2010 Hawaii Code
DIVISION 1. GOVERNMENT
TITLE 19. HEALTH
327. Medical and Research Use of Bodies
§327-32 Administration; duties of health officers, etc.

§327-32 Administration; duties of health officers, etc. (a) The department of health shall administer this part and may provide by rules and regulations, promulgated pursuant to chapter 91, for the distribution and use of unclaimed bodies as authorized in section 327-31.

(b) The department upon receipt of notice of an unclaimed body shall deliver the body to a university, hospital, or institution for the purposes authorized in section 327-31.

(c) Every head officer of a hospital, nursing home, correctional facility, funeral parlor, or mortuary and every county medical examiner or coroner and every state or county officer, and every other person who has possession, charge, or control of any unclaimed dead human body required to be buried at public expense shall:

(1) Exercise due diligence to notify the relatives of the decedent;

(2) In the absence of any known relative or friend of the deceased or any representative of a fraternal society of which the deceased was a member, who desires to direct the disposition of the remains in a manner other than in this part provided, notify the department not later than immediately after the end of twenty-four hours following the death, stating, whenever possible, the name, age, sex, and cause of death of the decedent.

(d) Every head officer of a hospital, nursing home, or correctional facility in which a decedent was a patient or inmate at the time of death and whose body is unclaimed and required to be buried at public expense shall transmit to the department a medical history of the decedent for the purpose of identification and permanent record, which records shall be open to inspection by any state or county public official or prosecuting attorney. [L 1967, c 240, pt of §1; HRS §327-32]