New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 7 - HEALTH
Chapter 3 - STATE MEDICAL INVESTIGATOR'S OFFICE
Part 2 - POLICIES OF THE OFFICE OF THE MEDICAL INVESTIGATOR
Section 7.3.2.17 - REMAINS
Universal Citation: 7 NM Admin Code 7.3.2.17
Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
A. Citations and Regulations:
(1)
24-11-6
NMSA 1978 A: Upon receipt of a report from a deputy medical investigator under
this subsection, the state or district medical investigator may execute a death
certificate and a certificate authorizing release of the body for
burial.
(2)
24-11-7
NMSA 1978: If the deceased is unidentified, the state, district or deputy
medical investigator may order the body fingerprinted and
photographed.
(3)
24-12-1
NMSA 1978:
(a) State, county or municipal
officials having charge or control of bodies to be buried at public expense
shall use due diligence to notify the relatives of the deceased.
(b) If no claimant is found who will assume
the cost of burial, the official having charge or control of the body shall
notify the medical investigator stating, when possible, the name, age, sex and
cause of death of any person required to be buried at public expense.
(c) The body shall be embalmed according to
regulations of the state agency having jurisdiction. After the exercise of due
diligence required in Subsection A [now Subparagraph (a) of Paragraph (3) of
Subsection A of 7.3.2.17 NMAC] of this section, and the report to the medical
investigator required in Subsection B [now Subparagraph (b) of Paragraph (3) of
Subsection A of 7.3.2.17 NMAC] of this section, the medical investigator shall
be furnished detailed data demonstrating such due diligence and the fact that
no claimant has been found. When the medical investigator has determined that
due diligence has been exercised and that reasonable opportunity has been
afforded relatives to claim the body and that the body has not been claimed, he
shall issue his certificate determining that the remains are unclaimed. In no
case shall an unclaimed body be disposed of in less than two weeks from the
date of the discovery of the body.
(4)
24-12-2
NMSA 1978:
(a) Upon the issuance of his
certificate that the remains are unclaimed, the medical investigator shall
retain the body for use only for medical education or shall certify that the
body is unnecessary or unsuited for medical education and release it to the
state, county or municipal officials having charge or control of the body for
burial.
(b) If the body is retained
for use in medical education, the facility or person receiving the body for
such use shall pay the costs of preservation and transportation of the body and
shall keep a permanent record of bodies received.
(c) If a deceased person was an inmate of a
public institution, the institution shall transmit, upon request of the medical
investigator, a brief medical history of the unclaimed dead person for purposes
of identification and permanent record. The records shall be open to inspection
by any state or county official or district attorney.
(5)
24-12-3 NMSA
1978:
(a) Any person who conducts a
postmortem examination on an unclaimed body without express permission of the
medical investigator is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by
imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year or by the imposition
of a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both such
imprisonment and fine.
(b) Any
person who unlawfully disposes of, uses or sells an unclaimed body is guilty of
a fourth degree felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state
penitentiary for a term of not less than one year nor more than five years or
by the imposition of a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or
both such imprisonment and fine.
(6)
24-13-1
NMSA 1978: It shall be the duty of the board of county commissioners of each
county in this state to cause to be decently interred, the body of any dead
person having no visible estate out of which to defray the cost of his burial,
and when no relative or friend of such decedent will undertake to bury
him.
(7)
24-13-2
NMSA 1978: No deceased person shall be considered to be an indigent if there
are any sums, no matter how small, with which to defray the cost of such
burial.
(8)
24-13-3
NMSA 1978: The expenses for the burial or cremation of an indigent person shall
be paid by the county out of the general fund in the amount of one hundred
dollars ($100) for the burial of any adult or minor over the age of six years
and seventy-five dollars ($75) for the burial of any minor up to the age of six
years.
(9)
24-13-4
NMSA 1978: The board of county commissioners, after proper investigation, shall
cause any deceased indigent to be decently interred or cremated. The cost of
opening and closing a grave shall not exceed thirty-five dollars ($35), which
sum shall be in addition to the sums enumerated in Section
24-13-3
NMSA 1978.
(10)
24-14-22
NMSA 1978:
(a) Each spontaneous fetal death,
where the fetus has a weight of five hundred grams or more, which occurs in
this state shall be reported to the state registrar.
(b) When a dead fetus is delivered in an
institution, the person in charge of the institution or his designated
representative shall prepare and file the report.
(c) When the spontaneous fetal death occurs
on a moving conveyance and the fetus is first removed from the conveyance in
this state, or when a dead fetus is found in this state and the place of fetal
death is unknown, the fetal death shall be reported in this state. The place
where the fetus was first removed from the conveyance or the dead fetus was
found shall be considered the place of fetal death.
(d) When a spontaneous fetal death required
to be reported by this section occurs without medical attendance at or
immediately after the delivery or when inquiry is required by law, the state
medical investigator shall investigate the cause of fetal death and shall
prepare and file the report.
(e)
The names of the parents shall be entered on the spontaneous fetal death report
in accordance with the provisions of Section
24-14-13 NMSA
1978.
(f) Except as otherwise
provided in this section, all spontaneous fetal death reports shall be
completed and filed with the state registrar within ten days following the
spontaneous fetal death.
(11)
24-14-23
NMSA 1978:
(a) For deaths or spontaneous
fetal deaths which have occurred in this state, no burial-transit permit shall
be required for final disposition of the remains if such disposition occurs in
this state and is performed by a funeral service practitioner or if disposition
takes place in an institution with authorization from the next of
kin.
(b) A burial-transit permit
shall be issued by the state registrar or a local registrar for those bodies
which are to be transported out of the state for final disposition or when
final disposition is being made by a person other than a funeral service
practitioner.
(c) A burial-transit
permit issued under the law of another state or foreign country which
accompanies a dead body or fetus brought into this state shall be authority for
final disposition of the body or fetus in this state.
(d) A permit for disinterment or reinterment
shall be required prior to disinterment of a dead body or fetus except as
authorized by regulation or otherwise provided by law. The permit shall be
issued by the state registrar or state medical investigator to a licensed
funeral service practitioner.
(e) A
permit for cremation of a dead body shall be required prior to the cremation.
The permit shall be issued by the state medical investigator to a licensed
funeral service practitioner.
(12)
24-14-24 NMSA
1978:
(a) The department may, by regulation
and upon conditions as it may prescribe to assure compliance with the purposes
of the Vital Statistics Act [24-14-1 to 2414-17,
24-14-20 to
24-14-31
NMSA 1978], provide for the extension of the periods prescribed in Sections
24-1420,
24-14-22
and
24-14-23
NMSA 1978 for the filing of death certificates, spontaneous fetal death
reports, medical certification of cause of death and for the obtaining of
burial-transit permits in cases where compliance with the applicable prescribed
period would result in undue hardship.
(b) Regulations of the department may provide
for the issuance of a burial-transit permit prior to the filing of a
certificate upon conditions designed to assure compliance with the purposes of
the Vital Statistics Act in cases where compliance with the requirement that
the certificate be filed prior to the issuance of the permit would result in
undue hardship.
(13)
Regulation - state board of thanatopractice of the state of New Mexico
regulations, adopted 2/2/79 and revised 1984, No. 22.
(a) Subject to the provisions of Subsection G
of Section 61-29A-23, NMSA 1978, all human and fetal remains shall be embalmed
in accordance with the Thanatopractice License Law, where;
(i) required by an applicable regulation of
the office of the medical investigator or of the secretary of the health and
environment department or by an order of the state or a district medical
investigator;
(ii) the remains are
not stored under refrigeration at a temperature not exceeding 5 degrees C (40
degrees F) when Subsection A of Section 61-29A-21, NMSA 1978, is applicable;
or
(iii) Subsection F of Section
61-29A-23, NMSA 1978, is applicable.
(b) When embalming is not required under the
preceeding paragraph A [now Subparagraph (a) of Paragraph (13) of Subsection A
of 7.3.2.17 NMAC], then no human or fetal remains shall be embalmed without the
oral or written authorization by the:
(i)
surviving spouse or next of kin; or
(ii) legal agent or personal representative;
or
(iii) person assuming
responsibility for final disposition.
(c) Where embalming is not required under
paragraph A [now Subparagraph (a) of Paragraph (13) of Subsection A of 7.3.2.17
NMAC] and prior to obtaining authorization under paragraph B [now Subparagraph
(b) of Paragraph (13) of Subsection A of 7.3.2.17 NMAC], remains may be washed
and other health procedures, such as closing the orifices, preparatory to
actual embalming, may be performed.
B. Policy:
(1) In all cases where the OMI has assumed
jurisdiction, the remains will be released for burial or other means of
disposal only after the investigation of the death is concluded.
(2) All permits for cremation on any death
occurring within the State are issued by the OMI.
(3) In cases where the remains are
unidentified, all means of recording features of the remains shall be used
prior to release of the remains.
(4) In cases where the remains are identified
but unclaimed, the body shall be released no sooner than two weeks after death
with the assurance that due diligence has been put forth to find a claimant for
the body. This release is granted by the office of the medical
investigator.
(5) In cases where
the remains are identified but ruled indigent, the cost of the burial shall be
assumed by the county authority in which the death occurred. Personal property
of an unidentified person will be turned over to the county assuming
responsibility for burial. In all cases where the OMI has assumed jurisdiction,
there shall be no charge for transportation and storage imposed on any common
carrier or funeral director.
(6)
The office of the medical investigator and the state registrar may issue
disinterment permits. This permit will be issued to a licensed funeral director
who will be in charge of the disinterment procedure. A request for a
disinterment permit can be made by a district attorney or any private
individual with a legitimate purpose. In any case where the disinterment is
requested for purposes requiring legal documentation of the procedure, the OMI
shall be present and shall assure the chain of custody upon removal and
transportation to the office of the medical investigator for any subsequent
examination.
(7) In the event that
unidentified skeletal remains are discovered, the office of the medical
investigator shall respond and conduct an investigation to determine if there
is medicolegal significance to the remains.
(8) In any case where the cause of death is
deemed dangerous to the public health, the office of the medical investigator
may require that the body be embalmed or be encased in an airtight
container.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. New Mexico may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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