SB 581: Vital Records; cremation permits that are distinct from disposition permits; provide

Under current Georgia law, funeral directors get a single disposition permit that covers burial, cremation, organic human reduction (a form of body composting), or moving a body out of state. This bill rewrites O.C.G.A. § 31-10-20 so that permit now only covers burial (interment) or removing a body from the state; it explicitly says the disposition permit no longer authorizes cremation or organic reduction. Instead, the bill creates a brand new cremation permit that a funeral director or other person handling the body must obtain separately before a cremation or organic human reduction can happen. Only the coroner or chief medical examiner of the county where the death occurred can issue this cremation permit, and only after a death certificate has been certified or accepted. The bill also renumbers several subsections and updates a cross-reference in O.C.G.A. § 53-2-27 (the DNA kinship testing law) to match the new lettering.

• Removes cremation and organic human reduction from what a disposition permit covers, limiting that permit to burial or moving a body out of state.
• Creates a new, separate cremation permit required before any cremation or organic human reduction can take place.
• Requires that only a county coroner or chief medical examiner can issue the new cremation permit.
• Bars issuance of a cremation permit unless the coroner or medical examiner has certified or accepted a death certificate for the body.
• Clarifies that an out-of-state disposition permit is valid in Georgia without needing a Georgia disposition or cremation permit.
• Updates a cross-reference in Georgia's DNA kinship testing law (O.C.G.A. § 53-2-27) to match the renumbered subsections.

Funeral directors and others who take custody of dead bodies or fetuses, county coroners and chief medical examiners who would now issue cremation permits, local registrars who issue disposition permits, and families arranging cremation, organic human reduction, or burial in Georgia.

Families choosing cremation or organic human reduction would need an additional permit that can only come from a coroner or medical examiner tied to a certified death certificate, adding a verification step before those types of disposition that burial alone would not require.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 31-10-20 subsection (a) so the disposition permit covers only interment or out-of-state removal, not cremation or organic reduction.
• Section 1 adds new subsection (c) requiring a separate cremation permit for cremation or organic human reduction, issuable only by the county coroner or chief medical examiner.
• The new cremation permit cannot be issued unless the coroner or medical examiner has certified or accepted the body's death certificate.
• Section 1 clarifies that a valid out-of-state disposition permit accompanying a body into Georgia needs no additional Georgia disposition or cremation permit.
• Section 1 renumbers later subsections covering fetal disposition authorization, disinterment/reinterment permits, and local registrar rulemaking.
• Section 2 updates a cross-reference in O.C.G.A. § 53-2-27 from subsection (f) to (g) to match the renumbering in Section 1.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-02-26Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-02-25Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)Primary sponsor
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• John Albers (R, SD-056)
• Derek Mallow (D, SD-002)

• cremation permits
• vital records
• funeral homes
• coroners and medical examiners
• death certificates