Conn. Gen. Stat. § 19a-323

Current with legislation from the 2024 Regular and Special Sessions.

Section 19a-323 - (Formerly Sec. 19-168). Cremation authorized. Cremation certificate or permit for final disposition required. Fee payable in certain cases

(a) The body of any deceased person may be disposed of by cremation in this state or may be removed from the state for such purpose.

(b) 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, an authorized assistant medical examiner or other authorized designee shall complete the cremation certificate, stating that such medical examiner or other authorized designee 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 such certificate, keep such certificate 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. If a cremation permit must be obtained during the hours that the office of the local registrar of the town where death occurred is closed, a subregistrar appointed to serve such town may authorize such cremation permit upon receipt and review of a properly completed cremation permit and cremation certificate. A subregistrar who is licensed as a funeral director or embalmer pursuant to chapter 385, or the employee or agent of such funeral director or embalmer shall not issue a cremation permit to himself or herself. A subregistrar shall forward the cremation certificate to the local registrar of the town where death occurred, not later than seven days after receiving such certificate. The estate of the deceased person, if any, shall pay the sum of one hundred fifty dollars for the issuance of the cremation certificate, provided the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall not assess any fees for costs that are associated with the cremation of a stillborn fetus or the body of a deceased person under the age of eighteen. Upon request of the Chief Medical Examiner, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management may waive payment of such cremation certificate fee. 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 submitted to a town other than that where the person died, the registrar of vital statistics for such other town shall ascertain from the original removal, transit and burial 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 removal, transit and burial permit and, after inscribing and recording the original permit in the manner prescribed for sextons' reports under section 7-66, 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. The fee for a cremation permit shall be five dollars and for the written notice one dollar. The Department of Public Health shall provide forms for cremation permits, which shall not be the same as for regular burial permits and shall include space to record information about the intended manner of disposition of the cremated remains, and such blanks and books as may be required by the registrars.

(c) If the body of a deceased person is brought into this state for cremation and is accompanied by a permit for final disposition issued by a legally constituted authority of the state from which the body was brought, indicating cremation for the body, such permit shall be sufficient authority to cremate the body and no additional cremation certificate or permit shall be required.

(d) 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 that performs incineration unless accompanied by the permit provided for in this section. Alkaline hydrolysis shall not be performed without the permit provided for in this section.

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 19a-323

(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 ; P.A. 05-81 , S. 3 ; P.A. 07-104 , S. 7 ; 07-252 , S. 80 ; P.A. 08-184 , S. 53 ; P.A. 09-232 , S. 12 ; P.A. 11-6 , S. 129 ; 11-44 , S. 152 ; P.A. 13-234 , S. 145 ; P.A. 18-136 , S. 6 .)

Amended by P.A. 24-0068,S. 13 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2024 Regular Session, eff. 5/28/2024.

Amended by P.A. 22-0099, S. 1 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2022 Regular Session, eff. 7/1/2022.

Amended by P.A. 18-0136, S. 6 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2018 Regular Session, eff. 7/1/2018.

See Sec. 7-62b et seq. re procedures for death certificates, burial permits, burials, disinterments, etc.