Requires death certificates to include drug responsible for drug overdose death under certain circumstances.

A1767

ASSEMBLY, No. 1767

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman ANTHONY S. VERRELLI

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

Assemblyman CHRIS TULLY

District 38 (Bergen)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires death certificates to include drug
responsible for drug overdose death under certain circumstances.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
concerning information included on death certificates
and amending R.S.26:6-7.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� R.S.26:6-7 is amended to
read as follows:

���� 26:6-7.� a.� The certificate
of death shall contain such items as shall be listed on death certificate forms
or in the NJ-EDRS provided or approved by the department under the authority of
subsection c. of R.S.26:8-24.� The death certificate forms or the record in the
NJ-EDRS shall include, but not be limited to, the following items:

���� (1)�� name of the decedent;

���� (2)�� county or municipality
in which the death occurred;

���� (3)�� date of death;

���� (4)�� sex of the decedent, as
provided for in subsection b. of this section;

���� (5)�� date of birth; and

���� (6)�� date of issuance and
manner of death, provided this information is available.�
In the case of a
death due to a drug overdose, the name of the drug that caused the death shall
be listed on the death certificate form or recorded in the NJ-EDRS if such
information is available.

���� b.��� The sex of the decedent
shall be recorded to reflect the decedent's gender identity, as reported by the
person or persons with the right to control the funeral and disposition as
established by section 22 of P.L.2003, c.261 (C.45:27-22), unless the person
completing the death certificate is presented with a document that memorializes
the decedent's gender transition.� In the event that these sources provide
conflicting information concerning the sex of the decedent, the death
certificate shall be based on documentation that memorializes the decedent's
gender transition.� If documentation is not available, it shall be based on
information provided by the person or persons with the right to control the
funeral and disposition as established by section 22 of P.L.2003, c.261
(C.45:27-22).� Documents that may memorialize a gender transition may include,
but shall not be limited to: written instructions from the decedent; a court
order approving a name or gender change; an advance health care directive;
proof of clinical treatment for gender transition; or documentation of a change
to the gender marker on a birth certificate or a state or federally issued
identification card.

���� c.���� If a document specified
in subsection b. of this section is not present and the person named executor
of the decedent's will does not agree with the gender identity of the decedent
as reported by the person or persons with the rights to control the funeral and
disposition, that person may file a petition in the Superior Court naming as a
party to the action the person or persons with the rights to control the
funeral and disposition and seeking an order of the court determining, as
appropriate, who among those parties shall determine the gender identity of the
decedent.

���� d.��� A person or persons with
the right to control the funeral and disposition and the responsibility to
provide the funeral director with the decedent's gender identity warrants the
truth of the facts stated and of their authority to provide the funeral director
with the necessary information to complete the death certificate.� A funeral
director shall not be liable for any damages or costs arising from a claim
related to a decedent's gender identity or expression on the death certificate
unless the funeral director had reasonable notice that the representations were
untrue or notice that the person or persons providing the decedent's gender
identity lacked the right to control disposition.

(cf: P.L.2018, c.59, s.1)

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires death
certificates to include the drug responsible for a drug overdose death under
certain circumstances.� The bill provides that in the case of a death due to a
drug overdose, the name of the drug that caused the death of the individual is
to be listed on the death certificate form or recorded in the New Jersey
Electronic Death Registration System if such information is available.