Inadvertent disinterment - Study

Within a period of twenty-four hours, or as soon thereafter as practicable, from the time the department or the society has received notification from a local law enforcement agency pursuant to section 40-02-03-03, the department staff and the society staff, or a qualified archaeologist designated thereby, or in the case of a historic burial, the specialist appointed by the department, shall commence the initial examination of any human remains which are the subject of the notification and undertake the following activities: 1. The human remains must be initially examined by the department and the society staff, or by a qualified archaeologist designated thereby, to determine the race and age of the remains, if possible, using relevant available and solicited information, e.g., plats, maps, records, interviews with landowners, and associated burial goods. 2. If a presumption as to race and age can be made based upon location, historical data and any associated burial goods, this information must be used to determine the disposition of the human remains by the staff of the department and the society. Disposition must be in accordance with applicable society and department statutes and rules. 3. In those instances wherein a burial site, human remains, and burial goods may constitute evidence in a potential criminal prosecution other than those described in North Dakota Century Code section 23-06-27, the burial site, human remains, and burial goods may be studied by any criminal forensic examination methods as may be required in the process of criminal investigation. 4. If it is determined by initial examination that the human remains are non-Indian, the remains may be further examined within the applicable scope of study as defined in section 40-02-03-01. 5. If it is determined by initial examination that the human remains are Indian, the remains may be further examined within the applicable scope of study as defined in section 40-02-03-01. 6. If it cannot be determined by means of such initial examination that the human remains are either Indian or non-Indian, it must be presumed that the human remains are Indian, based upon experience of the staff of the department and the society.