Ark. Code Ann. § 20-17-703 (2020)

1. Any person in charge of a prison, morgue, hospital, funeral parlor, or mortuary, any person who is a public officer, agent, or employee of the state, any county or municipality, and all persons coming into possession, charge, or control of any human body that is unclaimed for burial may notify a medical school that the body, if unclaimed, is available for use in the advancement or study of medical science.
2. For the purpose of notifying a medical school of its availability, “unclaimed body” means a human body in the possession, charge, or control of the persons named in subsection (a) of this section for a period not to exceed forty-eight (48) hours, during which time a relative, next of kin, friend, representative of a fraternal society of which the deceased was a member, veterans service organization as defined in the Missing in America Project Act, § 20-17-1401 et seq., the Department of Veterans Affairs, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, or a representative of a charitable or religious group may claim the body for burial purposes.

History. Acts 1959, No. 22, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, § 82-404; Acts 2013, No. 723, § 3; 2017, No. 147, § 4; 2019, No. 954, § 2.

Amendments. The 2013 amendment, in (b), substituted “‘unclaimed body’ means” for “an ‘unclaimed body’ is defined as”, “a” for “the right of any” preceding “relative”, inserted “veterans service organization as defined in … the United States Department of Veterans Affairs” and deleted “is recognized” from the end.

The 2017 amendment substituted “medical schools” for “Department of Anatomy of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences” in the section heading; substituted “a medical school” for “the head of the Division of Anatomical Education of the Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, or his or her designate, as agent for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences” in (a); substituted “a medical school” for “the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences” in (b); and made stylistic changes.

The 2019 amendment substituted “that is unclaimed for burial may” for “which is unclaimed for burial shall” in (a).