536                                LAWS OF MARYLAND                        [CH. 321

body or fetus within seventy-two (72) hours after death. If the death
certificate has been completed on a multicopy form, one part of which
has been specifically designated as a "Burial-Transit" permit, and
signed by the attending physician or medical examiner, such copy
shall provide for subsequent entry of burial data and will serve as an
automatic burial-transit permit.

(b)  No person in charge of any cemetery or crematory or other
place for the disposal of the dead shall inter or permit the interment
or other dispositions DISPOSITION of any dead body or fetus unless
it is accompanied by a burial-transit permit. Each sexton or person
in charge of any cemetery or crematory shall endorse upon the per-
mit the date of interment or other disposition over his signature and
shall return all permits to the State Board of Health and Mental
Hygiene within ten (10) days after the date of interment or other
disposition. Where there is no cemetery authority the funeral direc-
tor shall endorse the burial-transit permit.

(c)   The burial-transit permit as provided in this sub-title shall
be full and legal authority for transit or interment or both in any
part of the State.

(d)  A burial-transit permit issued by any other state or foreign
country shall constitute authority for interment within any cemetery
of Maryland and shall be so accepted by cemetery custodians.

(e)  A permit for disinterment and reinterment shall be required
prior to disinterment of a dead body or fetus provided that reinter-
ment is not to be made in the same cemetery. Such permit shall be
issued by the State Board of Health and Mental Hygiene or the local
health officer, upon receipt of an application form prescribed by the
State Board of Health and Mental Hygiene under the provisions of
this sub-title. When it is proposed to disinter all of the bodies in a
cemetery for purposes of relocation or abandonment of the cemetery,
one application shall be sufficient for such purpose.

23.    Duties of Institutions.

Persons in charge of institutions as defined in this sub-title shall
record and report all births, deaths, fetal deaths, and statistical data
required by this sub-title, relating to their inmates or patients. The
data shall be obtained from the best possible source and be presented
to the persons responsible for execution of certificates under this
sub-title.

24.    [Care and use] Administration of county records.

(a)   [Preservation by county registrar; inspection.—] The copies
of birth and death records transmitted to the [county registrar] local
health officers as provided [in this sub-title] by the State Board of
Health and Mental Hygiene shall be preserved by [him] them and
shall be open to inspection for proper purposes by [all] city, town
or county officials and by the State Board of Health and Mental
Hygiene or its accredited representatives, provided that such exami-
nation shall be made in such a way that the contents of the registers
shall not be subjected to risk of damage or alteration.

(b)  [Inquiry where records not complete.—] The [county regis-
trar] local health officer shall promptly inquire into the facts when
any omissions or discrepancies in the personal or [statistical] medical