Oliverson Bill Requires A Cremation Permit For Every Burial-Transit Permit

The text as introduced · 760 words

By: Oliverson
H.B. No. 3357

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to cremation authorization procedures in counties with

medical examiners.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 716.051, Health and Safety Code, is

amended to read as follows:

Sec. 716.051. CREMATION AUTHORIZATION. Except as otherwise

provided in this chapter, a crematory establishment may not cremate

deceased human remains until it receives:

(1) a cremation authorization form signed by an

authorizing agent; [ and ]

(2) a death certificate or other death record that

indicates the deceased human remains may be cremated ; and

(3) for a death that occurred in a county with a

medical examiner appointed in accordance with Article 49.25, Code

of Criminal Procedure, a certificate signed by the medical examiner

indicating the medical examiner:

(A) examined the human remains and certified an

inquest was unnecessary;

(B) chose not to examine the human remains and

authorized release of the remains for cremation; or

(C) held an inquest and authorized release of the

human remains for cremation .

SECTION 2. Section 6(a), Article 49.25, Code of Criminal

Procedure, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Any medical examiner, or his duly authorized deputy,

shall be authorized, and it shall be his duty, to hold inquests with

or without a jury within his county, in the following cases:

1. When a person shall die within twenty-four hours

after admission to a hospital or institution or in prison or in

jail;

2. When any person is killed; or from any cause dies an

unnatural death, except under sentence of the law; or dies in the

absence of one or more good witnesses;

3. When the body or a body part of a person is found and

either:

(A) the person is identified but the cause or

circumstances of death are unknown; or

(B) the person is unidentified, regardless of

whether the cause or circumstances of death are known;

4. When the circumstances of the death of any person

are such as to lead to suspicion that he came to his death by

unlawful means;

5. When any person commits suicide, or the

circumstances of his death are such as to lead to suspicion that he

committed suicide;

6. When a person dies without having been attended by a

duly licensed and practicing physician, and the local health

officer or registrar required to report the cause of death under

Section 193.005, Health and Safety Code, does not know the cause of

death. When the local health officer or registrar of vital

statistics whose duty it is to certify the cause of death does not

know the cause of death, he shall so notify the medical examiner of

the county in which the death occurred and request an inquest;

7. When the person is a child who is younger than six

years of age and the death is reported under Chapter 264, Family

Code; [ and ]

8. When a person dies who has been attended

immediately preceding his death by a duly licensed and practicing

physician or physicians, and such physician or physicians are not

certain as to the cause of death and are unable to certify with

certainty the cause of death as required by Section 193.004, Health

and Safety Code. In case of such uncertainty the attending

physician or physicians, or the superintendent or general manager

of the hospital or institution in which the deceased shall have

died, shall so report to the medical examiner of the county in which

the death occurred, and request an inquest ; and

9. When a medical examiner examines human remains

before authorizing a cremation under Section 716.051, Health and

Safety Code, and determines performance of an inquest is necessary .

SECTION 3. Section (b), Chapter 181.2, Texas Administrative

Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) If a dead body or fetus is to be removed from this state,

transported by common carrier within this state, or cremated, the

funeral director, or person acting as such, shall obtain a

burial-transit permit from the Local Registrar where the death

certificate is or will be filed, or from the State Registrar

electronically through a Vital Statistics Section electronic death

registration system. The registrar shall not issue a

burial-transit permit until a certificate of death, completed in so

far as possible and a cremation authorization permit issued in

accordance with Health and Safety Code Section 716.05(3) has have

been presented (See §181.6 of this title (relating to

Disinterment)).

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.