abandonment; concealment of body; classification

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

HB2044: Changes to Laws on Abandoning or Hiding Dead Bodies

This bill increases penalties for hiding dead bodies in serious cases and adds an exception for mothers handling unborn children under twenty weeks.

What This Bill Does

• Raises the penalty from a class 5 felony to a class 2 felony if someone mutilates, disfigures, or dismembers a body with the intent to conceal a crime or avoid arrest.
• Makes it a class 2 felony instead of a class 5 felony if the person caused the death before hiding the body.
• Exempts mothers from this law when they handle an unborn child that is less than twenty weeks old at the time of handling.
• Keeps existing rules that allow authorized handling of remains for cemeteries, funerals, and public health records.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who knowingly move or hide dead human bodies with the intent to abandon them.
• Mothers of unborn children under twenty weeks gestational age at the time of handling.
• Those authorized by law to handle remains for cemeteries, funerals, and public health statistics.

Terms To Know

Class 2 felony

A serious crime with heavier punishment than a class 5 felony under Arizona law.

Gestational age

The number of weeks since the start of pregnancy, used here to determine if an unborn child is less than twenty weeks old at the time of handling.

Limits and Unknowns

• The official text does not state when this law will officially take effect.
• The bill lists specific exceptions but may not cover every possible situation where the law applies or does not apply.

Official Summary Text

HB2044 - 572R - House Bill Summary

ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

57th
Legislature, 2nd Regular Session

Majority Research Staff

House
: JUD DPA 6-3-0-0

HB
2044
: abandonment; concealment of body; classification

Sponsor:
Representative Bliss, LD 1

House
Engrossed

Overview

Increases
penalties for abandoning or concealing a dead human body if the offense is
committed with the intent to conceal a crime or if the offender causes the
death of the person.

History

Statute establishes that it is unlawful to knowingly move a
dead human body or the parts of a dead human body with the intent to abandon or
conceal it. Violation of this statute is a class 5 felony (
A.R.S. �
13-2926
).

Statute also outlines certain situations where this section
does not apply, including the transportation or handling of dead remains in the
organization and regulation of cemeteries, the processing and officiating of funerals
and the keeping of vital records and public health statistics (
A.R.S. �
13-2926
).

Provisions

1.

Enhances
sentencing, for abandoning or concealing a dead human, to a class 2 felony if
the offender:

a.

mutilates,
disfigures or dismembers a human body with the intent to conceal a crime or
avoid apprehension; or

b.

causes the
death of a person before abandoning or concealing the human body or parts.
(Sec. 1)

2.

Exempts the
mother of an unborn child from the abandonment or concealment of a dead body
statute if the unborn child�s gestational age is under twenty weeks at the time
of disposition, transportation or other handling. (Sec. 1)

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2044

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Current Bill Text

HB2044 - 572R - H Ver

House Engrossed

abandonment;
concealment of body; classification

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HOUSE BILL 2044

AN
ACT

amending section 13-2926, Arizona
Revised Statutes; relating to offenses against public order.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 13-2926, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
13-2926.

Abandonment or
concealment of a dead body; classification

A. It is unlawful for a person to knowingly move a
dead human body or parts of a human body with the intent to abandon or conceal
the dead human body or parts.

B. This section does not apply to

either of the
following:

1
B. This
section does not apply to
[either
of the following:

1
.
The
disposition, transportation or other handling of dead human remains for any
purpose authorized under title 32, chapter 12, title 32, chapter 20, article 6
and title 36, chapters 3 and 7.

2. The
mother of an unborn child if the gestational age of the unborn child at the
time of the disposition, transportation or other handling
[2. The
mother of an unborn child if the gestational age of the unborn child at the
time of the disposition, transportation or other handling
is less
than twenty weeks.

C. A person who violates this section is guilty of a
class 5 felony
, except that a person who mutilates, disfigures
or dismembers a dead human body with the intent to conceal a crime or avoid
apprehension for a crime or who causes the death of a person before abandoning
or concealing the dead human body or parts is guilty of a class
2 felony
.
END_STATUTE