Section 4144. Deaths; burial and removal permits; transportation of remains

1.  The  body  of  any person whose death occurs in this state, or which
  shall be found dead herein shall not be interred, deposited in  a  vault
  or  tomb,  cremated or otherwise disposed of, or removed from the county
  in which the death occurred or the body was  found,  or  be  temporarily
  held  pending  further  disposition  more  than  seventy-two hours after
  death, unless a permit for burial, removal, or other disposition thereof
  shall have been properly issued by the registrar of vital statistics  of
  the  registration  district  in which the death occurred or the body was
  found, except that such a body may be  removed  to  an  adjacent  county
  without  first  obtaining  a  permit therefor; provided, however, that a
  licensed funeral director may apply  for  and  receive  such  permit  on
  behalf  of  any person or institution authorized by article forty-two or
  forty-three of this chapter to receive unclaimed cadavers or  anatomical
  gifts.
    2.  (a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) and (c) hereof, no burial
  or removal permit shall be  issued  by  any  registrar  until,  wherever
  practicable,  a  complete and satisfactory certificate of death has been
  filed with him as provided in this article.
    (b) Verbal permission to remove a body of a deceased person  from  the
  county  in  which death occurred or the body was found to a non-adjacent
  county within the state of New  York  as  provided  in  subdivision  one
  hereof,  shall be issued by the said registrar of vital statistics, upon
  request by telephone of a licensed funeral director  or  undertaker  who
  holds  a  certificate of death signed by the attending physician showing
  the death resulted  from  natural  causes,  and  was  not  a  result  of
  accidental, suicidal, homicidal or other external causes.
    (c)  If  it  is not possible for the funeral director or undertaker to
  communicate with the registrar by telephone, verbal permission to remove
  a body  of  a  deceased  person  under  the  same  conditions  as  those
  prescribed for the registrar may be issued by the commissioner or person
  authorized by him.
    (d)  The  funeral  director  or  undertaker who shall make any removal
  before a permit is issued by the registrar, shall return the body to the
  registration  district  where  death  occurred,  whenever  the  coroner,
  medical  examiner, or district attorney shall request such return of the
  body for investigation or post-mortem examination.
    3. No registrar of vital statistics shall  receive  any  fee  for  the
  issuance  of burial or removal permits under this chapter other than the
  compensation provided in this article.
    4. When the body of a deceased person is transported from  outside  of
  the state into a registration district in this state for burial or other
  disposition, the transit or removal permit issued in accordance with the
  law  and  health regulations of the place where the death occurred shall
  be given the same force and effect as the burial permit herein  provided
  for.
    5.  If  the  interment, or other disposition of the body of a deceased
  person is to be made within the state, the  wording  of  the  burial  or
  removal  permit may be limited to a statement by the registrar, and over
  his signature, that a satisfactory certificate  of  death,  having  been
  filed  with  him,  as  required  by law, permission is granted to inter,
  remove or otherwise dispose of the body, stating  the  name,  age,  sex,
  cause  of death, and other necessary details upon the form prescribed by
  the commissioner.
    6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commissioner  shall
  have  power  to promulgate rules with reference to the removal of bodies
  of persons whose deaths occur on trains, boats or other carriers engaged

  in the transportation of persons within this state, and  with  reference
  to the removal of bodies as provided herein.
    7.  For the purposes of this section the counties within New York city
  shall be considered a single county.