LD 351, Page 3 - 121th Legislature, FIRST REGULAR Session

The medical examiner is responsible for the identity of the

deceased and the time, date, place, cause, manner and

circumstances of death on the death certificate. Entries may be

left "pending" if further study is needed; or, at the specific

direction of the Attorney General relative to cases under

investigation by the Attorney General's office, entries must be

left "withheld" until such time as the Attorney General, in the

Attorney General's sole discretion, determines that any criminal

investigation and prosecution will not be harmed by public

disclosure of such information. Notwithstanding section 2706,

subsection 4, unless directed otherwise by the Attorney General

as specified in this subsection, this information for which the

medical examiner is responsible may be made available to the

general public by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner.

Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the
preamble, this Act takes effect when approved.

SUMMARY

This bill gives a funeral director or other authorized
person the option of completing the certificate of death if
the cause of death is obtained from the physician or medical
examiner or having the physician or medical examiner complete
the certificate. In any case, the law requires the
certificate to be signed by the physician or medical examiner.
The physician or medical examiner signing the certificate is
responsible for making sure the cause of death is entered
correctly on the certificate.

This bill takes effect when approved.

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