South Carolina S 894: Death Certificate Filing Deadline Exception

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 894 Text of Previous Version (May. 12, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 894

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

Amended

May 12, 2026

S. 894

Introduced 
by Senator Alexander 

S. Printed 5/12/26--H.

Read the first time April 1, 2026

________

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING 
SECTION 44-63-74, RELATING TO THE ELECTRONIC FILING AND TRANSMISSION OF DEATH 
CERTIFICATES, SO AS TO ALLOW FOR A DEATH CERTIFICATE TO BE FILED ON THE NEXT 
BUSINESS DAY FOLLOWING THE WEEKEND OR A HOLIDAY.

 Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 44-63-74 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 
44-63-74. (A)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision 
of law, death certificates must be electronically filed with the Bureau of 
Vital Statistics as prescribed by the State Registrar of Vital Statistics 
within five days after a Burial Removal Transit Permit 
(BRTP) is issued or upon the funeral director assuming the physical in-person 
custody of the decedent, whichever is later, unless the funeral director, after 
a good faith effort, is unable to collect the personal data of the decedent 
required in subsection (A)(2), in which case the funeral director must 
immediately inform the bureau of the reason for the delay. In the event that a 
five-day period terminates on a weekend or a federal or state holiday, then the 
death certificate must be electronically filed at the end of the next business 
day.death. As prescribed by law, the Bureau 
of Vital Statistics shall notify the State Election Commission of the 
decedent's death who shall subsequently notify the County Board of Voter 
Registration and Elections in which the decedent was a resident of the 
decedent's death for purposes of removing the decedent from the voter roll.

 (2) 
The funeral director or other person acting as the funeral director who first 
assumes custody of a dead body shall file a death certificate. He also shall 
obtain:

 (a) 
the personal data of the decedent from the next of kin or the best qualified 
person or source available; and

 (b) 
the medical certification of cause of death as provided in department 
regulations.

 (3) 
Medical certifications of cause of death must be completed and returned to the 
funeral home director within forty-eight hours after receipt of notice of the 
death by the physician in charge of the patient's care for the illness or 
condition which resulted in death, except when an inquiry is required by a 
coroner or medical examiner. If the cause of death cannot be determined within 
forty-eight hours after death, the medical certification must be entered as 
pending, and the physician, medical examiner, or coroner shall submit a 
supplemental report to the state registrar on a form furnished by or approved 
by him as soon as practicable. The supplemental report shall be made a part of 
the death certificate. If the forty-eight hour period terminates on a weekend, 
federal holiday, or state holiday, the physician must file the certification by 
the end of the next business day. In the absence of this physician or with his 
approval, the certificate may be completed by his associate physician, the 
chief medical officer of the institution in which the death occurred, or by the 
pathologist who performed an autopsy upon the decedent.

 (4) 
Death certificates must be transmitted electronically between the funeral home, 
or funeral home director, and the physician, coroner, or medical examiner 
certifying the cause of death in order to document the death certificate 
information prescribed by this chapter. Required signatures on death 
certificates must be provided by electronic signature. An individual who acts, 
without compensation, as a funeral director on behalf of a deceased family 
member or friend, is exempt from the requirement to file electronically but 
must comply with the requirements of items (2) or (3), as applicable.

 (5)(a) A physician who fails to certify 
the cause of death within forty-eight hours, without good cause shown, may be 
assessed an administrative penalty for violating item (3). The department shall 
notify the Board of Medical Examiners if a penalty is assessed. Each day after 
the initial forty-eight hour period shall constitute an additional violation.

 (b) 
A funeral home or funeral director who fails to file a death certificate or 
collect data or collect medical certification of cause of death as required in 
items (1), (2), or both, without good cause shown, may be assessed an 
administrative penalty for violating the respective item. However, the 
department must not assess a penalty against a funeral home or funeral director 
for the dela