Kansas Statutes 65-2412. Registration of deaths and stillbirths; official death records; use of verified forms; establishment and collection of fee; duties of coroners; filing of certificates; Kansas electronic death registration system
Terms Used In Kansas Statutes 65-2412
- Dead body: means a lifeless human body or such parts of a human body or the bones thereof from the state of which it reasonably may be concluded that death recently occurred. See Kansas Statutes 65-2401
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Secretary: means the secretary of health and environment. See Kansas Statutes 65-2401
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
- Stillbirth: means any complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a human child the gestational age of which is not less than 20 completed weeks, resulting in other than a live birth, as defined in this section, and which is not an induced termination of pregnancy. See Kansas Statutes 65-2401
(a) A death certificate or stillbirth certificate for each death or stillbirth which occurs in this state shall be filed with the state registrar within three days after such death and prior to removal of the body from the state and shall be registered by the state registrar if such death certificate or stillbirth certificate has been completed and filed in accordance with this section. If the place of death is unknown, a death certificate shall be filed indicating the location where the body was found as the place of death. A certificate shall be filed within three days after such occurrence; if death occurs in a moving conveyance, the death certificate shall record the location where the dead body was first removed from such conveyance as the place of death.
(b) The funeral director or person acting as such who first assumes custody of a dead body shall file the death certificate. Such person shall obtain the personal data from the next of kin or the best qualified person or source available and shall obtain the medical certification of cause of death from the physician last in attendance prior to burial. The death certificate filed with the state registrar shall be the official death record, except that a funeral director licensed pursuant to Kan. Stat. Ann. § 65-1714, and amendments thereto, may verify as true and accurate information pertaining to a death on a form provided by the state registrar, and any such form, verified within 21 days of date of death, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated for purposes of establishing death. The secretary of health and environment shall fix and collect a fee for each form provided a funeral director pursuant to this subsection. The fee shall be collected at the time the form is provided the funeral director and shall be in the same amount as the fee for a certified copy of a death certificate.
(c) When death occurred without medical attendance or when inquiry is required by the laws relating to postmortem examinations, the coroner shall investigate the cause of death and shall complete and sign the medical certification within 24 hours after receipt of the death certificate or as provided in Kan. Stat. Ann. § 65-2414, and amendments thereto.
(d) In every instance a certificate shall be filed prior to interment or disposal of the body.
(e) On and after January 1, 2017, any death certificate, stillbirth certificate or medical certification required to be filed by this section shall be filed through the Kansas electronic death registration system maintained by the Kansas department of health and environment.