SB581: SB581 Vital Records; cremation permits that are distinct from disposition permits; provide

Under current Georgia law, a single disposition permit authorizes the burial, cremation, or removal of a dead body or fetus. This bill changes that by splitting the process into two permits. A disposition permit, still issued by the local registrar, would now cover burial or removal of a body but would no longer authorize cremation or organic human reduction (a newer form of body disposition sometimes called natural organic reduction). Instead, anyone seeking to cremate or organically reduce a body would need a separate cremation permit, which only a county coroner or chief medical examiner could issue. That official could not issue the permit unless they had certified the death certificate themselves or accepted one already certified. The bill also updates a cross reference in Georgia's DNA kinship testing law (O.C.G.A. § 53-2-27) to match the renumbered sections, and repeals conflicting laws.

• Separates the current disposition permit into two permits: a disposition permit for burial or removal, and a new cremation permit for cremation or organic human reduction.
• Requires the funeral director or person handling a body to obtain the new cremation permit before cremation or organic human reduction can occur.
• Limits who can issue a cremation permit to the coroner or chief medical examiner of the county where the death occurred.
• Bars a coroner or medical examiner from issuing a cremation permit unless they certified the death certificate or accepted one already certified for that body.
• Keeps the existing rule that an out-of-state disposition permit accompanying a body brought into Georgia serves as authority for final disposition without needing a new in-state permit.
• Updates a cross-reference in the DNA kinship testing law (O.C.G.A. § 53-2-27) to reflect the renumbered subsection on disinterment authorization.

Funeral directors and others who take custody of dead bodies or fetuses, local registrars who issue disposition permits, and county coroners and chief medical examiners, who gain a new gatekeeping role over cremations and organic reductions. Families arranging cremations and organizations using DNA kinship testing tied to disinterment are also affected.

Cremations and organic reductions could no longer proceed on a disposition permit alone; a coroner or medical examiner would have to separately sign off, adding a verification step tied to death certification before a body can be cremated or organically reduced in Georgia.

• Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 31-10-20 so a disposition permit covers burial or removal but explicitly does not authorize cremation or organic reduction.
• Section 1 adds a new subsection (c) creating a cremation permit specifically for cremation or organic human reduction, issued only by the county coroner or chief medical examiner.
• Section 1 conditions issuance of the cremation permit on the coroner or medical examiner having certified or accepted the death certificate for the body.
• Section 1 preserves the rule that out-of-state disposition permits accompanying a body into Georgia remain valid without needing a new permit.
• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 53-2-27 to renumber a cross-reference from subsection (f) to subsection (g) of the disinterment authorization law.
• Section 3 repeals all laws in conflict with the Act.

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)

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