| (a) Except as is authorized for a justice of the peace
acting as coroner or medical examiner under the Code of Criminal Procedure,
Chapter 49, remains may not be removed from a cemetery except on written
order of the State Registrar or the State Registrar's designee.
(b) The licensed funeral director or professional archeologist
to whom the disinterment permit is issued shall be responsible for
the proper conduct of the disinterment and removal.
(c) The State Registrar shall issue a disinterment
permit so as to provide a copy for the State Registrar, a copy retained
by the funeral director or professional archeologist to whom issued,
a copy filed with the sexton or person in charge of the cemetery in
which the disinterment is to be made, and a copy for the Local Registrar
of the district in which the death occurred. The State Registrar and
the Local Registrar shall file the disinterment permit as an amendment
to the death certificate and consider it part of the death certificate.
The State Registrar and the Local Registrar shall include a copy of
the disinterment permit with any future certified copies of the death
certificate that are issued.
(d) A disinterment permit shall not be required if
a body is to be disinterred and reinterred in the same cemetery.
(e) A disinterment permit shall not be required to
remove cremains.
(f) Cremation is considered to be a final disposition
of remains.
(g) A disinterred body must be transported in a container
which insures against the seepage of fluid or the escape of offensive
odors. When shipped by common carrier, a disinterred body must be
enclosed in an airtight metal casket encased in a strong outside shipping
case, or in a sound casket encased in an airtight metal or metal-lined
shipping case. This requirement shall not apply if the disinterred
remains involve no soft parts.
(h) The disinterment permit issued by the State Registrar
shall serve as the authority to disinter, transport by means other
than a common carrier, and re-inter a body within this state. (See §181.2
of this title (relating to Assuming Custody of Body).)
(i) A body kept in a receiving vault shall not be regarded
as a disinterred body until after the expiration of 30 days.
(j) All disinterred remains kept in receiving vaults
shall be thoroughly embalmed in a manner approved by the Texas Funeral
Service Commission and shall be enclosed in a permanently sealed casket.
(k) The licensed funeral director or embalmer requesting
a disinterment permit shall be responsible for obtaining a written
consent of the cemetery, the owner of the plot, and the decedent's
next-of-kin.
(l) The licensed funeral director or embalmer requesting
a disinterment permit shall be responsible for obtaining a written
consent order from the county judge to disinter a body from a grave
when the cemetery, plot owner, and the decedent's next-of-kin are
unknown.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §181.6 adopted to be effective January 1, 1976; amended to be effective November 19, 1991, 16 TexReg 6297; amended to be effective July 3, 2003, 28 TexReg 4904; amended to be effective July 22, 2004, 29 TexReg 6936; amended to be effective August 11, 2013, 38 TexReg 4896 |
