Bill Text: AZ HB2065 | 2025 | Fifty-seventh Legislature 1st Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: Counties; indigent deceased persons; cremation
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-28 - House minority caucus: Do pass [HB2065 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2025-HB2065-Introduced.html
PREFILED JAN 08 2025
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REFERENCE TITLE: counties; indigent deceased persons; cremation |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-seventh Legislature First Regular Session 2025
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HB 2065 |
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Introduced by Representative Gress
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AN ACT
Amending sections 11-594, 11-600, 32-1321 and 32-1395, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to deceased persons.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 11-594, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
11-594. Powers and duties of county medical examiner
A. The county medical examiner or alternate medical examiner shall direct a death investigation and, on a determination that the circumstances of the death provide jurisdiction pursuant to section 11-593, subsection B, shall:
1. Take charge of the dead body.
2. Determine if an autopsy is required.
3. Certify to the cause and manner of death following completion of the death investigation, reduce the findings to writing and promptly make a full report on forms prescribed for that purpose.
4. Have subpoena authority for all documents, records and papers deemed useful in the death investigation.
5. Execute a death certificate provided by the state registrar of vital statistics indicating the cause and the manner of death for those bodies for which a death investigation has been conducted and jurisdiction is assumed.
6. Give approval for cremation or alkaline hydrolysis of a dead body after a death investigation and record the approval on the death certificate.
7. Notify the county attorney or other law enforcement authority when death is found to be from nonnatural causes.
8. Carry out the duties specified under section 28-668.
9. Carry out the duties specified under title 36, chapter 7, article 3.
10. Provide a blood sample from a deceased person for the purpose of communicable disease testing pursuant to sections 13-1210 and 36-670 if the blood is available and the collection or release will not interfere with a medical examination, autopsy or certification of death.
11. Observe all policies adopted by the board of supervisors regarding conflicts of interest and disclosure of noncounty employment.
B. The county medical examiner or alternate medical examiner may:
1. Assign to a medical death investigator or other qualified personnel all aspects of a death investigation except performing autopsies.
2. Authorize forensic pathologists to perform examinations and autopsies. The medical examiner or alternate medical examiner may authorize medical students or residents and fellows in pathology training to perform autopsies under the supervision of a licensed physician who is board certified in forensic pathology, pursuant to procedures adopted by the county medical examiner or alternate medical examiner. Authorization and the amount to be paid by the county for pathology services are subject to approval of the board of supervisors.
3. Authorize pathologist assistants to assist with performing autopsies under the direct supervision of a licensed physician who is board certified in forensic pathology, pursuant to procedures adopted by the county medical examiner or alternate medical examiner. A pathologist assistant may not certify a cause of death or independently perform an autopsy.
4. Delegate any power, duty or function, whether ministerial or discretionary, vested by this chapter in the medical examiner or alternate medical examiner to a person meeting the qualifications prescribed in this chapter who is employed by or who has contracted with the county to provide death investigation services. The medical examiner or alternate medical examiner shall be responsible for the official acts of the person designated pursuant to this section and shall act under the name and authority of the medical examiner or alternate medical examiner.
5. Authorize the taking of organs and tissues as they prove to be usable for transplants, other treatment, therapy, education or research if all of the requirements of title 36, chapter 7, article 3 are met. The medical examiner or alternate medical examiner shall give this authorization within a time period that allows a medically viable donation.
6. Authorize licensed physicians, surgeons or trained technicians to remove parts of bodies provided they follow an established protocol approved by the medical examiner or alternate medical examiner.
7. Limit the removal of organs or tissues for transplants or other therapy or treatment if, based on a review of available medical and investigative information within a time that allows a medically viable donation, the medical examiner or alternate medical examiner makes an initial determination that their removal would interfere with a medical examination, autopsy or certification of death. Before making a final decision to limit the removal of organs, the medical examiner or alternate medical examiner shall consult with the organ procurement organization. After the consultation and when the organ procurement organization provides information that the organ procurement organization reasonably believes could alter the initial decision and at the request of the organ procurement organization, the medical examiner or alternate medical examiner shall conduct a physical examination of the body. If the medical examiner or alternate medical examiner limits the removal of organs, the medical examiner or alternate medical examiner shall maintain documentation of this decision and shall make the documentation available to the organ procurement organization.
C. A county medical examiner or alternate medical examiner shall not be held civilly or criminally liable for any acts performed in good faith pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 10 and subsection B, paragraphs 5, 6 and 7 of this section.
D. If a dispute arises over the findings of the medical examiner's report, the medical examiner, on an order of the superior court, shall make available all evidence and documentation to a court-designated licensed forensic pathologist for review, and the results of the review shall be reported to the superior court in the county issuing the order.
E. For providing external examinations and autopsies pursuant to this section, the medical examiner may charge a fee established by the board of supervisors pursuant to section 11-251.08.
F. The county medical examiner or alternate medical examiner is entitled to all medical records and related records of a person for whom the medical examiner is required to certify cause of death.
Sec. 2. Section 11-600, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
11-600. Indigent deceased persons; disposition of remains; disposal of property
A. When a death investigation has been completed by the county medical examiner or alternate medical examiner and no other person takes charge of the body of the deceased, the examiner shall cause the body to be delivered to the funeral establishment, licensed pursuant to title 32, chapter 12, article 4, closest geographically to the place where the body is pronounced dead, for preservation, disinfection and final disposition. The medical examiner or alternate medical examiner may establish geographical geographic areas within the county and a rotation system whereby the bodies are delivered equally in sequence to all licensed funeral establishments in each geographical geographic area. All licensed funeral establishments in any incorporated city or town shall be in the same geographical geographic area. Area boundaries in unincorporated areas shall be drawn so as to approximate equal distances between incorporated cities or towns in which a licensed funeral establishment or establishments exist. Upon On request of any licensed funeral establishment, in writing, they the funeral establishment shall be removed from participation in the receipt of medical examiner cases until they rescind their the funeral establishment rescinds its request. If there is not sufficient property in the estate of the deceased to pay the necessary expenses of the burial, the expenses shall be a legal charge against the county. Upon On determination of indigency, the funeral establishment shall perform the normal county indigent burial, in the manner and for the fee then being paid by the county, or release the body, upon on county request, without fee, to the funeral establishment designated by the county for other indigent burials.
B. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, the county medical examiner or alternate medical examiner may cause the body to be delivered to a community college under the jurisdiction of a community college district as defined in section 15-1401, if the community college has an accredited mortuary science program. On acceptance of the body and with proper authorization, the community college mortuary science program shall preserve and disinfect the body, prepare it the body for final disposition and deliver the body to a licensed funeral establishment pursuant to subsection A of this section for final disposition. For the purposes of this subsection, proper authorization may be provided by the next of kin pursuant to section 36-831, subsection A or the public fiduciary of the county.
C. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, the county medical examiner or alternate medical examiner may retain the body and supervise the preservation, disinfection and final disposition of the body at a crematory that is owned and operated by the county and that is licensed pursuant to section 32-1393.
C. D. Within thirty days after the examination, the medical examiner or alternate medical examiner shall deliver to the public fiduciary of the county or the legal representative of the deceased any money or property found upon on the body.
Sec. 3. Section 32-1321, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
32-1321. License requirement; persons not required to be licensed; nontransferability; display
A. A person shall not advertise or engage in funeral directing, cremation, alkaline hydrolysis or embalming without having a valid license issued by the department.
B. This article does not prohibit:
1. A person from performing removals or arrangements or from directing funeral services if the person is under the direction of and accountable to a licensed funeral director.
2. A licensed cemetery employee from selling burial or final disposition items or from arranging or directing cemetery services.
3. A medical examiner or alternate medical examiner from providing services incidental to the disposition of an indigent deceased person pursuant to section 11-600, subsection C, including registering the death as the person responsible for the final disposition of the deceased person's remains.
C. A license issued by the department is not transferrable or subject to sale or assignment, whether by a voluntary or involuntary process.
D. A licensee shall conspicuously display the person's license at the person's place of employment.
Sec. 4. Section 32-1395, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
32-1395. Application; qualifications for licensure
A. An applicant for a crematory license shall submit a completed application on a form prescribed by the department. If the applicant is a business entity, the entity shall direct a natural person who is an owner of the entity to submit its application. If the applicant is a county, the medical examiner or alternate medical examiner of the county shall submit an application on the county's behalf. The application shall be subscribed under oath, shall contain the name of the responsible cremationist and shall be accompanied by the applicable fee pursuant to section 32-1309 and any additional information that the department deems necessary. A business entity that applies for a license pursuant to this article shall submit to the department with its application for licensure a copy of its partnership agreement, its articles of incorporation or organization or any other organizational documents required to be filed with the corporation commission.
B. A person who applies for a license pursuant to this article, or if the applicant is a business entity, all owners, partners, officers, directors and trust beneficiaries of the entity, shall submit a completed fingerprint card, criminal history background information and a fingerprint background check fee to the department.
C. The department shall inspect the premises of a crematory and investigate the character and other qualifications of all applicants for licensure pursuant to this article to determine whether the crematory and the applicants are in compliance with the requirements of this article and rules adopted by the department.
D. If the department finds that the applicant meets the criteria for licensure under this article and rules adopted by the department, the department shall issue a crematory license.
