N.Y. PBH Law § 4212

§ 4212. Cadavers; unclaimed; delivery to schools; procedure. 1. (a) A\nuniversity, college, school or institute desiring to avail itself of the\nprovisions of section forty-two hundred eleven of this title, shall\nnotify the person having lawful possession, charge, custody or control\nof the body of the deceased person in the county where such university,\ncollege, school or institute is situated and in any other county in the\nstate in which no medical college, school, institute or university is\nsituated, of such desire. Thereafter, the person having possession,\ncharge, custody or control of the body of the deceased person shall\nnotify the proper officer of the university, college, school or\ninstitute whenever there is any such dead body in his or her possession,\ncharge, custody or control which may be delivered or released to and\nreceived by such university, college, school or institute, and he or she\nshall deliver or release same to such university, college, school or\ninstitute.\n (b) Except as provided in section forty-two hundred ten of this title,\nno autopsy or dissection shall be performed on any such unclaimed dead\nbody by any such person having possession, charge, custody or control of\nsuch body prior to the expiration of the fourth day after such\nnotification or where such notification is made by mail prior to the\nexpiration of the eighth day after such notification is postmarked.\n 2. It shall be the duty of the person having lawful possession,\ncharge, custody or control of bodies of deceased persons, to keep a\nrecord in a bound book or an electronic log of any and all bodies of\ndeceased persons thereafter coming into his or her possession, charge,\ncustody or control and of the disposition made of said bodies, showing\n(a) the name of the deceased person, if known, (b) the dates of death\nand burial or other lawful disposition, if known, (c) the names and\nplaces of residence of relatives of the deceased person, if known, (d)\nthe name of the person who claimed the body of the deceased person for\ninterment or other lawful disposition, (e) the name of the university,\ncollege, school or institute to whom the body of the deceased person was\ndelivered or released, and (f) the opposition of the deceased to the\ndissection or autopsy of his or her body as indicated by an\nidentification card carried upon his or her person. This record book or\nelectronic log shall be open to the inspection of the officers and\nagents of universities, colleges, schools or institutes entitled to\nreceive bodies of deceased persons. Any electronic log kept pursuant to\nthis subdivision shall preserve a record of any addition, deletion or\nchange made in such log.\n 3. If two or more universities, colleges, schools or institutes are\nentitled to receive bodies of deceased persons under the provisions of\nthis article and shall be given notice as herein provided, they shall\nreceive the same in proportion to the number of matriculated students in\neach university, college, school or institute who are pursuing courses\nof study in anatomy and surgery at the time of making the apportionment.\n