Senate Bill No. 742
(By Senators Wooton, Burnette, Caldwell, Hunter, Kessler,
Mitchell, Redd, Ross, Rowe and Snyder)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported March 1, 2002.]
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A BILL to amend article six, chapter thirty of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty-two-a,
relating to proper disposal of human remains by an embalmer or
crematory operator; and penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article six, chapter thirty of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto
a new section, designated section twenty-two-a to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. BOARD OF FUNERAL SERVICE EXAMINERS.
§30-6-22a. Disposal of human remains; penalties.
(a) Any person operating a crematory who does not perform a
cremation as contracted to by the deceased prior to death, the deceased's next of kin, a public official charged with arranging
the final disposition of an indigent deceased, or a representative
of an institution who is charged with arranging the final
disposition of a deceased who donated his or her body to science,
or as ordered by a court, within ten days of receipt of the
deceased, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) Any embalmer who does not perform an embalming or dispose
of the deceased as contracted to by the deceased prior to death,
the deceased's next of kin, a public official charged with
arranging the final disposition of an indigent deceased, or a
representative of an institution who is charged with arranging the
final disposition of a deceased who donated his or her body to
science, or as ordered by a court, within ten days of receipt of
the deceased, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(c) Any person operating a crematory who fails to deliver the
cremated remains of the deceased as contracted to by the deceased
prior to death, the deceased's next of kin, a public official
charged with arranging the final disposition of an indigent
deceased, or a representative of an institution who is charged with
arranging the final disposition of a deceased who donated his or
her body to science, or as ordered by a court, within ten days, is
guilty of a misdemeanor.
(d) Any person convicted of a violation of the provisions of
this section shall be fined not less than one thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars or confined in the county or
regional jail for a period not to exceed six months, or both.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill if to create the misdemeanor
offenses of failure to cremate a deceased as contracted, failure to
improperly embalm a deceased as contracted, and failure to
improperly deliver the cremated remains of a deceased.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.)