Effective 16 Oct 2015, see footnote

*193.145. Death certificate — electronic system — contents, filing, locale, duties of certain persons, time allowed — certificate marked presumptive, when. — 1. A certificate of death for each death which occurs in this state shall be filed with the local registrar, or as otherwise directed by the state registrar, within five days after death and shall be registered if such certificate has been completed and filed pursuant to this section. All data providers in the death registration process, including, but not limited to, the state registrar, local registrars, the state medical examiner, county medical examiners, coroners, funeral directors or persons acting as such, embalmers, sheriffs, attending physicians and resident physicians, physician assistants, assistant physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, and the chief medical officers of licensed health care facilities, and other public or private institutions providing medical care, treatment, or confinement to persons, shall be required to use and utilize any electronic death registration system required and adopted under subsection 1 of section 193.265 within six months of the system being certified by the director of the department of health and senior services, or the director's designee, to be operational and available to all data providers in the death registration process. However, should the person or entity that certifies the cause of death not be part of, or does not use, the electronic death registration system, the funeral director or person acting as such may enter the required personal data into the electronic death registration system and then complete the filing by presenting the signed cause of death certification to the local registrar, in which case the local registrar shall issue death certificates as set out in subsection 2 of section 193.265. Nothing in this section shall prevent the state registrar from adopting pilot programs or voluntary electronic death registration programs until such time as the system can be certified; however, no such pilot or voluntary electronic death registration program shall prevent the filing of a death certificate with the local registrar or the ability to obtain certified copies of death certificates under subsection 2 of section 193.265 until six months after such certification that the system is operational.

2. If the place of death is unknown but the dead body is found in this state, the certificate of death shall be completed and filed pursuant to the provisions of this section. The place where the body is found shall be shown as the place of death. The date of death shall be the date on which the remains were found.

3. When death occurs in a moving conveyance in the United States and the body is first removed from the conveyance in this state, the death shall be registered in this state and the place where the body is first removed shall be considered the place of death. When a death occurs on a moving conveyance while in international waters or air space or in a foreign country or its air space and the body is first removed from the conveyance in this state, the death shall be registered in this state but the certificate shall show the actual place of death if such place may be determined.

4. The funeral director or person in charge of final disposition of the dead body shall file the certificate of death. The funeral director or person in charge of the final disposition of the dead body shall obtain or verify and enter into the electronic death registration system:

(1) The personal data from the next of kin or the best qualified person or source available;

(2) The medical certification from the person responsible for such certification if designated to do so under subsection 5 of this section; and

(3) Any other information or data that may be required to be placed on a death certificate or entered into the electronic death certificate system including, but not limited to, the name and license number of the embalmer.

5. The medical certification shall be completed, attested to its accuracy either by signature or an electronic process approved by the department, and returned to the funeral director or person in charge of final disposition within seventy-two hours after death by the physician, physician assistant, assistant physician, advanced practice registered nurse in charge of the patient's care for the illness or condition which resulted in death. In the absence of the physician, physician assistant, assistant physician, advanced practice registered nurse or with the physician's, physician assistant's, assistant physician's, or advanced practice registered nurse's approval the certificate may be completed and attested to its accuracy either by signature or an approved electronic process by the physician's associate physician, the chief medical officer of the institution in which death occurred, or the physician who performed an autopsy upon the decedent, provided such individual has access to the medical history of the case, views the deceased at or after death and death is due to natural causes. The person authorized to complete the medical certification may, in writing, designate any other person to enter the medical certification information into the electronic death registration system if the person authorized to complete the medical certificate has physically or by electronic process signed a statement stating the cause of death. Any persons completing the medical certification or entering data into the electronic death registration system shall be immune from civil liability for such certification completion, data entry, or determination of the cause of death, absent gross negligence or willful misconduct. The state registrar may approve alternate methods of obtaining and processing the medical certification and filing the death certificate. The Social Security number of any individual who has died shall be placed in the records relating to the death and recorded on the death certificate.

6. When death occurs from natural causes more than thirty-six hours after the decedent was last treated by a physician, physician assistant, assistant physician, advanced practice registered nurse, the case shall be referred to the county medical examiner or coroner or physician or local registrar for investigation to determine and certify the cause of death. If the death is determined to be of a natural cause, the medical examiner or coroner or local registrar shall refer the certificate of death to the attending physician, physician assistant, assistant physician, advanced practice registered nurse for such certification. If the attending physician, physician assistant, assistant physician, advanced practice registered nurse refuses or is otherwise unavailable, the medical examiner or coroner or local registrar shall attest to the accuracy of the certificate of death either by signature or an approved electronic process within thirty-six hours.

7. If the circumstances suggest that the death was caused by other than natural causes, the medical examiner or coroner shall determine the cause of death and shall complete and attest to the accuracy either by signature or an approved electronic process the medical certification within seventy-two hours after taking charge of the case.

8. If the cause of death cannot be determined within seventy-two hours after death, the attending medical examiner, coroner, attending physician, physician assistant, assistant physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or local registrar shall give the funeral director, or person in charge of final disposition of the dead body, notice of the reason for the delay, and final disposition of the body shall not be made until authorized by the medical examiner, coroner, attending physician, physician assistant, assistant physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or local registrar.

9. When a death is presumed to have occurred within this state but the body cannot be located, a death certificate may be prepared by the state registrar upon receipt of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction which shall include the finding of facts required to complete the death certificate. Such a death certificate shall be marked "Presumptive", show on its face the date of registration, and identify the court and the date of decree.

10. (1) The department of health and senior services shall notify all physicians, physician assistants, assistant physicians, and advanced practice registered nurses licensed under chapters 334 and 335 of the requirements regarding the use of the electronic vital records system provided for in this section.

(2) On or before August 30, 2015, the department of health and senior services, division of community and public health shall create a working group comprised of representation from the Missouri electronic vital records system users and recipients of death certificates used for professional purposes to evaluate the Missouri electronic vital records system, develop recommendations to improve the efficiency and usability of the system, and to report such findings and recommendations to the general assembly no later than January 1, 2016.

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(L. 1984 S.B. 574, A.L. 1989 S.B. 389, A.L. 1997 S.B. 361, A.L. 2005 S.B. 74 & 49, A.L. 2010 H.B. 1692, et al. merged with S.B. 754, A.L. 2013 S.B. 186, A.L. 2015 H.B. 618)

*Effective 10-16-15, see § 21.250. H.B. 618 was vetoed on July 10, 2015. The veto was overridden September 16, 2015.