HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4224        FILED ON: 3/20/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3913

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act relative to the release of bodies by the medical examiner..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

The second paragraph of section 13 of chapter 38 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the third sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:-  The chief medical examiner or his designee may allow any body to be moved without pronouncement if excessive hardship to the family of the decedent would otherwise result or if the decedent’s religious beliefs or customs require burial within a specified time period.