HB 1392: Funeral establishments; maintain at least eight caskets at each of its locations; revise requirement

Current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 43-18-70) requires every licensed funeral establishment to keep a display room stocked with at least eight actual caskets, models, or sections available for purchase or delivery within 24 hours. This bill would cut that minimum to just one casket per location, as long as the establishment still meets other criteria set to protect the public. The bill also makes small technical edits: it changes wording so a funeral establishment 'shall' rather than 'must' be at a specified address, refers to preparation room 'flooring' instead of 'floor,' and adds 'nonporous' to the list of qualities the state licensing board can define for sanitary flooring and walls. These changes would take effect once the bill becomes law and repeal any conflicting laws.

• Lowers the required minimum number of caskets a funeral establishment must keep in stock at each location from eight to one.
• Keeps the requirement that any caskets displayed as models or sections be available for purchase or deliverable within 24 hours.
• Adjusts minor wording in the law, changing 'must' to 'shall' regarding a funeral establishment's street address requirement.
• Changes 'floor' to 'flooring' and adds 'nonporous' as a described quality the licensing board can define for preparation room surfaces.
• Leaves unchanged the other facility requirements, including seating for 30 people, a hearse, and a church truck.

Funeral establishments and their owners across Georgia, who must maintain casket inventory to meet licensing rules, and the state funeral licensing board, which enforces these facility requirements and can define related standards.

Funeral homes would need to keep far fewer caskets physically in stock, potentially lowering their inventory costs, as long as other caskets remain available for quick delivery. This could affect how quickly customers see options in person versus through catalogs or delivery arrangements.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 43-18-70(b)(3) to reduce the minimum required casket stock at each funeral establishment location from eight to one.
• Section 1 also changes 'must' to 'shall' in subsection (b) regarding the requirement for a specified street address.
• Section 1 changes 'a...floor' to 'flooring' in the preparation room requirement of subsection (b)(2).
• Section 1 adds 'nonporous' to the sanitary flooring and walls criteria the board may define under subsection (c).
• Section 2 repeals any laws that conflict with the changes.

1. 2026-02-24House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-02-24House Second Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-20House First Readers (House)
4. 2026-02-19House Hopper (House)

• Mary Ann Santos (D, HD-117)Primary sponsor
• Floyd Griffin (D, HD-149)
• Patty Stinson (D, HD-150)

• funeral homes
• funeral establishment regulations
• casket requirements
• professional licensing