Chap. 415.—An ACT rm amend and reenact ‘Sections 1565, ee 1567, 1568
- as .amended,. 1569 as amended, 1577, 1578 as amended, 1579 as amended,
and 1581 ‘as amended, of the Code of. "Vir inia, relating to the powers, duties,
furictions and activities of the Bureau of Vital Statistics, the State Registrar
"of. Vital -Statistics, local registrars and others with respect to births and
deaths ;. to amend ‘the. Code of Virginia by adding a new section numbered
1572-a, providing for the registration of foundlings; and to repeal section
1584 of the Code of Virginia, authorizing certain expenditures. [H 260]

Approved April 1, 1948

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That sections fifteen hundred sixty-five, fifteen hundred sixty-six,
fifteen hundred sixty-seven, fifteen hundred sixty-eight as amended,
fifteen hundred sixty-nine as amended, fifteen hundred seventy-seven,
fifteen hundred seventy-eight as amended, fifteen hundred seventy-nine
as amended, and fifteen hundred eighty-one as amended, of the Code
of Virginia, be amended and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia
be further amended by adding a new section numbered fifteen hundred
seventy-two-a, as follows:

Section 1565. Burial or removal pérmits for dead bodies.—The
body of any person whose death occurs in the State shall not be interred,
deposited in a vault or tomb, cremated or otherwise disposed of, or
removed from or into any registration district or be held pending further
disposition more than seventy-two hours after death, until a permit for
burial, removal or other disposition thereof shall. have been properly
issued by the local registrar (or his deputy) of the registration district
in which the death occurred. No such burial or removal permit shall
be issued by any registrar until a complete and satisfactory certificate
of death has been filed with him as hereinafter provided; except, as
set forth in section fifteen hundred sixty-nine, that when a dead body is
brought into the State for burial or other disposition, the burial-transit
permit which accompanies such body shall. be filed with the local registrar
of the district where burial or other disposition of the body takes place
by the sexton or person in charge of the disposition of the body. The
local registrar shall forward all such permits to the State Registrar. No
fee shall be required for the issue of burial or removal permits in this
State. In incorporated cities, certificates of death shall be obtained and
burial or removal permits issued according to the ordinances of such

city.

Section 1566. Registration: of stillborn children.—A fetus showing
no evidence of life after complete birth (no action of heart, breathing
or movement of voluntary muscle) if the twentieth week of gestation has
been reached, shall be registered on a certificate of stillbirth, and shall be
filed with the local registrar in the same manner as a certificate of death.
The medical certification shall be signed by the attending physician, if
any, and shall state the cause of still birth, if known; midwives shall
not sign the medical certification of such certificates ; but such cases, and
stillbirths occurring without attendance of either physician or midwife,
shall be treated as deaths without medical attendance, as provided for
in section fifteen hundred sixty-eight. A burial-transit permit shall be
required as provided for the disposal of dead bodies in section fifteen
hundred sixty-five.

Section 1567. Certificate of death to contain certain items; re-
quisites for medical certificate—The certificate of death shall be ap-
proximately in the United States standard form as approved by the
national agency in charge of vital statistics and shall contain the follow-

items:

(1) Place of death, including State, county, magisterial district, city
or town, street and house number, If in a hospital or other institution,
the name of the same to be given instead of the street and house number.
If in an industrial camp, the name of the camp to be given.

(2) Full name of decedent. If any unnamed child, the surname
preceded by “unnamed”.

(3) Sex.

(4) Color or race, as white, black — or negro descent), Indian,
Chinese, Japanese, or other.

(5) Conjugal condition, as single, married, widowed or divorced.

(6) Date of birth, including the year, month, and day.
(7) Age, in years, months and days. If less than one day, the hours
and minutes.

(8) Occupation to be reported of any person who had any remuner-
ative employment; women as well as men, stating (a) trade, profession,
or particular kind of work; (b) general nature of industry, business or
establishment in which employed (or employer).

(9) Birthplace ; State or foreign country.

(10) Name of father.

(11) Birthplace of father ; State or foreign country.

(12) Maiden name of mother.

(13) Birthplace of mother ; State or foreign country.

(14) Name and address of informant.

(15) Official signature of registrar, with the date when certificate
was filed, and registered number.

(16) Date of death, year, month and day.

(17) Statement of medical attendance on decedent, fact and time
of death, time last seen alive, and the cause of death, with contributory
cause (secondary) or complication, if any, and duration of each, and
if attributed to dangerous or unsanitary conditions of employment;
signature and address of physician or official making the medical
certificate.

(18) Length of residence (for hospitals, institutions, transients or
recent residents) at place of death or in the State.

- (19) Place of burial or removal; date of burial.

(20) Signature and address of undertaker.

The personal and statistical particulars (items 1 to 13) shall give the
name and address of the informant, who may be any competent person
acquainted with the facts. -

- The statement of facts relating to the disposition of the body shall
be signed by the undertaker or person acting as such.

The medical certificate shall be made and signed by the physician
last in attendance on the deceased, or by the coroner as provided in
section fifteen hundred sixty-eight, who shall specify the time in atten-
dance, the time he last saw the deceased alive and the hour of the
day at which death occurred. And he shall further state the cause of
death, so as to show the course of the disease or sequence of causes
resulting i in the death, giving first the name of the disease causing death
(primary cause), and the contributory (secondary) cause, if any, and
the duration of each. Indefinite and unsatisfactory terms, indicating only
symptoms of disease or conditions resulting from disease, will not be
held sufficient for issuing a burial or removal permit; and any certificate
containing such terms as defined by the State registrar shall be returned
to the physician for correction and more definite statement. Causes of
death, which may be the result of either disease or violence, shall be care-
fully defined; and, if from violence, the means of injury shall be stated,
and whether (probably) accidental, suicidal or homicidal. And in deaths
in hospitals, institutions, or of non-residents, the physician shall furnish
the information required under this head (item 18), and may state
where, in his opinion, the disease was contracted.
Section 1568. Provisions in case of death without medical attend-
ance.—In case of death or stillbirth occurring without medical attendance,
it shall be the duty of the undertaker or other person acting as such to
notify the local coroner of such death or stillbirth, and refer the case to
him for immediate investigation and certification, provided, however, that
any death or stillbirth caused by unlawful or suspicious means, or by vio-
lence or suddenly when in apparent health, or while in prison, or in any
suspicious, unusual or unnatural manner, shall also be referred to
the coroner for his investigation and certification. Any coroner whose
duty it is to investigate the cause and manner of death of any person, and
to make the certificate of death required for burial permits, shall state
in his certificate the name of the disease causing death, or if from exter-
nal causes, (1) the means of death; (2) whether (probably) accidental,
suicidal, or homicidal; and shall in either case, furnish such information
as may be required by the State registrar in order properly to classify
the death or stillbirth.

Section 1569. Duties of undertakers——The undertaker, or person
acting as undertaker, shall be responsible for obtaining and filing the
certificate of death with the local registrar of the district in which the
death occurs, and for securing a burial-transit permit, prior to any
disposition of the body, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. He
shall obtain the personal and statistical particulars required from the
person best qualified to supply them, with the signature and address of
the informant. He shall then present the certificate to the attendant phy-
sician, if any, or to the coroner, as otherwise directed in this chapter,
for the medical certification of the cause of death and other particulars
necessary to complete the record as specified in the preceding sections.
He shall then state the facts required relative to the date and place
of burial, over his signature and with his address, and present the com-
pleted certificate to the local registrar in order to obtain a permit for
burial, removal, transportation, or other disposition of the body. The
undertaker shall deliver the burial-transit permit to the sexton, or other
person in charge of the place of burial, before interring or otherwise
disposing of the body. When shipped by a transportation company, the
permit shall accompany the corpse to its desired destination and shall
be delivered to the sexton or other person in charge of the place of burial.

The burial-transit permit forms shall be prepared by the State
Department of Health, and shall be interchangeable with similar transit-
burial permits in use by any other state or the District of Columbia, and
shall be acceptable by any sexton of a cemetery as authorization for
burial, except that in cities with full-time health departments it shall be
subject to the ordinance of such city.

The State Department of Health shall also prepare disinterment-
transportation-reinterment permit forms which shall be used for a trans-
portation permit and be acceptable by the sexton of a cemetery in the
same manner as a burial-transit permit. After reinterment of the remains,
the disinterment-transportation-reinterment permit shall be properly
endorsed and forwarded to the Virginia Bureau of Vital Statistics,
Richmond, Virginia, to be filed in connection with the corresponding
death certificate.

Any dealer, carpenter, or other person who shall sell a coffin for
the burial of a dead person, shall deliver to the purchaser a certificate
of death filled out as completely as possible, and instruct the purchaser. to
supply any omitted information, either statistical or medical, and to
deliver the certificate to the local registrar of the district in which the
death occurred and obtain from the registrar a burial-transit permit
before interment, removal, or other disposition of the body is made.

If for good reason the doctor’s or coroner’s certificate of death, or
that of the person acting as coroner, cannot be obtained, ‘the purchaser
or person acting as undertaker shall file with the local registrar a pro-
visional certificate of death, upon which the registrar shall issue a
burial-transit permit on condition that a completed ‘certificate of death
will be filed within ten days with the registrar of the district in which the
death occurred.

Funeral services for individuals who have died of a communicable
disease shall. be conducted under the supervision of the health officer
having local jurisdiction. In quarantinable diseases requiring restriction
of contacts, a public funeral service may be permitted only in those
instances wherein the casket remains closed and members of the family
and the contacts are segregated from the public.

Each dealer, carpenter, or other person selling coffins shall furnish
the State Registrar at the end of each month a list showing all sales
of coffins made during the month in cases in which death certificates
have not been filed with the local registrar. This list must include the
names and addresses of the purchasers, and the names, color, age and sex
of the decreased persons and the dates of deaths.

Section 1572-a. Registration of foundlings——A certificate shall be
filed for each child of unknown parentage within three days of the
finding of such child, on the form prescribed by the State Department of
Health. The certificate shall be prepared by the person, organization,
association or agency assuming control of the child, and shall be filed
with the local registrar of the district in which custody was assumed;
provided that if the person finding the child fails to turn the same over
to the custody of any public or private agency, it shall be the duty of such
person to make such certificate. Such certificates shall be acceptable for
all purposes in lieu of a certificate of birth.

Section 1577. State Registrar to furnish forms and issue instruc-
tions; may require information; preservation of certificate, etc—The-
State Registrar shall prepare, print, and supply to all registrars all
blanks and forms used in registering, recording and preserving the
returns, or in otherwise carrying out the purpose of this chapter; and
shall prepare and issue such detail instructions as may be required to
secure the uniform observance of its provisions and the maintenance of
a perfect system of registration. No other blanks shall be used than
those supplied by the State Registrar. He shall carefully examine these
certificates received monthly from the local registrars, and if any such
are incomplete or unsatisfactory he shall require such further information
to be furnished as may be necessary to make the record complete and
satisfactory. All physicians, midwives, informants, or undertakers, and
all other persons having knowledge of the facts, are required to futnish
such information as they may possess regarding any birth, death, or
stillbirth, upon demand of the State Registrar, in person, by mail, or
through the local registrar. He shall further arrange, bind and perman-
ently preserve the certificates in a systematic manner, and shall prepare
and maintain a comprehensive and continuous index of all births, deaths,
and stillbirths registered. -

Section 1578. Local registrars to supply forms and require proper
certificates; their records.—(a) It shall be the duty of the local regis-
trars to supply blank forms of certificates to stch persons as require
them. Each local registrar shall carefully examine each certificate of
birth, death, or stillbirth when presented for record, to see that it has
been made out in accordance with the provisions of the law, and the
instructions of the State Registrar, and if any certificate of death or
stillbirth is incomplete or unsatisfactory, it shall be his duty to call
attention to the defects in the return, and to withhold issuing the burial
or removal permit until they are corrected or satisfactorily explained. If
the certificate of death or stillbirth is executed as herein provided, -he
shall then issue a burial or removal permit; provided, that in case the
death or stillbirth occurred from some disease that is held by the. State
Board of Health to be infectious, contagious, or communicable and
dangerous to the public health, no permit for the removal or other dis~
position of the body shall be granted by the registrar, except under
such conditions as are prescribed by Jaw. If a certificate of: birth is
incomplete, he shall immediately notify the informant, and feasine him
to supply the missing items if they cart be obtained.

(b) He shall number consecutively the certificates of birth, death, or
stillbirth, in three separate series, beginning with number. one for the
first birth, the first death, and the first stillbirth in each calendar year, and
sign his name as registrar in attest of the date of filing in his office. _

He shall also make a complete and accurate copy of each birth,
each death, and each stillbirth certificate registered by him in a record
book supplied by the State Registrar to be preserved permanently in his
office, and transferred to his successor, as the local record in such
manner as directed by the State Registrar, except that in copying certi-
ficates of the birth of illegitimate children, all items are to be copied
into his books from the original certificates transmitted to the State
Bureau of Vital Statistics, except the names of the children, and parents,
those spaces to be left blank in his copies.

(d) The local registrar shall on the tenth day of each month trans-
mit to the State Registrar all original certificates of births, deaths, and
stillbirths which have occurred to the end of the preceding month. If
no births, deaths, or stillbirths occur in any month, he shall on the tenth
day of the following month report that fact to the State Registrar on
a card provided for this purpose.

Section 1579. Fees for local registrars. —Each local registrar shall
be paid the sum of fifty cents for each birth certificate, each death cer-
tificate, and each stillbirth certificate properly made out and registered
with him, correctly recorded and promptly returned by him to the State
Registrar, as required by this chapter, and in case no birth, deaths, or
stillbirths were registered during any month, the local registrar shall
be entitled to be paid the sum of fifty cents for a report to that effect,
but only if properly made, in accordance with this chapter.

All amounts payable to a registrar under the provisions of this
section shall be paid by the treasurer of the city, town or county in which
the registration district is located, upon certification by the State
registrar. The State registrar shall annually certify to the treasurers
of the several cities, towns and counties the number of births and
deaths properly registered, with the names of the local registrars and
the amounts due each at the rate fixed herein; but the council of any
city may by ordinance, in lieu of fees, provide for the compensation of the
local registrar for such city by salary. The fees or salaries now paid
the principal executive officer of the I local board of health of any city
or town, who shall become the local registrar of such city or town
under the provisions of this chapter, may be in lieu of all compensation
or fees as herein provided. Payments may be made by fees as in the
counties.

Section 1581. Penalties imposed for violations—Any physician
who was in medical attendance upon any deceased person at the time
of death or stillbirth who shall wilfully neglect or refuse to make out
and deliver to the undertaker, sexton, or other person in charge of the
interment, removal, or other disposition of the body, upon request, the
medical certificate of the cause of death or stillbirth, hereinbefore pro-
vided for, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not less than five dollars nor more than fifty
dollars. If any physician shall knowingly make a false certification of
the cause of death or stillbirth, in any case, he shall be deemed guilty
of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less
than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred dollars.

Any physician or midwife, in attendance upon a case of confinement,
or any other person charged with responsibility for reporting births,
in the order named in section fifteen hundred and seventy-three, who
shall wilfully neglect or refuse to file a proper certificate of birth with
the local registrar, within the time required by this chapter, shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than one dollar nor more than ten dollars.

Any undertaker, sexton or other person acting as undertaker, who
shall inter, remove or otherwise dispose of the body of a deceased person,
without having received a burial or removal permit as herein provided,
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof
shall be fined not less than five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars.

Any registrar, deputy registrar or sub-registrar who shall wilfully
neglect or fail to enforce the provisions of this chapter in his district, or
who shall wilfully neglect or refuse to perform any of the duties imposed
upon him by this chapter, or by the instructions and directions of the
State registrar, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon con-
viction thereof, shall be fined not less than one dollar nor more than ten
dollars.

Any person who shall wilfully alter any certificate of birth, death, or

stillbirth, or the copy of any certificate of birth, death, or stillbirth, on
file in the office of the local or State registrar shall be deemed guilty
of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than ten dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or be imprisoned
in the county jail not exceeding sixty days or both in the discretion of
the court.
__ Any other person or persons who shall wilfully violate any of the
provisions of this chapter, or who shall wilfully neglect or refuse to
perform any duties imposed upon them by the provisions of this chapter,
or shall furnish false information to a physician, undertaker, midwife,
or informant, for the purpose of making incorrect certification of births,
deaths, or stillbirths, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than five dollars nor
more than one hundred dollars.

2. That section fifteen hundred eighty-four of the Code of Virginia

is repealed.