subject: Disposal of the Dead [print this page] Disposal of the Dead Disposal of the Dead
Disposal of the Dead A permit must be issued before a dead body may be buried, cremated, or otherwise disposed of, or removed from the registration district. However, a licensed funeral director may remove a body during the first 72 hours after death from the place of death to his mortuary without a permit, when the attending physician or coroner has given permission. No sex ton or other person in charge of a cemetery or other place of disposal of the dead shall inter or permit interment or other disposition of a body unless it is accompanied by a burial permit. The sexton or other person in charge shall, when a burial takes place, endorse on the permit the date of the interment over his signature and shall return all permits so endorsed to the local registrar within ten days after interment. He shall also keep a record of all interments made in the premises under his charge, naming the deceased, place of death, date of burial, and name and address of funeral direc tor, which record shall be open to public inspection.
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When a death or still birth occurs outside the state, any lawful transit or burial permit issued in the place or origin shall be acceptable in Kansas, for transportation into or through the state; but before burial in Kansas may occur, the permit shall be endorsed and recorded by the local registrar. A satisfactory certificate of death or stillbirth must be issued before a burial may take place. In a variation from the Uniform Act, Kansas requires each funeral director to submit a monthly report of bodies prepared for burial by his establishment (65-2429). Local registrars submit their certificates to the state registrar under state board regulations. The local registrars operate on a fee system, sub ject to limitation and regulation by the state board, the fees being paid out of the general funds of the county. Penal clauses are added, prohibiting and punishing unlawful making or altering of certificates or copies, or transporting or dispos ing of dead bodies unlawfully. "This act shall be construed as to effectuate its general purpose of making uniform the laws of those states which enact it,"
Provisions of this Kansas act are essentially similar to those of most states, even those which have not adopted the Uni form Act. All states require some form of death certificate,transit permit and/or burial permit, or a combined permit for shipment and burial. Ordinarily these permits are secured by the funeral director as part of his regularly provided services in connection with the funeral. It is important for the lay person concerned with a funeral to know that they are re quired, although he will not ordinarily be concerned with the direct procurement of them. It should not be necessary to belabor the importance of accurate, permanent, death certificate records and other vital statistics. Proof of who died, when, where, of what cause, and under what circumstances, is necessary to resolve questions concerning inheritance, legacy, and devise, as well as insur ance claims, pensions and veterans' benefits, and many other matters. Also, the public authorities, need to maintain and preserve accurate records for census, statistical, and demo graphic purposes, and as an aid in planning health programs and health services. Every care should be observed by the person arranging a funeral to see that the information con tained in the death certificate is complete and accurate. Al though most states provide machinery for amending death certificates, this may be complicated once the document is filed for record.
