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20-17-701. Definitions — Rights of coroner or courts unaffected.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
20-17-701. Definitions — Rights of coroner or courts unaffected.
(a) As used in this subchapter:
(1) “Medical school” means a medical school or school of osteopathic medicine in this state that is:
(A) Accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education; or
(B) Approved by the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board to seek accreditation by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education;
(2) “Next of kin” means a spouse, parent, child, sibling, or person otherwise authorized under § 20-17-702;
(3) “Unclaimed body” means a human body for which the next of kin:
(A) Cannot be located; or
(B) Does not exercise his or her right of disposition within the earlier of:
(i) Two (2) days of notification of the death of the deceased; or
(ii) Five (5) days of the death of the deceased; and
(4) “Unclaimed remains” means the cremated remains of an unclaimed body.
(b) This subchapter does not affect the right of a coroner to hold the dead body as described under § 20-17-703 for the purpose of investigating the cause of death or affect the right of any court of competent jurisdiction to enter an order affecting the disposition of the body.
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 20-17-701
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. A text match is a research starting point; applicability is not established.
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Stable record: arkansas_code:legal_authorities:20-17-701
Source file: gov.ar.code.title.20.odt
Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded
Passage SHA-256: 87e3d9cdd853991d2bd4a81bd20eb240708d2fcc68d25e772882829fc9db6c33
Source location: content.xml paragraph 15568
Stored source content
20-17-701. Definitions — Rights of coroner or courts unaffected.
(a) As used in this subchapter:
(1) “Medical school” means a medical school or school of osteopathic medicine in this state that is:
(A) Accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education; or
(B) Approved by the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board to seek accreditation by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education;
(2) “Next of kin” means a spouse, parent, child, sibling, or person otherwise authorized under § 20-17-702;
(3) “Unclaimed body” means a human body for which the next of kin:
(A) Cannot be located; or
(B) Does not exercise his or her right of disposition within the earlier of:
(i) Two (2) days of notification of the death of the deceased; or
(ii) Five (5) days of the death of the deceased; and
(4) “Unclaimed remains” means the cremated remains of an unclaimed body.
(b) This subchapter does not affect the right of a coroner to hold the dead body as described under § 20-17-703 for the purpose of investigating the cause of death or affect the right of any court of competent jurisdiction to enter an order affecting the disposition of the body.
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Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
20-17-702. Search for next of kin.
(a)(1)(A) The person who assumes original and lawful possession, charge, or control of any body as described in this subchapter shall conduct a diligent search for relatives or next of kin of the deceased, or that person shall request the county sheriff or such other person as may be required by law to conduct the search.
(B) The search shall be completed within five (5) days of the death of the deceased or the date of the request, whichever is later.
(2) The person conducting the search under subdivision (a)(1) of this section shall make every effort to find the spouse, if any, of the deceased.
(3) If the person conducting the search is not satisfied that the putative spouse is, in fact, a legal spouse, or it is determined that no spouse exists, then every effort shall be made to find the parents and siblings, if any, of the deceased.
(b) If the identity of the deceased is not known, the investigation shall include without limitation submittal of the unidentified deceased to the State Crime Laboratory for forensic examination and scientific identification that may include fingerprinting, dental examination, DNA analysis, and entry into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System database.
(c) If the deceased is eighteen (18) years of age or older, the person conducting the search shall conduct a diligent search with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to determine whether the deceased was a veteran under § 20-17-1403.
(d) If a relative or next of kin does not claim the body, a friend, a representative of a fraternal society of which the deceased was a member, a veterans service organization as defined in the Missing in America Project Act, § 20-17-1401 et seq.,
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 20-17-702
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 20-17-702. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
20-17-703. Notice to medical schools — Definition.
(a) Any person in charge of a prison, morgue, hospital, funeral parlor, or mortuary, any person who is a public officer, agent, or employee of the state, any county or municipality, and all persons coming into possession, charge, or control of any human body that is unclaimed for burial may notify a medical school that the body, if unclaimed, is available for use in the advancement or study of medical science.
(b) For the purpose of notifying a medical school of its availability, “unclaimed body” means a human body in the possession, charge, or control of the persons named in subsection (a) of this section for a period not to exceed forty-eight (48) hours, during which time a relative, next of kin, friend, representative of a fraternal society of which the deceased was a member, veterans service organization as defined in the Missing in America Project Act, § 20-17-1401 et seq., the Department of Veterans Affairs, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, or a representative of a charitable or religious group may claim the body for burial purposes.
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 20-17-703
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 20-17-703. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.