Chap. 65.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section 1728 of the Code of Virginia,
relating to transportation of dead bodies. [S B 5]1]

Approved February 27, 1932

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sec-
tion seventeen hundred and twenty-eight of the Code of Virginia, be
amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 1728. Rule 1. <A copy of the original death certificate
on the standard certificate of death form, signed by the attending
physician, permit of local board of health or registrar, and a transit
label signed by the shipping funeral director, and initial baggage
agent, printed on strong white paper, supplied through the State
department of health by the director of the division of purchase and
printing, shall be required for the transportation by common carriers,
or by any other method, of bodies of persons dying in this State.
The death certificate shall contain such information as is required in
the standard form of death certificate, if obtainable. The health of-
ficer’s or registrar’s permit, shall authorize the transportation of the
body of the person described in the physician’s certificate. The ship-
ping funeral director shall state on the shipping label how the body
is prepared, and the local baggage agent shall state thereon the
route, name and address of escort.

The physician’s and health officer’s or registrar’s permit shall be
given the escort, to be delivered with the body at destination. The
shipping label shall be securely attached to the outside case. If the
body is sent by express, the physician’s certificate, and the permit
shall be attached to the express way-bill, and delivered with the
body at the destination, and the shipping label shall be attached to
the outside case. :

Rule 2. The transportation of bodies of persons dead of small-
pox, plague, asiatic cholera, yellow fever, typhus fever, diphtheria
(membranous croup or diphtheretic sore throat), scarlet fever (scarlet
rash or scarlatina), erysipelas, anthrax and leprosy shall be permitted
only under the following conditions: the body shall be thoroughly
embalmed with an approved disinfectant fluid, all orifices shall be
closed with absorbent cotton, the body shall be washed with the dis-
infectant fluid, enveloped in a sheet saturated with the same, and
placed at once in the coffin or casket, which shall be immediately
closed, and the coffin or casket, or the outside case containing the
same, shall be metal, or metal lined, and hermetically and permanently
sealed. Regulations for the transportation by common carriers, of
persons dead from diseases named in this section, shall also apply to
bodies of such persons, transported by private conveyance to points
other than local cemeteries.

Rule 3. The transportation of bodies of persons dead of any
disease other than those mentioned in rule two, shall be permitted
under the following conditions:

(a) When the destination can be reached within twenty-four
hours after death, the coffin or casket shall be inclosed in a strong
outside case made of good, sound lumber, not less than seven-eighths
of an inch thick. Bodies consigned to the anatomical board of this
State, may be received for shipment when prepared in such manner
as the State board of health may direct.

(b) When the destination cannot be reached within twenty-four
hours after death, either by common carrier, or by private conveyance,
the body shall be embalmed, as provided in rule two, and the coffin
or casket placed in a strong, well made outside shipping case.
Rule 4. No disinterred dead body shall be transported by com-
mon carriers unless approved by health authorities having jurisdiction
at the place of disinterment, and a transit permit, and transit label,
shall be required, as provided in rule one. The disinterment and trans-
portation of bodies of persons dead of diseases mentioned in rule two,
shall not be allowed except upon permission of the health authorities,
at both places of disinterment, and the point of destination. All disin-
terred remains for transportation, shall be incased in metal casket or
metal lined boxes, and hermetically sealed; but bodies in a receiving
vault, when prepared by licensed embalmer, shall not be regarded
as disinterred bodies until after the expiration of thirty days.

Rule 5. The casket and outside case may be omitted in all in-
stances except those comprehended in rule two when the body is
transported in a hearse or funeral director’s wagon.

Rule 6. Every outside case shall bear at least four handles, and
when over five feet six inches in length, shall bear six handles.

Rule 7. An approved disinfectant fluid shall contain not less
than five per centum of formaldehyde gas. The term embalming as
employed in these rules, shall require the injection by a licensed em-
balmer, of not less than ten per centum of the body weight for bodies
of persons dead of diseases in rule two, injected arterially, in addition
to cavity injection; and not less than six per centum of the body
weight injected arterially in all other cases in addition to cavity in-
jection, and ten hours shall elapse between the time of embalming and
the shipment of the body.

Rule 8. Such forms of death certificate, health officer’s of regis-
trar’s permit, and label as described herein, with such rules printed
thereon, as the State board of health may prescribe shall be used in
this State for the shipment of bodies as herein provided.

Rule 9. Any violation of this section shall be deemed a misde-
meanor and punishable by a fine of not less than ten nor more than
twenty-five dollars, for the first offense, and a fine of not less than
twenty-five nor more than fifty dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding
thirty days, or both, in the discretion of the court, for each addi-
tional offense. :