• Current through October 23, 2012

There shall be, and is hereby created, in and for the District of Columbia, a board for the control of the dead human bodies hereinafter described, and for the distribution of such bodies among and to the schools in said District conferring the degree of doctor of medicine, doctor of dental surgery, or associate in applied science in mortuary science; the Post Graduate School of Medicine, incorporated by an Act of Congress, approved February 7, 1896, entitled "An Act to incorporate the Post Graduate School of Medicine of the District of Columbia"; the medical schools of the United States Army, Air Force, and Navy; the medical examining boards of the United States Army, Air Force, Navy, and Public Health Service; and the Commission on Licensure for the Practice of the Healing Arts. Said board shall be known as the "Anatomical Board of the District of Columbia," and shall consist of the Director of the Department of Human Services of said District and 2 representatives from each school aforesaid actually engaged in teaching, to be selected by and from the faculty thereof in accordance with the bylaws of such faculty, except in the case of the medical schools of the United States Army, Air Force, and Navy, the representatives from which shall be selected and detailed by the Surgeon General of the Army, the Surgeon General of the Air Force, and the Surgeon General of the Navy. Said Anatomical Board shall have full power to establish bylaws for its government and to appoint and to remove proper officers and agents, and shall keep full and complete records of its transactions and of all material facts pertaining to the receipt and distribution of bodies. Said records shall be open at all times for inspection by any member of said Anatomical Board and by the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.

(Apr. 29, 1902, 32 Stat. 173, ch. 638, § 1; Aug. 14, 1912, 37 Stat. 309, ch. 288; Feb. 27, 1929, 45 Stat. 1326, ch. 352; Aug. 1, 1950, 64 Stat. 393, ch. 513, § 1; Mar. 10, 1983, D.C. Law 4-199, § 8(a), 30 DCR 119.)

HISTORICAL AND STATUTORY NOTES

Prior Codifications

1981 Ed., § 2-1401.

1973 Ed., § 2-201.

Legislative History of Laws

Law 4-199, the "Christmas Tree Act of 1982," was introduced in Council and assigned Bill No. 4-427, which was referred to the Committee on Human Services. The Bill was adopted on first and second readings on November 16, 1982, and December 14, 1982, respectively. Signed by the Mayor on December 28, 1982, it was assigned Act No. 4-283 and transmitted to both Houses of Congress for its review.

Transfer of Functions

All functions of the Public Health Service and of all officers and employees thereof and all functions of all agencies of or in the Public Health Service were transferred to Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare by 1966 Reorganization Plan No. 3, 80 Stat. 1610. The functions of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare were transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services by the Act of October 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 675, Pub. L. 96-88, § 509.

The functions of the Department of Licenses, Investigations and Inspections were transferred to the Director of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs by Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1983, effective March 31, 1983.

Miscellaneous Notes

Commission on Licensure to Practice the Healing Art abolished: The Commission on Licensure to Practice the Healing Art in the District of Columbia was abolished and the functions thereof transferred to the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia by Reorganization Plan No. 5 of 1952. The functions were delegated to the Department of Occupations and Professions by Reorganization Order No. 59, dated June 30, 1953. Section 402(34) of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 transferred the regulatory and other functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section, insofar as they relate to making and altering rules and altering and adopting a common seal, to the District of Columbia Council, subject to the right of the Commissioner as provided by § 406 of the Plan. Section 401 of the Plan transferred all other functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section to the Commissioner of the District of Columbia. The functions delegated to the Department of Occupations and Professions were subsequently transferred to the Director of the Department of Economic Development by Commissioner's Order No. 69-96, dated March 7, 1969. The Department of Economic Development was replaced by Mayor's Order 78-42, dated February 17, 1978, which Order established the Department of Licenses, Investigation and Inspections.

Anatomical Board abolished: The Anatomical Board was abolished and the functions thereof transferred to the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia by Reorganization Plan No. 5 of 1952. Reorganization Order No. 57 of the Board of Commissioners, dated June 30, 1953, established, under the direction and control of a Commissioner, a Department of Public Health headed by a Director, and reestablished the Anatomical Board under the direction and control of the Director of Public Health. Reorganization Order No. 57 was combined with Reorganization Order No. 52 and redesignated Organization Order No. 141, dated February 11, 1964. The executive functions of the Board of Commissioners were transferred to the Commissioner of the District of Columbia by § 401 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967. Functions of the Department of Public Health under Organization Order No. 141 were transferred to the Department of Human Resources by Commissioner's Order No. 69-96. The Department of Public Health was replaced by Commissioner's Order No. 70-83, dated March 6, 1970, which Order established the Department of Human Resources. The Department of Human Resources was replaced by Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1979, dated February 21, 1980, which established the Department of Human Services.