(a) Any person in charge of a prison, morgue, hospital, funeral parlor, or mortuary, any person who is a public officer, agent, or employee of the state, any county or municipality, and all persons coming into possession, charge, or control of any human body that is unclaimed for burial may notify a medical school that the body, if unclaimed, is available for use in the advancement or study of medical science.
(b) For the purpose of notifying a medical school of its availability, “unclaimed body” means a human body in the possession, charge, or control of the persons named in subsection (a) of this section for a period not to exceed forty-eight (48) hours, during which time a relative, next of kin, friend, representative of a fraternal society of which the deceased was a member, veterans service organization as defined in the Missing in America Project Act, § 20-17-1401 et seq., the Department of Veterans Affairs, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, or a representative of a charitable or religious group may claim the body for burial purposes.