This is our starting text

HB-6308, As Passed House, November 29, 2006

SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 6308

A bill to amend 1953 PA 181, entitled

"An act relative to investigations in certain instances of the

causes of death within this state due to violence, negligence or

other act or omission of a criminal nature or to protect public

health; to provide for the taking of statements from injured

persons under certain circumstances; to abolish the office of

coroner and to create the office of county medical examiner in

certain counties; to prescribe the powers and duties of county

medical examiners; to prescribe penalties for violations of the

provisions of this act; and to prescribe a referendum thereon,"

by amending sections 3, 4, and 5 (MCL 52.203, 52.204, and 52.205),

section 5 as amended by 1980 PA 401.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

Sec. 3. (1) Any physician and any person in charge of any

hospital or institution, or any person who shall have first

knowledge of the death of any person who shall have died suddenly,

unexpectedly, accidentally, violently, or as the result of any

suspicious circumstances, or without medical attendance during the

48 hours prior to the hour of death unless the attending physician,

if any, is able to determine accurately the cause of death, or in

any case of death due to what is commonly known as an abortion,

whether self-induced or otherwise, shall notify the county medical

examiner or his or her deputy immediately of the death.

(2) If the physician, person in charge of any hospital or

institution, or other person who has first knowledge of the death

of a person as described under subsection (1) has knowledge that

there were 2 or more individuals involved in the same accident who

were approximately the same age, sex, height, weight, and race,

then he or she shall make the county medical examiner or his or her

deputy aware of that fact and whether or not any of those

individuals survived that accident when notifying the examiner or

deputy of the death as required under subsection (1). If any of

those individuals survived, the county medical examiner or his or

her deputy shall also be informed which hospital or institution

those individuals were taken to and the hospital or institution

shall also be made aware that the accident involved 2 or more

individuals with similar attributes.

Sec. 4. It shall be unlawful for any funeral director,

embalmer, or other person to remove the body from the place where

death occurred, or to prepare the body for burial or shipment, when

such funeral director, embalmer, or other person knows or upon

reasonable investigation should know that death may have occurred

in a manner as indicated in section 3 or that the accident which

resulted in the death involved 2 or more individuals who were

approximately the same age, sex, height, weight, and race, without

first notifying the county medical examiner or his or her deputy

and receiving permission to remove, prepare for burial, or ship

such body. Any person who violates the provisions of this section

is guilty of a misdemeanor and may be imprisoned not exceeding 1

year , or fined not exceeding $500.00, or both.

Sec. 5. (1) When a county medical examiner has notice that

there has been found within his or her county or district the body

of a person who is supposed to have come to his or her death in a

manner as indicated in section 3, the medical examiner shall take

charge of the body, and if, on view of the body and personal

inquiry into the cause and manner of the death, the medical

examiner considers a further examination necessary, the county

medical examiner or a deputy may cause the dead body to be removed

to the public morgue. If the investigation is for the reason only

that the dead person had no medical attendance during 48 hours

before the hour of death, and if the dead person had chosen not to

have medical attendance because of his or her bona fide held

religious convictions, removal shall not be required unless there

is evidence of other conditions stipulated in section 3. If there

is no public morgue, then the body may be removed to a private

morgue as the county medical examiner has designated.

(2) The medical examiner may designate a person appointed

pursuant to section 1a(2) to take charge of the body, make

pertinent inquiry, note the circumstances surrounding the death,

and, if considered necessary, cause the body to be transported to

the morgue for examination by the medical examiner. The medical

examiner shall maintain a list of persons appointed pursuant to

section 1a(2) and their qualifications which shall be filed with

the local law enforcement agencies. The person appointed pursuant

to section 1a(2) shall not be an agent or employee of any person or

funeral establishment licensed under ~~Act No. 268 of the Public~~

~~Acts of 1949, as amended, being sections 338.861 to 338.875 of the~~

~~Michigan Compiled Laws~~ article 18 of the occupational code, 1980

PA 299, MCL 339.1801 to 339.1812, receive, directly or indirectly,

any remuneration in connection with the disposition of the body or

make any funeral or burial arrangements without approval of the

next of kin, if they are found, or the person responsible for the

funeral expenses.

(3) The county medical examiner may perform or direct to be

performed an autopsy and shall carefully reduce or cause to be

reduced to writing every fact and circumstance tending to show the

condition of the body and the cause and manner of death, together

with the names and addresses of any persons present at the autopsy,

which record he or she shall subscribe.

(4) The medical examiner shall ascertain the identity of the

deceased and notify immediately as compassionately as possible the

next of kin of the death and the location of the body except that

such notification is not required if a person from the state

police, or a county sheriff department, or a township police

department, or a municipal police department states to the medical

examiner that the notification has already occurred. If visual

identification of an individual is impossible as a result of burns,

decomposition, or other disfiguring injuries or if the county

medical examiner is aware that the death is the result of an

accident that involved 2 or more individuals who were approximately

the same age, sex, height, weight, and race, then the county

medical examiner shall verify the identity of the deceased through

fingerprints, dental records, DNA, or other definitive

identification procedures and, if the accident resulted in the

survival of any individuals with the same attributes, shall notify

the respective hospital or institution of his or her findings. The

county medical examiner may conduct an autopsy if he or she

determines that an autopsy reasonably appears to be required

pursuant to law. After the county medical examiner, or a deputy,

or a person from the state police, or a county sheriff

department, or a township police department, or a municipal

police department has made diligent effort to locate and notify the

next of kin, he or she may order and conduct the autopsy with or

without the consent of the next of kin of the deceased.

(5) The county medical examiner or a deputy shall keep a

written record of the efforts to locate and notify the next of kin

for a period of 1 year from the date of the autopsy. The county

medical examiner shall, after any required examination or autopsy,

promptly deliver or return the body to relatives or representatives

of the deceased or, if there are no relatives or representatives

known to the examiner, he or she may cause the body to be decently

buried, except that the medical examiner may retain, as long as may

be necessary, any portion of the body believed by the medical

examiner to be necessary for the detection of any crime.

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect