(35) Vital Statistics Act: The Health and Safety Code, Title 3. (36) Vital Statistics Unit: The office, formally known as the Bureau of Vital Statistics, within the Texas Department of State Health Services, formerly known as the Texas Department of Health, charged with the implementation of the Texas Vital Statistics Act. RULE §181.3: Transportation of Dead Bodies (a) Bodies shipped by common carrier. (1) Any body shipped by common carrier must be placed in either: (A) A sound casket enclosed in a strong outside shipping case; or (B) A metal container specifically designed for this purpose. (2) If the body is not embalmed or is in a state of decomposition, it may be shipped only after enclosure in an air-tight metal casket encased in a strong outside shipping case or in a sound casket encased in an air-tight metal or metal lined shipping case. (3) Shipping containers and requirements for the shipping of dead bodies must meet or exceed any requirement imposed by the shipping company, the receiving state or foreign country. (4) When any body is to be transported by common carrier, the burial-transit permit shall be enclosed in a strong envelope and attached to the shipping case. No separate transit permit shall be required. (b) Bodies transported by means other than common carrier. (1) Any body transported by means other than a common carrier must be encased in a container which insures against seepage of fluid and the escape of offensive odors, provided, however, that bodies transported by a licensed funeral director in a vehicle used for such purpose need not be so encased. (2) If a dead body is to be transported by means other (c) Duties of transportation companies: No transportation company shall accept any body for shipment until it has been ascertained that a properly completed burial- transit permit accompanies the body. RULE §181.4: Preservation of Bodies No human body may be held in any place or be in transit more than 24 hours after death and pending final disposition unless either maintained at a temperature within the range of 34 degrees − 40 degrees Fahrenheit, or is embalmed by a licensed embalmer in a manner approved by the Texas Funeral Service Commission, or by an embalmer licensed to practice in the state where death occurred or is encased in a container which insures against seepage of fluid and the escape of offensive odors. RULE §181.5: Embalming and Standards of the Funeral Industry (a) The department adopts by reference the rules of the Texas Funeral Service Commission in 22 TAC §203.16, covering minimum standards for embalming. (b) The rules adopted by reference in subsection (a) of this section shall not require or infer a requirement for the embalming of a dead body prior to burial or cremation. than a common carrier and for a purpose other than preparation or storage, the report of death form shall be enclosed in a strong envelope and attached to the container in which the body is enclosed.
immediate family or other entity having a direct and tangible interest in the record, the State Registrar, Local Registrar, or county clerk shall require a designation document or an attested statement to that effect. (18) Local registration official: A county clerk or person authorized by the Vital Statistics Act to maintain a duplicate system of records for each birth, death, or fetal death that occurs in the person’s jurisdiction. (20) Person in charge of interment: Any person who places or causes to be placed a fetus, dead body or the ashes, after cremation, in a grave, vault, urn, or other receptacle, or otherwise disposes thereof. (21) Properly qualified applicant (qualified applicant): The registrant, or immediate family member either by blood, marriage or adoption, his or her guardian, or his or her legal agent or representative. Local, state and federal law enforcement or governmental agencies and other persons may be designated as properly qualified applicants by demonstrating a direct and tangible interest in the record when the information in the record is necessary to implement a statutory provision or to protect a personal legal property right. A properly qualified applicant may also be a person who has submitted an application for a request to release personal information and has been approved as outlined in §181.11 of this title (relating to Requests for Personal Data). (22) Registrant: The individual named on the certificate of birth, death, or fetal death; application for marriage license; or report of divorce or annulment of marriage. (23) Registrar: The State Registrar or a Local Registrar as recognized by the Texas Department of State Health Services, Vital Statistics Unit. (24) Research copy: A plain paper noncertified reproduction of the complete original document or a portion of the original document. (25) Search: The act of examining the files and/or indexes maintained by the Vital Statistics Unit for a specific record or information. (26) Signature: The name of a person written with his or her own hand; or by an electronic process approved by the State Registrar. (27) State Registrar: The Unit Director of the Vital Statistics Unit, Texas Department of State Health Services. (30) Death Verification: A noncertified statement only of the registrant’s name, date of death, and place of death as it appears on the death index filed with the Vital Statistics Unit. (31) Fetal Death Verification: A noncertified statement only of the registrant’s name, date of delivery, and place of delivery as it appears on the fetal death index filed with the Vital Statistics Unit. (32) Marriage Verification: A noncertified statement only of the registrant’s name, date of marriage, and place of marriage as it appears on the application for marriage license index filed with the Vital Statistics Unit. (33) Report of Divorce or Annulment of Marriage Verification: A noncertified statement only of the registrant’s name, date of divorce, and place of divorce as it appears on the report of divorce or annulment of marriage index as it appears on the birth index filed with the Vital Statistics Unit. (34) Vital statistics: The registration, preparation, transcription, collection, compilation, distribution and preservation of data pertaining to births, adoptions, paternity determinations, deaths, fetal deaths, suits affecting parent child relationship, court of continuing jurisdiction, marital status, and such other data as deemed necessary by the department.
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