§ 130A-418.  Deceased migrant agricultural workers and their dependents.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, a person having knowledge of the death of a migrant agricultural worker or a worker's dependent shall without delay report the death to the department of social services in the county in which the body is located together with any information regarding the deceased including identity, place of employment, permanent residence, and the name, address and telephone number of any relative and any interested person. The county department of social services shall, within a reasonable time of receiving this report, transmit to the Department notice of the death and information received upon notification. The Department shall make reasonable effort to inform the next-of-kin and any interested person of the death.

(b) If the identity of the person cannot be determined within a reasonable period of time, or if the body is unclaimed 10 days after death, the body shall be offered to the Commission of Anatomy and, upon its request, shall be delivered to the Commission of Anatomy. If the Commission of Anatomy does not request an unclaimed body offered it or the estate, and if the relatives or other interested persons claiming the body are unable to provide for the final disposition of the migrant agricultural worker or dependent, the Department is authorized and directed to arrange for the final disposition of the decedent.

(c) If the estate, relatives or interested persons are able to provide for final disposition but are unable to effect the transportation of the decedent to the decedent's legal residence or the legal residence of the relatives or interested persons, the Department is authorized and directed to allocate a sum of not more than two hundred dollars ($200.00) to defray the transportation expenses.

(d) The Secretary is authorized to adopt rules necessary to implement this section. (1975, c. 891; 1977, c. 648; 1983, c. 891, s. 2.)