Sec. 19a-323. (Formerly Sec. 19-168). Cremation authorized. Cremation certificate required. Fee payable in certain cases. The body of any deceased person may
be disposed of by incineration or cremation in this state or may be removed from the
state for such purpose. If death occurred in this state, the death certificate required by
law shall be filed with the registrar of vital statistics for the town in which such person
died, if known, or, if not known, for the town in which the body was found. The Chief
Medical Examiner, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, associate medical examiner, or
an authorized assistant medical examiner shall complete the cremation certificate, stating that such medical examiner has made inquiry into the cause and manner of death
and is of the opinion that no further examination or judicial inquiry is necessary. The
cremation certificate shall be submitted to the registrar of vital statistics of the town in
which such person died, if known, or, if not known, of the town in which the body was
found, or with the registrar of vital statistics of the town in which the funeral director
having charge of the body is located. Upon receipt of the cremation certificate, the
registrar shall authorize the cremation certificate, keep it on permanent record, and issue
a cremation permit, except that if the cremation certificate is submitted to the registrar
of the town where the funeral director is located, such certificate shall be forwarded to
the registrar of the town where the person died to be kept on permanent record. The
estate of the deceased person, if any, shall pay the sum of forty dollars for the issuance
of the cremation certificate or an amount equivalent to the compensation then being
paid by the state to authorized assistant medical examiners, if greater. No cremation
certificate shall be required for a permit to cremate the remains of bodies pursuant to
section 19a-270a. When the cremation certificate is issued in a town other than that
where the person died, the registrar of vital statistics for such other town shall ascertain
from the original burial transit removal permit that the certificates required by the state
statutes have been received and recorded, that the body has been prepared in accordance
with the Public Health Code and that the entry regarding the place of disposal is correct.
Whenever the registrar finds that the place of disposal is incorrect, the registrar shall
issue a corrected burial transit removal permit and, after inscribing and recording the
original permit in the manner prescribed for sextons' reports under section 7-72, shall
then immediately give written notice to the registrar for the town where the death occurred of the change in place of disposal stating the name and place of the crematory
and the date of cremation. Such written notice shall be sufficient authorization to correct
these items on the original certificate of death. No body shall be cremated until at least
forty-eight hours after death, unless such death was the result of communicable disease,
and no body shall be received by any crematory unless accompanied by the permit
provided for in this section. The fee for a cremation permit shall be three dollars and
for the written notice one dollar. The Department of Public Health shall provide forms
for such permits, which shall not be the same as for regular burial permits, and such
blanks and books as may be required by the registrars.
(1949 Rev., S. 4726; 1953, S. 2363d; 1959, P.A. 423; 1961, P.A. 227; 1963, P.A. 470; February, 1965, P.A. 48, S. 1;
1969, P.A. 699, S. 27; P.A. 77-614, S. 323, 610; P.A. 79-47, S. 6; P.A. 83-565, S. 1, 2; P.A. 90-158, S. 1; P.A. 91-89; P.A.
93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 04-255, S. 20.)
History: 1959 act deleted requirements that cremation certificate be under oath, that certificate be from director of
health when death resulted from natural causes and for certificate from coroner and added provision re sum payable to
medical examiner; 1961 act specified registrar of vital statistics and medical examiner be those for town in which person
died or where funeral director having charge of the body is located, added provision for filing of and fee for cremation
certificate, requiring registrar of other town to ascertain that the certificates have been received and recorded and the body
prepared prior to issuing permit and that forms be provided by state health department rather than vital statistics bureau;
1963 act added reference to bodies cremated pursuant to Sec. 19-141 and changed technical language; 1965 act added
provision that registrar of other town ascertain that place of disposal entry is correct, provision for issuance of corrected
removal permit and for manner of inscribing and recording original permit, and deleted requirement that notice of registrar
of other town be on a form supplied by state health department; 1969 act clarified provisions by streamlining language
and adding reference to towns where bodies found but where deceased person did not necessarily die and deleted proviso
re cremation upon authority of permit issued by another state; P.A. 77-614 replaced department of health with department
of health services, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 79-47 clarified language, replaced "certificate of death" with "death
certificate" and "deputy medical examiner" with "deputy chief medical examiner" and added associate medical examiners
as issuers of cremation certificates; Sec. 19-168 transferred to Sec. 19a-323 in 1983; P.A. 83-565 provided with respect
to examination of the body and issuance of a cremation certificate, as required in cases of cremation, that estate of deceased,
in lieu of previous fee of ten dollars, pay a fee of forty dollars or an amount equivalent to that paid to assistant medical
examiners for such examination and certificate, if greater, except that no fee shall be required for the examination and
certificate in cases of (1) violent death, (2) sudden death not caused by recognizable disease, (3) death under suspicious
circumstances, (4) death related to disease resulting from employment or accident while employed and (5) death related
to disease which may constitute a threat to public health; P.A. 90-158 removed language concerning external examination
of the body by a medical examiner; P.A. 91-89 raised fee for cremation permit from fifty cents to three dollars; P.A. 93-381 replaced department of health services with department of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993;
P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and
Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 04-255 specified that the Chief Medical Examiner, Deputy Chief
Medical Examiner, associate medical examiner or authorized assistant medical examiner shall complete the cremation
certificate, required registrar to keep cremation certificate and issue cremation permit, and made conforming changes.
See Sec. 7-62b et seq. re procedures for death certificates, burial permits, burials, disinterments, etc.