§ 4144. Deaths; burial and removal permits; transportation of remains.
1. The body of any person whose death occurs in this state, or which
shall be found dead herein shall not be interred, deposited in a vault
or tomb, cremated or otherwise disposed of, or removed from this state,
or be temporarily held pending further disposition more than seventy-two
hours after death, unless a permit for burial, removal, or other
disposition thereof shall have been properly issued by the registrar of
vital statistics of the registration district in which the death
occurred or the body was found; provided, however, that a licensed
funeral director may apply for and receive such permit on behalf of any
person or institution authorized by article forty-two or forty-three of
this chapter to receive unclaimed cadavers or anatomical gifts.

2. (a) No burial or removal permit shall be issued by any registrar
until, wherever practicable, a complete and satisfactory certificate of
death has been filed with him as provided in this article.

(b) The funeral director or undertaker who shall make any removal
before a permit is issued by the registrar, shall return the body to the
registration district where death occurred, whenever the coroner,
medical examiner, or district attorney shall request such return of the
body for investigation or post-mortem examination.

(c) Except as specifically provided in this section, the existing
general duties of, and remuneration received by, local registrars in
accepting and filing certificates of death and issuing burial and
removal permits pursuant to any statute or regulation shall be
maintained, and not altered or abridged in any way by this section.

3. No registrar of vital statistics shall receive any fee for the
issuance of burial or removal permits under this chapter except as
referenced by section forty-one hundred forty-eight of this title and
other than the compensation provided in this article.

4. When the body of a deceased person is transported from outside of
the state into a registration district in this state for burial or other
disposition, the transit or removal permit issued in accordance with the
law and health regulations of the place where the death occurred shall
be given the same force and effect as the burial permit herein provided
for.

5. If the interment, or other disposition of the body of a deceased
person is to be made within the state, the wording of the burial or
removal permit may be limited to a statement by the registrar, and over
his signature, that a satisfactory certificate of death, having been
filed with him, as required by law, permission is granted to inter,
remove or otherwise dispose of the body, stating the name, age, sex,
cause of death, and other necessary details in a manner and format as
may be required by the commissioner.

6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commissioner shall
have power to promulgate rules with reference to the removal of bodies
of persons whose deaths occur on trains, boats or other carriers engaged
in the transportation of persons within this state, and with reference
to the removal of bodies as provided herein.