Title 68, Health, Safety and Environmental Protection

(a) (1) The state registrar has the authority to investigate cases of irregularities or violations of law, personally or by an accredited representative, and all registrars shall aid the state registrar, upon request, in investigations.(2) When the state registrar deems it necess…

(a) The state registrar shall:(1) Appoint such number of local registrars for the registration districts as necessary. Full-time local health department personnel may be appointed local registrars;(2) Remove for cause any local registrar whose services are found to be unsatisfact…

The information collected and recorded under this chapter shall be such as will aid the public health of the state, and furnish and preserve evidence affecting personal and property rights of the individual citizen.

(a) In order to promote and maintain nationwide uniformity in the system of vital records, the forms of certificates, reports and other returns required by this chapter, or by regulations adopted under this chapter, shall include, as a minimum, the items recommended by the federa…

(a) In order to protect the integrity and accuracy of vital records, a certificate or record registered under this chapter may be amended only in accordance with this chapter and regulations adopted by the department. (b) Except as otherwise provided by subsection (f), a certific…

(a) To preserve vital records, the state registrar is authorized to prepare typewritten, photographic, electronic or other reproductions of original records and files in the office of vital records. (b) The reproductions, when certified by the state registrar, shall be accepted a…

(a) (1) To protect the integrity of vital records, to ensure their proper use, and to ensure the efficient and proper administration of the system of vital records, it is unlawful for any person to permit inspection of, or to disclose information contained in, vital records, or t…

(1) In accordance with § 68-3-205 and the regulations adopted pursuant to § 68-3-205:(1) The state registrar and other custodian or custodians authorized by the state registrar to issue certified copies shall, upon receipt of written application, issue a certified copy of a vital…

(a) (1) The department shall prescribe the fees to be paid for certified copies or certificates or records, or for a search of the files or records when no copy is made, or for copies or information provided for research, statistical or administrative purposes.(2) The department …

Medical records will be made available to the state registrar or any direct representative of the registrar for the limited purpose of gathering information on birth certificates, death certificates and reports of fetal deaths.

This chapter also apply to all certificates of birth, death, marriage, and divorce, dissolution or annulment and reports of fetal death and induced termination of pregnancy previously received by the office of vital records or by any custodian of permanent local records.

(a) A certificate of birth for each live birth that occurs in this state shall be filed with the office of vital records, or as otherwise directed by the state registrar, within ten (10) days after the birth and shall be registered if it has been completed and filed in accordance…

(a) When a birth occurs in an institution or en route to an institution, the person in charge of the institution, or that person's designated representative, shall obtain the data required by the certificate, prepare the certificate, certify that the child was born alive at the p…

(1) When a birth occurs outside an institution, the certificate shall be prepared and filed by one (1) of the following, in the indicated order of priority:(1) The physician in attendance at or immediately after the birth, or in the absence of such person;(2) Any other person in …

(a) When a birth occurs on a moving conveyance within the United States and the child is first removed from the conveyance in this state, the birth shall be registered in this state and the place where it is first removed shall be considered the place of birth. (b) When a birth o…

(a) (1) If the mother was married at the time of either conception or birth, or anytime between conception and birth, to the natural father of the child, the name of the natural father shall be entered on the certificate and the surname of the child shall be entered on the certif…

A child born to a married woman as a result of artificial insemination, with consent of the married woman's husband, is deemed to be the legitimate child of the husband and wife.

(a) Whoever assumes the custody of a live-born infant of unknown parentage shall report on a form and in a manner prescribed by the state registrar within ten (10) days to the office of vital records the following information:(1) The date and place of finding;(2) Sex, color or ra…

(a) When the birth of a person born in this state has not been filed within the time period provided in §§ 68-3-301 and 68-3-302, a certificate of birth may be filed in accordance with regulations of the office of vital records. The certificate shall be registered subject to such…

(a) If a delayed certificate of birth is rejected under § 68-3-308, a petition signed and sworn to by the petitioner may be filed with a court of competent jurisdiction for an order establishing a record of the date and place of the birth and the parentage of the person whose bir…

(1) Adoption. The state registrar shall prepare a new certificate of birth for a person born in Tennessee, upon receipt of required legal documents, as provided in the following cases:(1) Adoption. A certified copy of the order of adoption and a certificate of adoption; and(2) [D…

(a) (1) New certificates of birth must be prepared only on adoptions.(2) All orders of adoption must be placed on file in the office of vital records.(3) The certificate of birth in the original name must be sealed in the system of record and removed from the file and a record in…

(a) (1) For each order of adoption entered by a court of competent jurisdiction in this state, the court shall require the preparation of a certificate of adoption on a form prescribed and furnished by the state registrar.(2) For each order of adoption entered by a court of compe…

(a) All legal documents pertaining to the adoption, together with the certificate of birth in the original name, must be placed in an envelope and sealed following the preparation of the new certificate. (b) These sealed documents must be preserved in a fireproof vault in the dep…

(1) When a birth occurs:(1) In an institution or en route to an institution, the person in charge of the institution, or that person's designated representative, shall provide the notice described in § 47-18-2111(m), to the mother, father, or legal guardian of the child; or(2) On…

(a) A record of each marriage performed in this state shall be filed with the office of vital records and shall be registered, if it has been completed and filed in accordance with this section. (b) The official who issues the marriage license shall prepare the record on the form…

(a) For each divorce, dissolution of marriage, or annulment granted by any court in this state, a record shall be filed by the clerk of the court with the office of vital records and shall be registered, if it has been completed and filed in accordance with this section. (b) The …

(a) This section may be cited as the “Uniform Determination of Death Act.” (b) An individual who has sustained either:(1) Irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions; or(2) Irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem;i…

(a) (1) A death certificate for each death that occurs in this state shall be filed with the office of vital records or as otherwise directed by the state registrar within five (5) days after death and prior to final disposition, or as prescribed by regulations of the department.…

(a) When a death occurring in this state has not been registered within the time period prescribed by § 68-3-502, a certificate may be filed in accordance with the regulations of the department. The certificate shall be registered subject to such evidentiary requirements as the d…

(a) (1) Each fetal death of three hundred fifty (350) grams or more or of twenty (20) completed weeks' gestation or more, that occurs in this state, shall be reported to the office of vital records within ten (10) days after delivery.(2) When a dead fetus is delivered in an insti…

(a) Each induced termination of pregnancy that occurs in this state shall be reported to the office of vital records within ten (10) days after the procedure by the person in charge of the institution in which the induced termination of pregnancy was performed. If the induced ter…

(a) Prior to final disposition of fetal remains in accordance with § 39-15-219, regardless of the duration of pregnancy, the funeral director, the person in charge of the institution, or other person assuming responsibility for final disposition of the fetus, shall obtain from th…

With the consent of the physician or medical examiner who is to certify the cause of death, a body may be moved from the place of death for the purpose of being prepared for final disposition.

(a) Authorization for disinterment and reinterment, in cases of movement of cemeteries or parts of cemeteries or for reuniting families, shall be required prior to disinterment of a dead body or fetus. (b) Authorization shall be issued by the state registrar to a licensed funeral…

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Commemorative certificate” means a document commemorating a nonviable birth;(2) “Department” means the department of health; and(3) “Nonviable birth” means an unintentional, spontaneous fetal demise occurring prior to the twentieth week of gestati…

(a) When a dead body is released or disposed of by an institution, the person in charge of the institution shall keep a record showing the name of the deceased, date of death, name and address of the person to whom the body is released, date of removal from the institution, or if…

(1) A registered nurse may make the actual determination and pronouncement of death under the following circumstances:(1) (A) The deceased was suffering from a terminal illness;(B) Death was anticipated, and the attending physician or the hospice medical director has agreed in wr…

The determination and pronouncement of death may be made by a physician assistant licensed under title 63, chapter 19, part 1, so long as this task is expressly included in the written protocol developed jointly by the physician assistant and the collaborating physician setting f…

Any physician who in good faith complies with § 68-3-502(c)-(g) shall be immune from civil suit for damages.

(a) For any stillborn child in this state, the department shall issue a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth within sixty (60) days after a parent named on a report of fetal death submits a request for a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth. (b) The department sha…

(a) A paramedic, licensed pursuant to § 68-140-306, may make an actual determination and pronouncement of death if the paramedic has successfully completed training in the determination and pronouncement of death and the paramedic has attempted to resuscitate the person in accord…

This part shall be known and may be cited as the “Maternal Mortality Review and Prevention Act of 2016.”

(a) The general assembly finds that:(1) Maternal deaths are a serious public health concern and have a tremendous family and societal impact;(2) Maternal deaths are significantly underestimated and inadequately documented, preventing efforts to identify and reduce or eliminate th…

The commissioner of health is authorized to create the Tennessee maternal mortality review program. The intent of the Tennessee maternal mortality review program is to identify and address the factors contributing to poor pregnancy outcomes for women and facilitate state systems …

There is created the Tennessee maternal mortality review and prevention team, otherwise known as the state team. For administrative purposes only, the state team shall be attached to the department of health.