BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Ellen M. Corbett, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
AB 1745 (Ammiano)
As Amended June 10, 2010
Hearing Date: June 15, 2010
Fiscal: No
Urgency: No
TW:jd
SUBJECT
Vital Records: Fees: Disposition of Human Remains
DESCRIPTION
This bill authorizes a county registrar to charge an additional
fee not to exceed $8 for a permit for the disposition of human
remains. This fee would be collected to fund the disposition of
the remains of indigent residents of that county.
BACKGROUND
According to the sponsor, the City and County of San Francisco,
approximately 7,500 individuals die each year in the City and
County of San Francisco. A permit for disposition of human
remains must be obtained, by either a funeral director or person
responsible for the disposition of the remains. This permit
authorizes the transport of the remains to their end
destination, which must be indicated on the disposition permit.
To obtain the disposition permit, an $11 fee must be submitted
to the local registrar. SB 2244 (Davis, Chapter 990, Statutes
of 1990) authorized a local county to collect $2 of the permit
fee to be paid into the county treasurer for the burial of
indigent residents. (Health & Saf. Code Sec. 10610.05.)
SB 1360 (Committee on Health and Human Services, Chapter 415,
Statutes of 1995) repealed and reorganized numerous statutes,
including Health and Safety Code Section 10610.05 which was
reenacted as Health and Safety Code Section 103680. The new
statute maintained the $2 permit fee for the burial of indigent
residents. The $2 fee for the burial of indigent residents has
never been increased to provide either for inflation or for an
(more)
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increase in indigent resident burials.
The sponsor states that the current fee of $2 collected for the
burial of indigent residents is insufficient to cover the costs
of final disposition of approximately 250 to 300 indigent
residents each year. This translates into a shortfall to the
County of San Francisco of approximately $55,000 per year.
Other counties have experienced this financial burden, including
Riverside County which spent over $100,000 in 2009 to care for
the remains of indigent residents.
This bill would authorize local counties to increase the
disposition permit fee collected solely for the purpose of
indigent resident burials from $2 to $8. The total cost of a
disposition permit fee, which includes fees collected for
various other purposes authorized by the Health and Safety Code,
would increase from $11 to $19.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law provides that when no provision about disposition
was made by the decedent, or where the estate is insufficient to
provide for interment and the duty of interment does not devolve
upon any other person residing in the state, or if such person
can not after reasonable diligence be found within the state,
the person who has custody of the remains may require the
coroner of the county where the decedent resided at the time of
death to take possession of the remains and the coroner shall
inter the remains in the manner provided for the interment of
indigent dead. (Health & Saf. Code Sec. 7104(a).) (All further
references are to the Health & Safety Code, unless otherwise
noted.)
Existing law requires a county which exercises or assumes
jurisdiction over the death of an individual to be responsible
for the disposition of the remains of that decedent; if the
decedent is an indigent, the costs associated with disposition
of the remains shall be borne by the county exercising
jurisdiction. (Sec. 7104(b).)
Existing law prohibits any person from disposing of human
remains unless the person has obtained a death certificate,
filed it with the local registrar, and obtained from the local
registrar a permit for disposition. (Sec. 103050.)
Existing law requires an applicant for the permit for
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disposition of human remains to pay a fee of $2 to the local
registrar of births and deaths, when the permit is issued during
the registrar's regularly scheduled office hours, except for
permit applications pursuant to Section 103065. (Sec. 103675.)
Existing law authorizes an annual fee adjustment for permits
issued pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 103675, among
others. (Sec. 100430.)
Existing law requires, as of January 1, 2005, an applicant for
the permit for disposition of human remains to pay an additional
fee of $4 to the local registrar of births and deaths, who in
turn shall pay these funds to the State Registrar to be used to
implement and maintain the electronic death registration system
required by state law. (Sec. 103692.)
Existing law requires an applicant for the permit for
disposition of human remains to pay an additional fee of $3 to
the local registrar of births and deaths, with $1 of this fee to
be paid into the Peace Officers' Training Fund for the training
of peace officer members of county coroners' offices, and the
remaining $2 to be paid into the county treasury to be expended
for the burial of indigent residents. (Sec. 103680.)
Existing law requires a local registrar, upon presentation of a
properly executed death certificate, to issue the permit for
disposition and forward the death certificate and a duplicate of
the permit to the local registrar of the district in which death
occurred or the body was found; this "cross-file permit" for
disposition requires a fee of $10 to be paid to the issuing
registrar, with $3 of the fee to be transferred by the issuing
registrar to the local registrar of the county where the death
occurred, $3 of the fee to be retained by the county registrar
issuing the permit, and the remaining $4 of the fee to be
transferred to the State Registrar for administration of this
section. (Sec. 103065, amount as adjusted by Sec. 100430.)
This bill would authorize the local registrar of a county to
charge an applicant for a permit for the disposition of human
remains an additional fee of up to $8 to fund the disposition of
the remains of indigent residents of that county.
This bill would exempt this additional fee from annual
adjustments pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 100430.
COMMENT
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1. Stated need for the bill
The author writes:
AB 1745 addresses the financial burden experienced by [many]
counties due to their obligation to absorb the costs of
disposing the remains of indigent residents. Currently, an
Application and Permit for Disposition of Human Remains is $11
collected by the county Departments of Public Health Offices
of Vital Records. Only $2 of the fee collected on each permit
is designated to facilitate the disposition of indigent
decedents who were residents of the county. [A]pproximately
7,500 individuals die each year in the city and county of San
Francisco for which permits are obtained. The current fee
does not cover the cost of final disposition of approximately
250 to 300 indigent residents in San Francisco per year. This
translates into a shortfall of approximately $55,000 per year.
2. County need for recouping indigent resident burial costs
The sponsor, the City and County of San Francisco, states they
have a shortfall of $55,000 each year for the burial of indigent
residents. Given the current financial state of most California
counties, this shortfall could contribute to larger shortfalls
placing the county in financial crisis. The Legislature already
has spoken regarding its intent to provide for indigent burials
by charging additional fees for disposition permits. (See SB
1360 (Committee on Health and Human Services, Ch. 415, Stats.
1995); SB 2244 (Davis, Ch. 990, Stats. 1990).) This bill would
assist local counties by raising this fee, unchanged since 1990,
to accommodate for inflation and the rising number of indigent
residents.
3. Prior version of the bill would have created a fee for
indigent resident burials under a second statute under the
Health and Safety Code
This bill would authorize counties to charge a disposition
permit fee to be used for indigent resident burials. The prior
version of the bill would have included this fee authority under
Health and Safety Code Section 103692, which was first enacted
by AB 2550 (Nation, Chapter 857, Statutes of 2002). That bill
authorized imposing an additional fee for disposition permits to
be used to implement an electronic death registration system.
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As discussed above, the imposition of a fee for the purpose of
offsetting indigent resident burial costs is contained in Health
and Safety Code Section 103680. Previously, the bill included
this fee authority in Section 103692 which would have created a
provision for indigent resident burials under two different
Health and Safety Code sections. At the committee staff's
request, the author agreed to amend the bill to move the fee
provision at issue in this bill to the appropriate section which
provides for fees for indigent resident burials so that the fee
authority is contained in one location.
Support : California Correctional Supervisors Organizations;
California Peace Officers' Association; California Police Chiefs
Association; County of Sacramento; State Association of Public
Administrators, Public Guardians, and Public Conservators
Opposition : None Known
HISTORY
Source : City and County of San Francisco
Related Pending Legislation : None Known
Prior Legislation : See Background and Comment 3.
Prior Vote :
Assembly Judiciary Committee (Ayes 7, Noes 3)
Assembly Floor (Ayes 46, Noes 29)
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