SB146: SB146 Health, Local Government, and Property; regulations and protections of cemeteries and burial grounds; provide

Georgia already had a permit system for disturbing abandoned cemeteries, but this bill rewrites large parts of it. It updates the disinterment and reinterment permit process (O.C.G.A. § 31-10-20), rewrites the abandoned cemetery disturbance chapter (O.C.G.A. Chapter 72 of Title 36) with new definitions, notice requirements, hearing timelines, and penalties, and adds civil remedies for descendants when a cemetery is disturbed without a permit. The bill also creates a brand-new permitting system for private family burial plots starting July 1, 2026, requiring at least half an acre, an access easement, a perpetual maintenance covenant, and a survey, with civil penalties up to $5,000 for noncompliance. Finally, it creates a new legal path (O.C.G.A. Title 44, Chapter 10, Article 4) letting descendants sue landowners for court orders allowing them to visit, maintain, or search for ancestral grave sites on private land they don't own.

• Rewrites the permit process for disinterring and reinterring human remains under O.C.G.A. § 31-10-20, spelling out what applications must contain and who must consent.
• Overhauls the abandoned cemetery disturbance permit chapter (O.C.G.A. Chapter 72 of Title 36), adding definitions, notice rules, hearing deadlines, and criminal penalties up to $5,000 per grave and six months in jail for illegal disturbance.
• Creates a brand-new permit requirement for establishing family burial plots starting July 1, 2026, with minimum acreage, easement, and survey rules and civil penalties up to $5,000 per violation.
• Creates a new civil action letting descendants sue landowners in superior court for court-ordered access to visit, maintain, or search for ancestral grave sites on land they do not own.
• Adds a civil remedy allowing descendants to sue for damages, injunctions, and attorney's fees when a cemetery is disturbed without the required permit.

The bill affects landowners whose property contains or may contain cemeteries or burial grounds, descendants seeking to visit or research ancestral graves, county and municipal governments that issue disturbance and family burial plot permits, licensed funeral directors, archeologists, genealogists, and developers whose projects might disturb abandoned cemeteries.

Georgians who discover a cemetery on land they want to develop or sell will face stricter permit and notification requirements, while descendants gain new legal tools to access, maintain, or research ancestral graves even on land owned by someone else. Anyone creating a private family cemetery must now follow state-mandated size, access, and maintenance rules.

• Section 1-2 revises O.C.G.A. § 31-10-20(f) to require specific application information before a disinterment and reinterment permit is issued, including who has authority to consent.
• Section 1-4 rewrites O.C.G.A. Chapter 72 of Title 36, redefining 'abandoned cemetery' and requiring an archeologist's report, surveyor's report, and genealogist's descendant-notification plan before a disturbance permit issues.
• Section 1-4 (new § 36-72-16) sets penalties: a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature with fines up to $5,000 per grave site, and jail time up to six months plus a mandatory $5,000 minimum fine for violating the core disturbance prohibition in § 36-72-4.
• Section 2-1 creates new Chapter 72A of Title 36, requiring a permit before establishing any family burial plot on or after July 1, 2026, with minimum size, flood plain, water well, easement, and covenant requirements.
• New § 36-72A-8 sets civil penalties up to $5,000 per violation for establishing a noncompliant family burial plot and allows courts to order disinterment if the plot cannot be brought into compliance.
• Section 3-1 creates new O.C.G.A. §§ 44-10-51 and 44-10-52, letting descendants sue for superior court orders granting access to ancestral grave sites or to search for and research unknown grave sites on another's land.
• Section 1-3 revises O.C.G.A. § 31-21-6 on notifying law enforcement when human remains are disturbed, exposed, or discovered, and updates when land-disturbing activity must stop.

1. 2026-05-11Effective Date 2026-07-01
2. 2026-05-11Act 486
3. 2026-05-11Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2026-04-10Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2026-03-27House Passed/Adopted (House)
6. 2026-03-27House Third Readers (House)
7. 2026-02-24House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
8. 2026-02-11House Second Readers (House)

• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)Primary sponsor
• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• John Albers (R, SD-056)
• Derek Mallow (D, SD-002)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• John Kennedy (R, SD-018)
• Jesse Petrea (R, HD-166)

1. PassedSenate voteFebruary 9, 2026

   46 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 3 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #528

2. PassedHouse voteMarch 27, 2026

   163 yea, 2 nay (5 not voting, 6 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #774

• cemetery law
• burial permits
• property rights
• genealogy access
• local government regulation