SB241: SB241 Funeral Directors; organic human reduction as a means of disposing of deceased human bodies; provide

Georgia law currently allows final disposition of a dead body through burial, cremation, burial at sea, or delivery to a medical institution. This bill adds organic human reduction, defined as the contained, accelerated conversion of a dead body to soil, as another legal option statewide. The bill amends Georgia's funeral director and crematory laws (O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 18) to require separate licensing of organic human reduction facilities, sets minimum equipment and location standards for those facilities, and applies identification tagging, recordkeeping, and disciplinary rules already used for crematories to the new process. It also updates vital records law (Title 31), commerce law (Title 10), and local government law (Title 36) so permits, indigent burial funding, burial at sea, and dead body abandonment laws all cover organically reduced remains the same way they cover cremated remains. The changes take effect July 1, 2025.

• Adds organic human reduction, the conversion of a dead body to soil, as a legal method of final disposition alongside burial and cremation.
• Requires anyone operating an organic human reduction facility to get a separate license from the State Board of Funeral Service, with equipment, staffing, and location rules.
• Applies existing identification tagging, recordkeeping, and unclaimed-remains rules used for cremated remains to organically reduced remains.
• Bars new stand-alone organic human reduction facilities from locating within 1,000 feet of a platted residential subdivision, for licenses issued after July 1, 2025.
• Extends disposition permit requirements, burial-at-sea rules, and indigent burial funding under Georgia law to cover organically reduced remains.
• Clarifies that properly disposing of organically reduced remains is not the crime of abandonment of a dead body.

Funeral directors, embalmers, and crematory and funeral establishment operators; new organic human reduction facility operators; the State Board of Funeral Service, which licenses and inspects these facilities; county governments handling indigent burials; veterans' organizations; and families arranging final disposition of a loved one's remains.

Georgians would gain a new legal option for handling a deceased loved one's remains, similar to how cremation works today but resulting in soil instead of ashes. Facilities offering the service would face licensing, equipment, and location rules, and existing funeral laws would be updated to treat the new process consistently with cremation.

• Section 1-1 defines 'organic human reduction' as the contained, accelerated conversion of a dead body to soil and updates related definitions in O.C.G.A. § 43-18-1.
• Section 1-3 extends body identification tagging and affidavit requirements for cremated remains to organically reduced remains under O.C.G.A. § 43-18-8.
• Section 1-9 creates a new licensing section (O.C.G.A. § 43-18-72.1) requiring organic human reduction facilities to have a services room, display room, hearse, reduction container, processing station, and church truck, with exceptions for facilities serving only other funeral establishments.
• Section 1-9 also bars new stand-alone organic human reduction facilities from being within 1,000 feet of a platted residential subdivision, applying to licenses issued on or after July 1, 2025.
• Section 1-9 requires pulverizing organically reduced remains until no skeletal fragment is recognizable before delivery to the legally authorized person.
• Section 2-3 amends O.C.G.A. § 31-10-20 to require a disposition permit for organic human reduction, the same as for cremation.
• Section 2-5 amends O.C.G.A. § 31-21-4 to allow burial at sea of organically reduced remains and extends notification rules for unclaimed remains.
• Section 2-7 amends O.C.G.A. § 31-21-44.2 so that lawful disposition of organically reduced remains, including scattering, is not the offense of abandoning a dead body.

1. 2025-05-09Effective Date 2025-07-01
2. 2025-05-09Act 82
3. 2025-05-09Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2025-04-07Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2025-03-31House Passed/Adopted (House)
6. 2025-03-31House Third Readers (House)
7. 2025-03-20House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
8. 2025-03-10House Second Readers (House)

• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)Primary sponsor
• Lee Anderson (R, SD-024)
• Derek Mallow (D, SD-002)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)
• Alan Powell (R, HD-033)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 4, 2025

   52 yea, 1 nay (1 not voting, 2 absent)

   Passage: Senate Vote #150

2. PassedHouse voteMarch 31, 2025

   157 yea, 4 nay (3 not voting, 16 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #372

• funeral industry regulation
• organic human reduction
• cremation law
• death care licensing
• body disposition