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        PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 873, 1719                PRINTER'S NO. 1740

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA


SENATE BILL

No. 776 Session of 2007


        INTRODUCED BY WONDERLING, TOMLINSON, PUNT, RAFFERTY, O'PAKE,
           STOUT, WAUGH, M. WHITE, FUMO, GREENLEAF, RHOADES, ERICKSON,
           C. WILLIAMS, COSTA, LAVALLE, ROBBINS, MADIGAN, EARLL,
           ARMSTRONG AND BROWNE, APRIL 23, 2007

        AS AMENDED ON THIRD CONSIDERATION, FEBRUARY 5, 2008

                                     AN ACT

     1  Amending the act of June 29, 1953 (P.L.304, No.66), entitled "An
     2     act providing for the administration of a statewide system of
     3     vital statistics; prescribing the functions of the State
     4     Department of Health, the State Advisory Health Board and
     5     local registrars; imposing duties upon coroners,
     6     prothonotaries, clerks of orphans' court, physicians,
     7     midwives and other persons; requiring reports and
     8     certificates for the registration of vital statistics;
     9     regulating the disposition of dead bodies; limiting the
    10     disclosure of records; prescribing the sufficiency of vital
    11     statistics records as evidence; prescribing fees and
    12     penalties; and revising and consolidating the laws relating
    13     thereto," further providing for registration districts and
    14     local registrars' duties, for death and fetal death
    15     registrations and for reports.

    16     The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
    17  hereby enacts as follows:
    18     Section 1.  Section 303 of the act of June 29, 1953 (P.L.304,
    19  No.66), known as the Vital Statistics Law of 1953, amended
    20  October 27, 2006 (P.L.1200, No.129), is amended to read:
    21     Section 303.  Registration Districts: Local Registrars'
    22  Duties.--Local registrars shall perform the duties imposed upon
    23  them by this act, under and subject to the supervision of the


     1  department. Local registrars shall transmit certificates and
     2  transcripts to such places and at such times as shall be
     3  prescribed by the department [and shall transmit, for a person
     4  who was at least eighteen (18) years of age at the time of
     5  death, a copy of the death certificate to the county board of
     6  elections of the county in which the person resided at the time
     7  of death].
     8     Section 2.  Section 501 of the act, amended July 9, 1971
     9  (P.L.213, No.38), is amended to read:
    10     Section 501.  Death and Fetal Death Registration:
    11  Certificates to be Filed.--A certificate of each death or fetal
    12  death which occurs in this Commonwealth shall be filed within
    13  ninety-six (96) hours after the death or fetal death or within
    14  ninety-six (96) hours after the finding of a dead body or fetal
    15  remains. In every instance, the certificate shall be filed prior
    16  to the issuance of a permit for interment or other disposition
    17  of the dead body or fetal remains. The person in charge of
    18  interment or of removal of the dead body or fetal remains from
    19  the registration district shall file the certificate with any
    20  local registrar or the State Registrar of Vital Statistics, who
    21  shall be authorized to issue certified copies of such death.
    22     Section 3.  Section 504 of the act, amended October 27, 2006
    23  (P.L.1200, No.129), is amended to read:
    24     Section 504.  Death and Fetal Death Registration: Permits
    25  Concerning Dead Bodies and Fetal Remains.--No person shall
    26  dispose of a dead body or fetal remains until a local registrar
    27  or the State Registrar of Vital Statistics issues a permit for
    28  disposal. The local registrar or the State Registrar of Vital
    29  Statistics shall be authorized to issue the permit and may issue
    30  blank presigned permits to the funeral director only. The
    20070S0776B1740                  - 2 -     

     1  funeral director or the person in charge of interment or removal
     2  shall, within ninety-six (96) hours after the death or fetal
     3  death or within ninety-six (96) hours after the finding of a
     4  dead body or fetal remains, file with the local registrar a
     5  certificate of death or fetal death.
     6     The sexton or other person in charge of any premises in which
     7  bodies are interred or cremated shall not allow the interment or
     8  cremation of any dead body or fetal remains unless a permit
     9  issued under this section is presented to the sexton. The sexton
    10  or other person in charge of the premises shall endorse upon
    11  each permit presented to the sexton or other person the date of
    12  interment or cremation, over the sexton's or other person's
    13  signature, and shall return the permit so endorsed to the local
    14  registrar of the sexton's or other person's district or the
    15  State Registrar of Vital Statistics within ten day from the date
    16  of interment or cremation.
    17     Section 4.  Section 801.1 of the act, amended November 23,
    18  2004 (P.L.909, No.122), is amended to read:
    19     Section 801.1.  Records: Reports to County Registration
    20  Commissions.--[The department shall report monthly in writing to
    21  the registration commission of each county the deaths of
    22  residents of such counties, except residents less than eighteen
    23  years of age, for the preceding month. Said report shall contain
    24  the full name of the decedent, his or her last address, the date
    25  of his or her birth if available, and the date of his or her
    26  death.] The department shall transmit monthly to the Department
    27  of State an electronic file containing information on all
    28  resident deaths, except residents less than eighteen years of
    29  age, for the preceding month. The electronic file shall include,  <--
    30  at a minimum, the full name of the decedent, gender, last
    20070S0776B1740                  - 3 -     

     1  address, the date of birth if available, county of residence
     2  and, the date of death, COUNTY OF DEATH, STATE FILE NUMBER AND    <--
     3  THE LAST FOUR DIGITS OF THE DECEDENT'S SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER.
     4  The Department of State shall enter this information into the
     5  "sure system" as defined in 25 Pa.C.S. § 102 (relating to
     6  definitions), or a similar successor system, which shall be used
     7  by the county boards of election for the purpose of purging       <--
     8  REMOVING deceased individuals from their voter registration       <--
     9  rolls.
    10     Section 5.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.














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