---
title: SB 581. Vital Records; cremation permits that are distinct from disposition permits; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb581
cite_as: SB 581, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb581
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb581.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb581/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73628
date: 2026-02-26
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 95
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb581.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 581
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-02-25
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
- Ricky Williams
- Randy Robertson
- John Albers
- Derek Mallow
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB581/2025
upstream_id: 2124778
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- cremation permits
- vital records
- funeral homes
- coroners and medical examiners
- death certificates
---
# SB 581. Vital Records; cremation permits that are distinct from disposition permits; provide
## Text
Senate Bill 581
By: Senators Williams of the 25th, Robertson of the 29th, Albers of the 56th and Mallow of
the 2nd
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 10 of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to vital
records, so as to provide for cremation permits that are distinct from disposition permits; to
provide for permits for cremations and organic reductions; to provide certain requirements
for the issuance of cremation and organic reduction permits; to provide for exceptions; to
amend Code Section 53-2-27 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to DNA
testing for kinship, procedure, and cost, so as to provide for a conforming change; to provide
for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 10 of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to vital records,
is amended by revising Code Section 31-10-20, relating to permits for disposition,
disinterment, and reinterment, as follows:
"31-10-20.
(a) The funeral director or person acting as such or other person that first assumes custody
of a dead body or fetus shall obtain a disposition permit for the internment cremation or
organic human reduction of such body or fetus or the removal of such body or fetus from
the state. Such disposition permit shall not authorize the cremation or organic reduction
of such body or fetus. A disposition permit may be required within the state by local
authorities.
(b) Such A disposition permit shall be made available by the local registrar of the county
where the death or fetal death occurred, or body or fetus was found, 24 hours a day, seven
days a week. The registrar will issue a disposition permit immediately upon request from
the licensed funeral director or his agent in charge of the body or fetus. The request for a
disposition permit may be received by the registrar either orally or in writing. The registrar
may respond to the request by any means utilized in the normal course of transacting
business including, but not limited to, transmission by facsimile machine.
(c) The funeral director or person acting as such or other person that first assumes custody
of a dead body or fetus shall obtain a cremation permit for the cremation or organic human
reduction of such body or fetus. Such cremation permit shall only be issued by the coroner
or chief medical examiner of the county where the death occurred. Such permit shall not
be issued by such coroner or chief medical examiner unless such coroner or medical
examiner also either certifies a death certificate for such body or fetus or accepts a death
certificate already certified for such body or fetus.
(c)(d) A disposition permit issued under the law of another state which accompanies a
dead body or fetus brought into this state shall be authority for final disposition of the body
or fetus in this state, without the need for a disposition permit or cremation permit to be
issued in this state.
(d)(e) Prior to final disposition of a dead fetus, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy,
the funeral director or person acting as such, the person in charge of the institution, or other
person assuming responsibility for final disposition of the fetus shall obtain from the
parent(s) authorization for final disposition.
(e)(f) Disposition permits shall not be required where disposition of fetal remains is within
the institution of occurrence and a registry of such events is maintained by the institution.
(f)(g) Authorization for disinterment and reinterment shall be required prior to
disinterment of a dead body or fetus. Such authorization shall be issued by the local
registrar to a licensed funeral director or other person acting as such, upon proper
application, in the county in which the dead body or dead fetus was originally interred and
a local registrar who issues such authorization shall not be civilly or criminally liable
therefor if it is issued in good faith. A permit shall not be required when disinterment and
reinterment are in the same cemetery.
(g)(h) The department shall prescribe rules and regulations so that the local registrars may
permit hospitals, funeral homes, or others in their respective counties to issue disposition
permits."
SECTION 2.
Code Section 53-2-27 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to DNA testing
for kinship, procedure, and cost, is amended by revising paragraph (2) of subsection (h)
as follows:
"(2) Shall not require authorization under subsection (f) (g) of Code Section 31-10-20
as a condition precedent to such disinterment or reinterment;"
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
A Georgia Senate bill would split the current disposition permit into two separate permits, one for burial or moving a body out of state and a new one specifically for cremation or organic reduction, with the cremation permit issued only by a coroner or medical examiner.
### Plain-language summary
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.
### What it does
- 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.
### Who it affects
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.
### Why it matters
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.
### Key provisions
- 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.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-02-25)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2026-02-26)
- Sponsors: Ricky Williams, Randy Robertson, John Albers, Derek Mallow
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73628
> The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb581.md?full=1