72-17-106. Statewide organ and tissue donation registry. (1) The department of justice shall electronically transfer to the federally designated organ procurement organization all information that appears on the front of a driver's license, including the name, gender, date of birth, and most recent address of any person who obtains a driver's license and who volunteers to donate organs or tissue upon death, as provided in 61-5-301. The department of justice may charge actual costs for the first transfer of information, as provided in subsection (5). However, all subsequent electronic transfers of donor information must be at no charge to the federally designated organ procurement organization.
     (2) Information obtained by the federally designated organ procurement organization must be used for the purpose of establishing a statewide organ and tissue donation registry accessible to in-state, recognized cadaveric organ and cadaveric tissue agencies for the recovery or placement of organs and tissue and to procurement agencies in another state when a Montana resident is a donor of an anatomical gift and is not located in the state at the time of death or immediately before the death of the donor.
     (3) An organ or tissue donation organization may not obtain information from the organ and tissue donation registry for the purpose of fundraising. Organ and tissue donation registry information may not be further disseminated unless authorized in this section or by federal law. Dissemination of organ and tissue donation registry information may be made by the organ procurement organization to a recognized, in-state procurement agency for other tissue recovery or to an out-of-state, federally designated organ procurement organization.
     (4) The federally designated organ procurement organization may acquire donor information from sources other than the department of justice.
     (5) All reasonable costs associated with the creation and maintenance of the organ and tissue donation registry, as determined by the department of justice, must be paid by the organ and tissue procurement organizations. Any money collected by the department of justice must be deposited in an account in the state special revenue fund established by the department of justice for the purpose of the payment of reasonable costs associated with the development and maintenance of the organ and tissue donation registry and necessary for the initial installation and setup for electronic transfer of the donor information.
     (6) An individual does not need to participate in the organ and tissue donation registry to be a donor of organs or tissue. The registry is intended to facilitate organ and tissue donation and not inhibit persons from being donors upon death.

     History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 230, L. 2003.