§ 144.26 — Death certificate

Iowa § 144.26

• Jurisdiction: Iowa
• Title IV: PUBLIC HEALTH
• Ch. 144: VITAL STATISTICS

Text

1. a. A death certificate for each death which occurs in this state shall be filed as directed
by the state registrar within three days after the death and prior to final disposition, and shall
be registered by the county registrar if it has been completed and filed in accordance with
this chapter. A death certificate shall include the social security number, if provided, of the
deceased person. All information including the certifying physician’s, physician assistant’s,
or advanced registered nurse practitioner’s name shall be typewritten.

b. A physician assistant or an advanced registered nurse practitioner authorized to sign a
death certificate shall be licensed in this state and shall have been in charge of the deceased
patient’s care.
2. All information included on a death certificate may be provided as mutually agreed
upon by the state registrar and child support services, including by automated exchange.
3. a. The county in which a dead body is found is the county of death. If death occurs in a
moving conveyance, the county in which the dead body is first removed from the conveyance
is the county of death.
b. If a decedent died outside of the county of the decedent’s residence, the state registrar
shall send a copy of the decedent’s death certificate and any amendments to the county
registrar of the county of the decedent’s residence. The county registrar shall record a
death certificate received pursuant to this paragraph in the same records in which the
death certificate of a decedent who died within the county is recorded. The state registrar
may provide the county registrars with electronic access to vital records in lieu of the
requirements of this paragraph.
4. The department shall provide for correction to the medical certification of cause of
death and substitution of a death certificate if evidence substantiating the correction and
substitution is presented to the state registrar within twelve months of the date of death of
the decedent. A correction to the medical certification of the cause of death and substitution
of a death certificate requested after twelve months of the date of death of the decedent
shall be made by order of a court of competent jurisdiction and considered an amendment
of official record pursuant to section 144.38. The substituted death certificate shall comply
with requirements pursuant to sections 144.38 and 144.41. A fee shall not be charged for a
correction to and substitution of a death certificate under this subsection.
5. a. The department shall establish by rule procedures for making a finding of
presumption of death when no body can be found. The department shall also provide by
rule the responsibility for completing and signing the medical certification of cause of death
in such circumstances. The presumptive death certificate shall be in a form prescribed by
the state registrar and filed in the county where the death was presumed to occur.
b. The department shall provide for the correction, substitution, or removal of a
presumptive death certificate when the body of the person is later found, additional facts are
discovered, or the person is discovered to be alive.
6. Upon the activation of an electronic death record system, each person with a duty
related to death certificates shall participate in the electronic death record system. A person
with a duty related to a death certificate includes but is not limited to a physician as defined
in section 135.1, a physician assistant, an advanced registered nurse practitioner, a funeral
director, and a county recorder.

Legislative History

[SS15, §587-b; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2319; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, §141.3; C71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, S81, §144.26; 81 Acts, ch 64, §5]