H. B. 2047
(By Delegates Staton, Pino, Givens, Tillis,
Riggs and Trump)
(Introduced February 12, 1997; referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary)
A BILL to amend and reenact sections eighteen-b and nineteen,
article five, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
professions and occupations; requiring a deceased person's
social security number to be placed in the records relating to
the death and be recorded on the death certificate.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections eighteen-b and nineteen, article five, chapter
sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 5. VITAL STATISTICS.
§16-5-18b. Limitation on use of social security numbers.
(a) A social security account number obtained in accordance with the provisions of this article with respect to the
filing of: (1) A certificate of birth; (2) an application for a
delayed registration of birth; (3) a judicial order establishing a
record of birth; (4) an adoption order or decree; or (5) a
certificate of paternity shall not be transmitted to a clerk of the
county commission. Such social security account number shall not
appear upon the public record of the register of births or upon any
certificate of birth registration issued by the state registrar,
local registrar, county clerk or other issuing authority, if any.
Such social security account numbers shall be made available by the
state registrar to the child support enforcement division created by
article forty-eight-a upon the request of the division, to be used
solely in connection with the enforcement of child support orders.
(b) A parent who desires not to furnish a social security
account number as required by the provisions of this article or
article six, chapter forty-eight-a of this code shall file with the
person responsible for obtaining personal data from the parent, a
request that he or she not be required to furnish such number. The
request shall be made on a form prescribed by the state registrar of
vital statistics or in a substantially similar instrument and shall
set forth the reasons that the parent declines or is unable to
furnish such number. Supplies of a form for the request shall be
made available to hospitals, circuit clerks and other persons responsible for obtaining personal data from parents, and shall be
provided to any parent who states that he or she desires not to be
required to furnish such number. A request, when received, shall be
transmitted in the same manner as a record of a social security
account number. The board of health shall promulgate legislative
rules in accordance with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of
this code which shall establish the procedural means and substantive
criteria by which the state registrar may determine whether there
exists good cause for not requiring the furnishing of such number.
In proposing the promulgation of such rules, the board of health
shall give due consideration to related regulations prescribed by
the secretary of health and human services of the United States.
§16-5-19. Death registration.
(a) A death certificate for each death which occurs in this
state shall be filed with the local registrar of the registration
district in which the death occurs within three days after such
death, and prior to removal of the body from the state, and shall be
registered by such registrar if it has been completed and filed in
accordance with this section: Provided, That
(1) If the place of death is unknown, a death certificate shall
be filed in the registration district in which a dead body is found
within three days after the finding;
(2) If death occurs in a moving conveyance, a death certificate shall be filed in the registration district in which the dead body
is first removed from such conveyance; and
(3) If the death occurs in a district other than where the
deceased resided, a death certificate shall be filed in the
registration district in which the death occurred and in the
district in which the deceased resided.
(b) The funeral director or person acting for him who first
assumes custody of a dead body shall file the death certificate. He
shall obtain the necessary personal data from the next of kin or the
best qualified person or source available. He The funeral director
or person acting for him shall obtain the medical certification of
the cause of death from the person responsible for making such
certification. The personal data obtained shall include the
deceased person's social security number or numbers. The social
security account number of a individual who has died shall be placed
in the records relating to the death and shall be recorded on the
death certificate. A record of the social security number or
numbers shall be filed with the local registrar of the district in
which in the deceased person resided within seven days after the
death, and the local registrar shall transmit such number or numbers
to the state registrar of vital statisics in the same manner as
other personal data is transmitted to the state registrar.
(c) The medical certification shall be completed and signed within twenty-four hours after death by the physician in charge of
the patient's care for the illness or condition which results in
death except when inquiry is required pursuant to chapter sixty-one,
article twelve or other applicable provision of this code.
(d) When death occurs without medical attendance and inquiry is
not required pursuant to chapter sixty-one, article twelve or other
applicable provisions of this code, the local health officer shall
investigate the cause of death and complete and sign the medical
certification within twenty-four hours after receiving notice of the
death.
(e) When death occurs in a manner subject to investigation, the
coroner or other officer or official charged with the legal duty of
making such investigation shall investigate the cause of death and
shall complete and sign the medical certification within twenty-four
hours after making determination of the cause of death.
(f) In order that each county may have a complete record of the
deaths occurring in said county, the local registrar shall transmit
each month to the county clerk of his county a copy of the
certificates of all deaths occurring in said county, and if any
person shall die in a county other than that county within the state
in which such person last resided prior to death, then the state
registrar shall, if possible, also furnish a copy of such death
certificate to the clerk of the county commission of the county wherein such person last resided, from which copies the clerk shall
compile a record of such deaths and shall enter the same in a
systematic and orderly way in a well-bound register of deaths for
that county, which such register shall be a public record. The
form of said death register shall be prescribed by the state
registrar of vital statistics.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require a deceased
person's social security number to be placed in the records relating
to the death and be recorded on the death certificate. This
requirement is mandated by §317 of the Personal Responsibility and
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. The intent of the
requirement is to enable the collection and use of social security
numbers for use in child support enforcement.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.