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Sub. S. B. No. 147 As Passed by the SenateAs Passed by the Senate
128th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2009-2010 |
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Cosponsors:
Senators Faber, Fedor, Goodman, Grendell, Miller, R., Wilson, Carey, Wagoner, Stewart, Buehrer, Cates, Gibbs, Jones, Miller, D., Morano, Patton, Schaffer, Schiavoni, Smith, Turner, Harris, Strahorn
A BILL
To amend section 4717.27 of the Revised
Code to give
the right of disposal to the United
States
Secretary of Veterans Affairs regarding
unclaimed
cremated remains of persons who are
entitled to
be buried in a national cemetery.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 4717.27 of the Revised
Code be
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 4717.27. (A) The authorizing agent who executed the
cremation
authorization form authorizing the cremation of a
decedent under section
4717.24 of the Revised Code or the
cremation of body parts under section 4717.25 of the Revised Code
is
ultimately responsible for the final disposition of the
cremated remains of
the decedent or body parts.
(B) If the cremation authorization
form does not contain
instructions for the final disposition of the cremated
remains of
the decedent or body parts, if no arrangements for the disposition
of the cremated remains are made within thirty days after the
completion of
the
cremation, and if the cremated remains have not
been picked up within that
thirty-day period by the person
designated to receive them on the
authorization
form or, in the
absence of such a designated person, by the authorizing agent,
the
operator of the crematory facility or the funeral home holding the
unclaimed cremated remains, at the end of that thirty-day period,
may release or deliver them in person to, or cause their delivery
by a method
described in division (I) of section 4717.26
of the
Revised
Code that is acceptable under that division to, the person
designated
to receive them
on the cremation authorization form or,
if no person has been so designated,
to
the authorizing agent.
(C)(1) If the cremation authorization
form does not contain
instructions for the final disposition of the cremated
remains of
the decedent or body parts, if no arrangements for the final
disposition of the cremated remains are made within sixty days
after the
completion of the cremation, and if the cremated remains
have not been picked
up by the person designated on the
authorization form to receive them or, in
the absence of such a
designated person, by the authorizing agent, the
operator
of the
crematory facility or the funeral home holding the unclaimed
cremated remains may dispose of
the cremated remains in a grave,
crypt, or niche at any time after the end of
that sixty-day
period.
(2) If the cremation authorization form specifies the manner
of the
final disposition of the cremated remains, or if within
sixty days after the
completion of the cremation the authorizing
agent makes arrangements for the
final disposition of the cremated
remains, and if either the arrangements have
not been carried out
within that sixty-day period because of the inaction of a
party
other than the operator of the crematory facility or the funeral
home holding the unclaimed cremated remains, or the authorizing
agent fails to pick up the cremated remains within that sixty-day
period, the
operator of the crematory facility or the funeral home
holding the unclaimed cremated remains may dispose of the cremated
remains in a grave, crypt, or niche at
any
time after the end of
that period.
(3) If cremated remains of a decedent who was eighteen years
or older at the time of death are unclaimed under divisions (C)(1)
and (2) of this section, the operator of the crematory facility
or the funeral home holding the cremated remains shall, before
disposing of the unclaimed cremated remains, notify the secretary
of the United States department of veterans affairs of the name
of, and other identifying information related to, the decedent.
If, within sixty days of the notification, the secretary of the
department of veterans affairs notifies the crematory facility or
funeral home that the decedent was a veteran who is eligible for
burial in a national cemetery under the control of the national
cemetery administration and that the secretary agrees to provide
for the cost of the transportation and burial of the unclaimed
cremated remains in a national cemetery, the crematory facility or
funeral home shall follow the directions of the secretary and
arrange for the burial of the unclaimed remains in the national
cemetery at the secretary's expense. If the secretary does not
assume the right to direct the burial of the unclaimed remains
within sixty days of the notification by the crematory facility or
funeral home, the crematory facility or funeral home may carry out
the disposition of the unclaimed remains under divisions (C)(1)
and (2) of this section.
(4) When cremated remains are disposed of in accordance with
division
(C)(1) or (2) of this section, the authorizing
agent who
executed the cremation authorization form authorizing the
cremation
of the decedent or body parts under section
4717.24 or
4717.25 of the Revised Code is liable
to the operator of the
crematory facility or the funeral home for the cost of the
final
disposition, which cost shall not exceed the reasonable cost for
disposing of the cremated remains in a common grave or crypt in
the county
where the cremated remains were buried or placed in a
crypt or niche.
(D)(1) Except as provided in division
(D)(2) of this section,
no person shall do
either of the following:
(a) Dispose of the cremated remains of a dead human body or
body parts in such a manner or in such a location that the
cremated remains
are
commingled with those of another decedent or
body parts removed from another
decedent or living person;
(b) Place the cremated remains of more than one
decedent or
of body parts removed from more than one decedent or living person
in the same urn or temporary container.
(2) Division (D)(1) of this section
does not prohibit any of
the following:
(a) The scattering of cremated remains at sea or by
air or in
a dedicated area at a cemetery used exclusively for the scattering
on
the ground of the cremated remains of dead human bodies or body
parts.
(b) The commingling of the cremated remains of more
than one
decedent or of body parts removed from more than one decedent or
living person or the placement in the same urn or temporary
container of the
cremated remains of more than one decedent or of
body parts removed from more
than one decedent or living person
when each authorizing agent who executed
the
cremation
authorization form authorizing the cremation of each of the
decedents
or body parts removed from each of the decedents or
living persons under
section 4717.21, 4717.24, or 4717.25 of the
Revised Code authorized the
commingling of the cremated remains or
the placement of the cremated remains
in
the same urn or temporary
container on the authorization form.
(c) The commingling, by the individual designated on the
cremation
authorization form authorizing the cremation of the
decedent or body parts to
receive the cremated remains, other than
a funeral director or employee of a
cemetery, or by the
authorizing agent who executed the cremation authorization
form,
after receipt of the cremated remains, of the cremated
remains
with those of another decedent or of body parts removed from
another
decedent or living person or the placing of them by any
such person in the
same urn or temporary
container with those of
another decedent or of body parts removed from another
decedent or
living person.
Section 2. That existing section 4717.27 of the
Revised Code
is hereby repealed.
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