West Virginia Code 16-5-31 – Duty to furnish information relative to vital events
(a) Any person or institution required under this article to collect and maintain information regarding any birth, death, fetal death, marriage, or divorce or annulment, shall furnish the information to the state Registrar upon request.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 16-5-31
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Fetal death: means death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of human conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy and which is not an induced termination of pregnancy, such death being indicated by the fact that after such expulsion or extraction the fetus does not breathe or show any other evidence of life such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord or definite movement of voluntary muscles. See West Virginia Code 16-5-1
- Final disposition: means the burial, interment, cremation, removal from the state, or other authorized disposition of a dead body or fetus. See West Virginia Code 16-5-1
- Institution: means any establishment, public or private, which provides inpatient or outpatient medical, surgical, or diagnostic care or treatment, or nursing, custodial or domiciliary care to two or more unrelated individuals or to which persons are committed by law. See West Virginia Code 16-5-1
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Vital statistics: means the data derived from certificates and reports of birth, death, fetal death, marriage, divorce, annulment and related records and reports. See West Virginia Code 16-5-1
(b) Any person or institution that in good faith provides information required by this article or legislative rules shall not be subject to criminal prosecution or any action for damages.
(c) Not later than the tenth day of the month following the month of occurrence, the administrator of each institution shall send to the section of vital statistics a list showing all births, deaths and fetal deaths occurring in that institution during the preceding month, on forms provided or approved by the state Registrar.
(d) Not later than the tenth day of the month following the month of occurrence, each funeral director shall send to the section of vital statistics a list showing all dead bodies embalmed or otherwise prepared for final disposition, or dead bodies finally disposed of, by the funeral director during the preceding month, on forms provided or approved by the state Registrar.