SEARCH SITE
VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL
- Code of Virginia
- Virginia Administrative Code
- Constitution of Virginia
- Charters
- Authorities
- Compacts
- Uncodified Acts
- RIS Users (account required)
SEARCHABLE DATABASES
- Bills & Resolutions
session legislation - Bill Summaries
session summaries - Reports to the General Assembly
House and Senate documents - Legislative Liaisons
State agency contacts
ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2016 SESSION
16100957DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 32.1-286 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 32.1-286. Exhumations.
A. In any case of death described in subsection A of §
32.1-283, where the body is buried without investigation by the Chief Medical
Examiner, an Assistant Chief Medical Examiner, or a medical examiner appointed
pursuant to § 32.1-282 into the cause and manner of death or where sufficient
cause develops for further investigation after a body is buried, the Chief
Medical Examiner shall authorize such investigation and shall send a copy of
the report to the appropriate attorney for the Commonwealth who shall
communicate such report to the clerk and a
judge of the appropriate circuit court. Such Upon receipt of such report, the clerk of the
court shall send notice of the investigation and the request
for exhumation to the next of kin,
as defined in § 54.1-2800, of the dead
person who is the subject of the investigation and of
the request for exhumation. The
judge may order that the body be exhumed and an autopsy performed thereon by
the Chief Medical Examiner, an Assistant Chief Medical Examiner, or a
pathologist with whom the Commissioner has entered into an agreement pursuant
to § 32.1-281. The pertinent facts disclosed by the autopsy shall be
communicated to the judge who ordered it.
B. In any case of death in which a private person has an
interest, such person may petition the judge of the circuit court exercising
jurisdiction over the place of interment and, upon proper showing of sufficient
cause, such judge may order the body exhumed. Such
petition or exhumation or both Upon
receipt of the petition and upon issuance of a
decision regarding the petition, the clerk of the
court shall send notice of the petition and decision to
the next of kin, as defined in § 54.1-2800, of
the dead person who
is the subject of the petition. Petitions and exhumations pursuant to this
subsection shall not require the participation of the Chief
Medical Examiner or any Assistant Chief Medical Examiner. Costs shall be paid
by the party requesting the exhumation.
C. Upon the petition of a party attempting to prove, in accordance with the provisions of §§ 64.2-102 and 64.2-103, that he is the issue of a dead person, a court may order the exhumation of the body of any dead person for the conduct of scientifically reliable genetic tests, including DNA tests, to prove a biological relationship. The petition shall be accompanied by the petitioner's sworn statement that sets forth facts establishing a reasonable possibility of a biological relationship between the petitioner and his alleged ancestors. Upon receipt of the petition, the clerk of the court shall send notice that the petition has been filed to the next of kin, as defined in § 54.1-2800, of the dead person. The costs of exhumation, testing, and reinterment shall be paid by the petitioner unless, for good cause shown, the court orders such costs paid from the estate in which the petitioner is claiming an interest. This provision is intended to provide a procedural mechanism for obtaining posthumous samples for reliable genetic testing and shall not require substantive proof of parentage to obtain the exhumation order.