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ARTICLE 4: DECEASED PERSONS
Sec. 185. Death From Criminal Causes.
Sec. 186. Duty to Report Death to Coroner.
Sec. 187. Preliminary Inquiry.
Sec. 190. Cremation of Human Remains.
Sec. 195. Cremation of Human Remains in City and County Limits Prohibited.
Sec. 200. Burials Within City and County Limits Prohibited.
Sec. 201. Penalty.
Sec. 215. Embalming– Certificate of Death, Etc.
Sec. 216. Record of Material Used.
Sec. 217. Duty of Physician.
Sec. 218. Penalty.
Sec. 220. Title.
Sec. 221. Findings.
Sec. 222. Definitions.
Sec. 223. Filing of Homeless Death Form.
Sec. 224. Development of Homeless Death Form.
Sec. 225. Access to Homeless Death Forms.
Sec. 226. Effective Date.
SEC. 185. DEATHS FROM CRIMINAL CAUSES.
It shall be unlawful for any person to perform, or assist in performing, any autopsy or other post-mortem examination upon the body of any person who has died suddenly or whose death has resulted from injury, or upon the bodies of persons found under such circumstances as to lead to a suspicion of crime having been committed, or in cases of accidental deaths or suicides, or under any other circumstances in which it is the duty of the Coroner to sign the certificate of death, unless a permit to perform such autopsy or post mortem examinations has been issued by the Coroner.
It shall be unlawful for any person to remove, or aid in removing, the body of any deceased person from the place where the death of such person has occurred unless permission to remove said body has been granted by the Director of Public Health, or unless a regularly licensed physician who has been in attendance upon the deceased for not less than 24 hours next prior to death shall have certified that the death was not directly or indirectly the result of criminal causes, and that it did not occur under circumstances making the death reportable to the Coroner.
It shall be unlawful to move from the position or place of death the body of any person who died under circumstances making such death reportable to the Coroner except with permission of the Coroner, unless said body is directly in the public view, or unless death occurred in a hospital where the person had been taken for treatment of the condition which caused death in which case said body may be moved to another place in the same hospital.
It shall be unlawful for any person, except upon authorization by the Coroner or Department of Public Health, to dispose of or in any manner to aid in the disposal of, whether by burial, dissection or otherwise, the body or parts thereof of any persons whose death has resulted from the performance or an effort to perform a criminal abortion.
It shall be unlawful for any person to obtain, or induce or assist others in obtaining or attempting to secure, from the proper authorities any permit to inter, remove or otherwise dispose of the remains of any deceased person unless the person desiring such permit presents to the Department of Public Health a certificate of death which clearly and truthfully shows the name and age of decedent and the precise location where the death occurred; if the same has been caused by criminal abortion, either as a direct or indirect consequence, the certificate shall so state.
SEC. 186. DUTY TO REPORT DEATH TO CORONER.
Death occurring under circumstances making such death reportable to the Coroner shall be immediately so reported by any physician, funeral director, embalmer, ambulance attendant or other person having knowledge thereof.
No embalmer shall embalm a body when he has information reasonably indicating such death is reportable to the Coroner unless permission to embalm said body has been given by the Coroner.
When a person dies, having had medical attendance for less than 24 hours next prior to death, it shall be the duty of the physician in attendance, or any other person having knowledge thereof, to report such death to the Coroner.
SEC. 187. PRELIMINARY INQUIRY.
Any death reported to the Coroner shall be subject to a preliminary inquiry, which shall be a matter of record and after which the Coroner, if the circumstances warrant, shall order a full investigation subject to the provisions of the Government Code; if such case does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Coroner, he shall so advise the person reporting said death or physician last in attendance, if any.
SEC. 190. CREMATION OF HUMAN REMAINS.
When a person dies in the City and County of San Francisco, and it is the intention of the person whose duty it is to dispose of the body to cremate it, there must be filed on a form prescribed by the Department of Public Health an application for a permit to cremate said body signed by the Department of Public Health or his agents.
(a) Applications and Permits. The person applying must file with the proper officer a certificate, signed by a physician, or a Coroner, or two reputable citizens, setting forth as near as possible the name, age, color, place of birth, occupation, date, locality and cause of death of the deceased.
After the application and certificate are filed, the duly authorized agent of the Department of Public Health shall immediately inquire into the circumstances relating to the death, and within 12 hours after such application is filed, shall report, in writing, to the Department of Public Health as to whether, in his opinion, death resulted from natural causes and whether there are reasons why said body should be cremated.
When said report is filed and sufficient reasons are not given why cremation should not take place, the Director of Public Health shall issue a written permit for the cremation.
A permit shall not be given to cremate a body upon which a Coroner's inquest is pending until the cause of death has been attested by the proper authority– except any part of a body, or the contents of a body proposed to be cremated may be removed and preserved as evidence, the same as in the case of interment, and when such parts or contents are removed the body may be cremated.
(b) Removal of Remains. It shall be unlawful, without a permit, to remove from said City and County, for the purpose of cremation, the remains of any human being, who died within its limits; nor shall any such remains be removed and cremated without a permit from said Director of Public Health to so remove and cremate, as provided for in this Section, and any person who, as undertaker, or agent, or otherwise, obtains a permit to remove a body from said City and County for the purpose of interment, who cremates said body or is privy thereto, is guilty of a misdemeanor. When death resulted from a contagious disease a special permit to remove and cremate may be issued by the Department of Public Health.
Provided, that in case of death from any cause whatever, a special permit may be issued by the Department of Public Health, to remove and cremate a body at any time.
(c) Death from Contagious Disease. When death results from contagious disease (within the meaning of the words "contagious disease"), as defined by said Department of Public Health or by law, the body shall not be publicly exposed, and said remains shall be cremated without being taken from the case enclosing them, and said Department of Public Health may adopt regulations prescribing the manner and shape in which the remains referred to in this Section shall be prepared for cremation.
SEC. 195. CREMATION OF HUMAN REMAINS IN CITY AND COUNTY LIMITS PROHIBITED.
It shall be unlawful for any person, association or corporation, to cremate, or cause to be cremated, the dead body of any human being within the City and County of San Francisco, exclusive of those portions of said City and County belonging to or under the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States.
SEC. 200. BURIALS WITHIN CITY AND COUNTY LIMITS PROHIBITED.
It shall be unlawful for any person, association or corporation, to bury, or inter, or cause to be interred or buried, the dead body of any person in any cemetery, graveyard, or other place within the City and County of San Francisco, exclusive of those portions thereof which belong to the United States or are within its exclusive jurisdiction, provided however, that in cathedral churches, as that term is generally used and understood today, the bodies of Bishops and Archbishops, acting or retired, and their spouses, if any, and cathedral clergy who, at the time of their death, were attached to the cathedral or held honorary titles therefrom, and their spouses, if any, may be buried or interred in areas designated for that purpose within the cathedral building; provided that said place of burial or interment constitutes a cemetery within the meaning of Section 7054 of the Health and Safety Code of the State of California.
(Amended by Ord. 168-66, App. 7/21/66)
SEC. 201. PENALTY.
Any person, association or corporation violating any of the provisions of Section 200 of this Article shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500, or by imprisonment not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
SEC. 215. EMBALMING– CERTIFICATE OF DEATH, ETC.
No person shall use any embalming or preservative material in or upon the body of any deceased person, either by what is known as "cavity injection" or "temporary embalming," or by injection into the blood vessels, or by any other means, or at all, without first obtaining a certificate of death from the attending physician, if there had been no attending physician, then a certificate of death or a permit to embalm from the Coroner. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to forbid the use of ice in and upon such body, from the preservation thereof.
SEC. 216. RECORD OF MATERIAL USED.
Every person using any of the material mentioned in Section 215 of this Article (excepting ice), after having obtained the certificate or permit therein required, shall make and keep a record of the use of such material, showing the time and place of its use and the means employed and the material used. Said record shall be exhibited by the person keeping the same to the Coroner or any peace officer whenever an exhibition thereof is demanded by him.
SEC. 217. DUTY OF PHYSICIAN.
It shall be the duty of every attending physician to give the certificate of death required by law within two hours after demand made therefor, except in such cases where a post-mortem examination is necessary to determine the cause of death.
SEC. 218. PENALTY.
Any person violating any of the provisions of Sections 215 to 217, inclusive, of this Article shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than $100, nor more than $500, or by imprisonment not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
SEC. 220. TITLE.
This ordinance may be cited as the "Homeless Death Count Ordinance."
(Added by Ord. 120-05, File No. 050825, App. 6/23/2005)
SEC. 221. FINDINGS.
The Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco hereby finds:
(a) Homelessness in San Francisco is a crisis.
(b) There are thousands of homeless individuals in San Francisco.
(c) Every year homeless individuals die in San Francisco.
(d) Currently, San Francisco has no accurate way to count the number of homeless individuals who die in San Francisco or collect information regarding the circumstances of their deaths.
(e) It is necessary to collect information regarding the deaths of homeless individuals in San Francisco in order to better target services for homeless people and educate the public regarding the plight of homeless people in San Francisco.
(Added by Ord. 120-05, File No. 050825, App. 6/23/2005)
SEC. 222. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this section, "homeless" shall have the same meaning as set forth in Section 23A.4 of the Administrative Code.
(Added by Ord. 120-05, File No. 050825, App. 6/23/2005)
SEC. 223. FILING OF HOMELESS DEATH FORM.
At the time of registering a death by filing a death certificate with the San Francisco Health Department pursuant to California Health and Safety Code sections 102775 et seq. and San Francisco Health Code Article 4, the registrant shall also file with the San Francisco Health Department a completed Homeless Death Form.
(Added by Ord. 120-05, File No. 050825, App. 6/23/2005)
SEC. 224. DEVELOPMENT OF HOMELESS DEATH FORM.
(a) The Homeless Death Form shall be developed by the San Francisco Health Department and reviewed and approved by the Health Commission.
(b) The Homeless Death Form shall seek information regarding the identity of the deceased, the age of the deceased, a description of the deceased, the homeless status of the deceased, and the date, location, and circumstances of the death of the deceased.
(c) The Homeless Death Form shall not contain information that could reasonably be used to commit identity theft.
(d) The San Francisco Health Department shall make the Homeless Death Form available to the public.
(Added by Ord. 120-05, File No. 050825, App. 6/23/2005)
SEC. 225. ACCESS TO HOMELESS DEATH FORMS.
(a) The San Francisco Health Department shall retain Homeless Death Forms filed with it.
(b) Before being granted access to Homeless Death Forms filed with the San Francisco Health Department or the information contained therein, members of the public must first sign a statement under penalty of perjury that they will not use the Homeless Death Forms or the information contained therein for fraudulent purposes.
(Added by Ord. 120-05, File No. 050825, App. 6/23/2005)
SEC. 226. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Ordinance shall become effective no earlier than July 1, 2005.
(Added by Ord. 120-05, File No. 050825, App. 6/23/2005)