Current Status Introducing Body:Senate Bill Number:968 Ratification Number:362 Act Number:334 Primary Sponsor:Jackson Type of Legislation:GB Subject:Dead bodies, unidentified Companion Bill Number:4569 Date Bill Passed both Bodies:19940330 Computer Document Number:968 Governor's Action:S Date of Governor's Action:19940420 Introduced Date:19940111 Date of Last Amendment:19940324 Last History Body:------ Last History Date:19940420 Last History Type:Act No. 334 Scope of Legislation:Statewide All Sponsors:Jackson Ford Reese Washington Type of Legislation:General Bill
Bill Body Date Action Description CMN Leg Involved
---- ------ ------------ ------------------------------ --- ------------
968 ------ 19940420 Act No. 334
968 ------ 19940420 Signed by Governor
968 ------ 19940414 Ratified R 362
968 Senate 19940330 Concurred in House amendment,
enrolled for ratification
968 House 19940329 Read third time, returned to
Senate with amendment
968 House 19940324 Amended, read second time
968 House 19940223 Committee Report: Favorable 27
with amendment
968 House 19940203 Introduced, read first time, 27
referred to Committee
968 Senate 19940202 Read third time, sent to House
968 Senate 19940201 Amended, read second time,
unanimous consent for third
reading on Wednesday,
February 2, 1994
968 Senate 19940127 Committee Report: Favorable 13
with amendment
968 Senate 19940111 Introduced, read first time, 13
referred to Committee
968 Senate 19931220 Prefiled, referred to 13
Committee
View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.
(A334, R362, S968)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 17-5-290, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE DISPOSITION OF DEAD BODIES, SO AS TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION, PRESERVATION, AND DISPOSITION OF BODIES AND FOR RELATED EXPENSES.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Additional requirements for the identification, preservation, and disposition of bodies; related expenses
SECTION 1. Section 17-5-290 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 17-5-290. (A) After the postmortem examination, autopsy, or inquest has been completed, the dead body must be released to the person legally entitled to it for burial. If no person claims the body, the county medical examiner or his deputy shall notify the board created pursuant to Section 44-43-510. If that board does not accept the body, it must be turned over to the coroner of the county where death occurred for disposition as provided by law. If the deceased has an estate out of which burial expenses can be paid either in whole or in part, the estate must be taken for that purpose before an expense under this section is imposed upon a county.
(B) If the body cannot be identified through reasonable efforts, the coroner shall forward the body to the Medical University of South Carolina or other suitable facility for preservation. The body must be preserved for not less than thirty days, unless the body is identified within that time. If the body has not been identified at the end of that time, the Medical University may retain possession of the body for its use and benefit or return the body to the coroner of the county where death occurred for disposition as provided by law. A facility other than the Medical University utilized by the coroner for storage of an unidentified body may dispose of the body as provided by law or return the body to the coroner of the county where death occurred for disposition.
(C) If an unidentified body is preserved at the Medical University, the county is responsible for transporting the body to and from the Medical University; however, the county is not responsible for the cost of preserving the body at the Medical University. If an unidentified body is preserved at the Medical University, the Medical University must absorb the cost of preserving the body for not less than thirty days."
Time effective
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
Approved the 20th day of April, 1994.