A.
Pursuant to Section 27472 of the Government Code, whenever the coroner takes custody of a dead body pursuant to law, he or she may charge and collect from the person entitled to control the disposition of the remains as specified in Section 7100 of the Health and Safety Code, the actual expense incurred by the coroner in removing the body from the place of death and keeping the body until its release to the person responsible for its interment. The charge shall not be imposed upon a person who claims and proves to be indigent, and shall not include expenses of keeping the body during the time necessary for the coroner to perform his or her duties in connection with it. The charge, if not paid, may be considered a part of the funeral expenses and paid as a preferred charge against the estate of the decedent.
B.
In this chapter a person shall be determined indigent if the person is entitled to control the disposition of the remains of a dead body and the person's family income is equal to or less than one hundred fifty percent of the Federal-declared Poverty Scale in effect on the date the coroner takes charge of the dead body.
(Ord. 496 §§ 1, 2, 1983; Ord. 975 § 3, 1996)