§ 63-1-317v3 — Death certificate - Filing – Contents.

A. A death certificate for each death which occurs in this state shall be filed with the State Department of Health, within three (3) days after such death. B. The funeral director shall personally sign the death certificate and shall be responsible for filing the death certificate. If the funeral director is not available, the person acting as such who first assumes custody of a dead body in accordance with Section 1158 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes shall personally sign and file the death certificate. The personal data shall be obtained from the next of kin or the best qualified person or source available. The funeral director or person acting as such shall notify the person providing the personal data that it is a felony to knowingly provide false data or misrepresent any person’s relationship to the decedent. The certificate shall be completed as to personal data and delivered to the attending physician or the medical examiner responsible for completing the medical certification portion of the certificate of death within twenty-four (24) hours after the death. No later than July 1, 2012, the personal data, and no later than July 1, 2017, the medical certificate portion, shall be entered into the prescribed electronic system provided by the State Registrar of Vital Statistics and the information submitted to the State Registrar of Vital Statistics. The resultant certificate produced by the electronic system shall be provided to the physician or medical examiner for medical certification within twenty-four (24) hours after the death. C. The medical certification shall be completed and signed within forty-eight (48) hours after death by the physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse in charge of the patient’s care for the illness or condition which resulted in death, except when inquiry as to the cause of death is required by Section 938 of this title. No later than July 1, 2017, the medical certification portion of certificate data shall be entered into the prescribed electronic system provided by the State Registrar of Vital Statistics and the information submitted to the State Registrar of Vital Statistics. D. In the event that the physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse in charge of the patient’s care for the illness or condition which resulted in death is not in attendance at the time of death, the medical certification shall be completed and signed within forty-eight (48) hours after death by the physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse in attendance at the time of death, except: 1. When the patient is under hospice care at the time of death, the medical certification may be signed by the hospice’s medical director; and 2. When inquiry as to the cause of death is required by Section 938 of this title. Provided, that such certification, if signed by other than the attending physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse, shall note on the face the name of the attending physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse and that the information shown is only as reported. E. A certifier completing cause of death on a certificate of death who knows that a lethal drug, overdose or other means of assisting suicide within the meaning of Sections 3141.2 through 3141.4 of this title caused or contributed to the death shall list that means among the chain of events under cause of death or list it in the box that describes how the injury occurred. If such means is in the chain of events under cause of death or in the box that describes how the injury occurred, the certifier shall indicate “suicide” as the manner of death. F. The authority of a physician assistant subject to subsection C of Section 519.6 of Title 59 of the Oklahoma Statutes to carry out the functions described in this section shall be governed by the practice agreement as provided by Section 519.6 of Title 59 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

Legislative History

Added by Laws 1963, c. 325, art. 3, § 317, operative July 1, 1963. Amended by Laws 1978, c. 110, § 2, operative Oct. 1, 1978; Laws 1979, c. 110, § 1, emerg. eff. April 25, 1979; Laws 2010, c. 374, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2010; Laws 2016, c. 70, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2016; Laws 2017, c. 42, § 25; Laws 2019, c. 305, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2019; Laws 2021, c. 247, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2021; Laws 2022, c. 184, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2022; Laws 2024, c. 452, § 133, emerg. eff. June 14, 2024; Laws 2025, c. 343, § 7. NOTE: Laws 2016, c. 20, § 1 repealed by Laws 2017, c. 42, § 26. Laws 2021, c. 104, § 1 repealed by Laws 2022, c. 228, § 37, emerg. eff. May 5, 2022