a court under this
section, the clerk of the court shall forward to the bureau of
vital statistics:

                       (1) the certificate; and

                       (2) an order from the court that the state registrar accept
         the certificate.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. 
Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 561, Sec. 29, eff. Aug. 26,
1991.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 5.95(27), eff.
Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1425, Sec. 3, eff. Sept.
1, 1997.

Sec. 193.008.  Burial-Transit Permit.

         (a) A burial-transit permit issued under the law and rules of a
place outside of this state in which a death or fetal death
occurred authorizes the transportation of the body in this state. 
A cemetery or crematory shall accept the permit as authorization
for burial, cremation, or other disposal of the body in this
state.

         (b) The department shall prescribe the form and contents of the
burial-transit permit.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 193.009.  Burial Records.

         (a) The person in charge of premises on which interments are
made shall keep a record of the bodies interred or otherwise
disposed of on the premises.

         (b) The records must include for each decedent:

                       (1) the decedent's name; 

                       (2) the place of death; 

                       (3) the date of interment or disposal; 

                       (4) the name and address of the funeral director; and

                       (5) any other information required by the state registrar.

         (c) The records are open to official inspection at all times.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989