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hb582_02_PH
As Passed by the House
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
H. B. No. 582
2025-2026
Representatives Plummer, Young
Cosponsors: Representatives Abrams,
Brennan, Brent, Brewer, Bryant Bailey, Cockley, Deeter, Grim,
Lawson-Rowe, Mathews, A., Mathews, T., Piccolantonio, Robb Blasdel,
Santucci, Sigrist, Tims, Upchurch, White, A., White, E., Williams,
Willis
To
amend sections 4717.01, 4717.12, 4717.24, and 4717.30 of the Revised
Code
regarding
embalmers, funeral directors, and crematories.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
sections 4717.01, 4717.12, 4717.24, and 4717.30 of the Revised Code
be amended to read as follows:
Sec.
4717.01.
As
used in this chapter:
(A)
"Embalming" means the process of chemically treating the
dead human body by any of the following to reduce the presence and
growth of microorganisms, to temporarily slow organic decomposition,
and to restore acceptable physical appearance:
(1)
Arterial injection;
(2)
Cavity treatment;
(3)
Hypodermic tissue injection.
(B)
"Funeral business" means a sole proprietorship,
partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or other
business entity that is engaged in funeral directing for profit or
for free from one or more funeral homes licensed under this chapter.
(C)
"Funeral directing" means the business or profession of
directing or supervising funerals for profit from one or more funeral
homes licensed under this chapter, the arrangement or sale of funeral
services, the filling out or execution of a funeral service contract,
the business or profession of preparing dead human bodies for burial
by means other than embalming, the disposition of dead human bodies,
the provision or maintenance of a place for the preparation, the
care, or disposition of dead human bodies, the use in connection with
a business of the term "funeral director," "undertaker,"
"mortician," or any other term from which can be implied
the business of funeral directing, or the holding out to the public
that one is a funeral director or a disposer of dead human bodies.
(D)
"Funeral home" means a fixed place for the care,
preparation for burial, or disposition of dead human bodies or the
conducting of funerals. Each business location is a funeral home,
regardless of common ownership or management.
(E)
"Embalmer" means a person who engages, in whole or in part,
in embalming and who is licensed under this chapter.
(F)
"Funeral director" means a person who engages, in whole or
in part, in funeral directing and who is licensed under this chapter.
(G)
"Final disposition" has the same meaning as in division (J)
of section 3705.01 of the Revised Code.
(H)
"Supervision" means the operation of all phases of the
business of funeral directing or embalming under the specific
direction of a licensed funeral director or licensed embalmer.
(I)
"Direct supervision" means the physical presence of a
licensed funeral director or licensed embalmer while the specific
functions of the funeral or embalming are being carried out.
(J)
"Embalming facility" means a fixed location, separate from
the funeral home, that is licensed under this chapter whose only
function is the embalming and preparation of dead human bodies.
(K)
"Crematory facility" means the physical location at which a
cremation chamber is located and the cremation process takes place.
"Crematory facility" does not include an infectious waste
incineration facility for which a license is held under division (B)
of section 3734.05 of the Revised Code, or a solid waste incineration
facility for which a license is held under division (A) of that
section that includes a notation pursuant to division (B)(3) of that
section authorizing the facility to also treat infectious wastes, in
connection with the incineration of body parts other than dead human
bodies that were donated to science for purposes of medical education
or research.
(L)
"Crematory" means the building or portion of a building
that houses the holding facility and the cremation chamber.
(M)
"Cremation" means the technical process of using heat and
flame to reduce human or animal remains to bone fragments or ashes or
any combination thereof. "Cremation" includes processing
and may include the pulverization of bone fragments.
(N)
"Cremation chamber" means the enclosed space within which
cremation takes place.
(O)
"Cremated remains" means all human or animal remains
recovered after the completion of the cremation process, which may
include the residue of any foreign matter such as casket material,
dental work, or eyeglasses that were cremated with the human or
animal remains.
(P)
"Lapsed license" means a license issued under this chapter
that has become invalid because of the failure of the licensee to
renew the license within the time limits prescribed under this
chapter.
(Q)
"Crematory operator" means the person who engages, in whole
or in part, in cremation from one or more crematories licensed under
this chapter and who has been issued a crematory operator permit
under this chapter.
(R)
"Processing" means the reduction of identifiable bone
fragments to unidentifiable bone fragments through manual or
mechanical means after the completion of the cremation process.
(S)
"Pulverization" means the reduction of identifiable bone
fragments to granulated particles by manual or mechanical means after
the completion of the cremation process.
(T)
(T)(1)
"Preneed funeral contract" means a written agreement,
contract, or series of contracts to sell or otherwise provide any
funeral services, funeral goods, or any combination thereof to be
used in connection with the funeral or final disposition of a dead
human body, where payment for the goods or services is made either
outright or on an installment basis, prior to the death of the person
purchasing the goods or services or for whom the goods or services
are purchased.
"Preneed
(2)
"Preneed
funeral
contract" does not include
any
either
of the following:
(a)
Any
preneed
cemetery merchandise and services contract or any agreement,
contract, or series of contracts pertaining to the sale of any burial
lot, burial or interment right, entombment right, or columbarium
right with respect to which an endowment care fund is established or
is exempt from establishment pursuant to section 1721.21 of the
Revised Code
;
(b)
A transportation protection agreement that primarily provides or
arranges for services that are related to transporting human remains
or cremated remains or preparing such remains for transport
.
(3)
For
the purposes of division (T) of this section, "funeral goods"
includes caskets.
(U)
"Purchaser" means the individual who has purchased and
financed a preneed funeral contract, and who may or may not be the
contract beneficiary.
(V)
"Contract beneficiary" means the individual for whom
funeral goods and funeral services are provided pursuant to a preneed
funeral contract.
(W)
"Seller" means any person that enters into a preneed
funeral contract with a purchaser for the provision of funeral goods,
funeral services, or both.
(X)
"Felony" means a criminal act classified as a felony by
this state, any other state, or federal law.
Sec.
4717.12.
(A)
The following persons are exempt from the provisions of this chapter:
(1)
An officer or employee of the department of health or any board of
health, who, in compliance with rules or orders of the department of
health or board of health, is preparing the body of a person whose
death was caused by a virulent communicable disease;
(2)
An officer, employee, or licensed physician of a medical college,
when any of these are acting on behalf of a medical college;
(3)
Any person carrying out sections 1713.34 to 1713.39 of the Revised
Code, prescribing the conditions under which the bodies of indigent
persons are held subject for anatomical study;
(4)
Any person licensed in another state as a funeral director or
embalmer who is assisting a funeral director or embalmer licensed
under this chapter during a disaster or an emergency in the state
that has been declared by this state or a political subdivision.
(B)
This chapter does not prevent or interfere with any of the following:
(1)
The ceremonies, customs, religious rights, or religion of any people,
denomination, or sect;
(2)
Any religious denomination or sect, or any body composed of members
of a denomination;
(3)
Any church
,
mosque, temple,
or synagogue committee in preparing dead human bodies for burial;
(4)
The conducting of funerals and the burial
or
cremation
of
dead human bodies in accordance with the ceremonies or rights
described in division (B) of this section without the use,
employment, or supervision of a licensed embalmer or funeral
director, except when the body is that of a person whose death was
caused by a virulent communicable disease, in which case the rules of
the department of health or board of health having territorial
jurisdiction shall apply.
Sec.
4717.24.
(A)
A cremation authorization form authorizing the cremation of a dead
human body, other than one that was donated to science for purposes
of medical education or research, shall include at least all of the
following information and statements:
(1)
A statement that the decedent has been identified in accordance with
division
(B)
(C)
of this section;
(2)
The name of the funeral director or other individual who obtained the
burial or burial-transit permit authorizing the cremation of the
decedent;
(3)
The name of the authorizing agent and the relationship of the
authorizing agent to the decedent;
(4)
A statement that the authorizing agent in fact has the right to
authorize cremation of the decedent and that the authorizing agent
does not have actual knowledge of the existence of any living person
who has a superior priority right to act as the authorizing agent
under section 4717.22 of the Revised Code. If the person executing
the cremation authorization form knows of another living person who
has such a superior priority right, the authorization form shall
include a statement indicating that the person executing the
authorization form has made reasonable efforts to contact the person
having the superior priority right and has been unable to do so and
that the person executing the authorization form has no reason to
believe that the person having the superior priority right would
object to the cremation of the decedent.
(5)
A statement of whether the authorizing agent has actual knowledge of
the presence in the decedent of a pacemaker, defibrillator, or any
other mechanical or radioactive device or implant that poses a hazard
to the health or safety of personnel performing the cremation;
(6)
A statement indicating the crematory facility is to cremate the
casket or alternative container in which the decedent was delivered
to or accepted by the crematory facility;
(7)
A statement of whether the crematory facility is authorized to
simultaneously cremate the decedent in the same cremation chamber
with one or more other decedents who were related to the decedent
named in the cremation authorization form by consanguinity or
affinity or who, at any time during the one-year period preceding the
decedent's death, lived with the decedent in a common law marital
relationship or otherwise cohabited with the decedent. A cremation
authorization form executed under this section shall not authorize
the simultaneous cremation of a decedent in the same cremation
chamber with one or more other decedents except under the
circumstances described in the immediately preceding sentence.
(8)
The names of any persons designated by the authorizing agent to be
present in the holding facility or cremation room prior to or during
the cremation of the decedent or during the removal of the cremated
remains from the cremation chamber;
(9)
The authorization for the crematory facility to cremate the decedent
and to process or pulverize the cremated remains as is the practice
at the particular crematory facility;
(10)
A statement of whether it is the crematory facility's practice to
return all of the residue removed from the cremation chamber
following the cremation or to separate and remove foreign matter from
the residue before returning the cremated remains to the authorizing
agent or the person designated on the authorization form to receive
the cremated remains pursuant to division (A)(11) of this section;
(11)
The name of the person who is to receive the cremated remains of the
decedent from the crematory facility;
(12)
The manner in which the final disposition of the cremated remains of
the decedent is to occur, if known. If the cremation authorization
form does not specify the manner of the final disposition of the
cremated remains, it shall indicate that the cremated remains will be
held by the crematory facility for thirty days after the cremation,
unless, prior to the end of that period, they are picked up from the
crematory facility by the person designated on the cremation
authorization form to receive them, the authorizing agent, or, if
applicable, the funeral director who obtained the burial or
burial-transit permit for the decedent, or are delivered or shipped
by the crematory facility to one of those persons. The authorization
form shall indicate that if no instructions for the final disposition
are provided on the authorization form and that if no arrangements
for final disposition have been made within the thirty-day period,
the crematory facility may return the cremated remains to the
authorizing agent. The authorization form shall further indicate that
if no arrangements for the final disposition of the cremated remains
have been made within sixty days after the completion of the
cremation and if the authorizing agent has not picked them up or
caused them to be picked up within that period, the crematory
operator or crematory facility may dispose of them in accordance with
division (C) of section 4717.27 of the Revised Code.
(13)
A listing of the items of value to be delivered to the crematory
facility along with the dead human body, if any, and instructions
regarding how those items are to be handled;
(14)
A statement of whether the authorizing agent has made arrangements
for any type of viewing of the decedent or for a service with the
decedent present prior to the cremation and, if so, the date, time,
and place of the service;
(15)
A statement of whether the crematory facility may proceed with the
cremation at any time after the conditions set forth in division (A)
of section 4717.23 of the Revised Code have been met and the decedent
has been received at the facility;
(16)
The certification of the authorizing agent to the effect that all of
the information and statements contained in the authorization form
are accurate;
(17)
The signature of the authorizing agent
and the signature of at least one witness who observed the
authorizing agent execute the cremation authorization form
.
(B)
A
cremation authorization form authorizing the cremation of a dead
human body, other than one that was donated to science for purposes
of medical education or research, may include the signature of a
witness who observed the authorizing agent execute the cremation
authorization form.
(C)
In
making the identification of the decedent required by division (A)(1)
of this section, the funeral home arranging the cremation shall
require the authorizing agent or the agent's appointed representative
to visually identify the decedent's remains or a photograph or other
visual image of the remains. If identification is by photograph or
other visual image, the authorizing agent or representative shall
sign the photograph or other visual image. If visual identification
is not feasible, other positive identification of the decedent may be
used including, but not limited to, reliance upon an identification
made through the coroner's office or identification of photographs or
other visual images of scars, tattoos, or physical deformities taken
from the decedent's remains.
(C)
(D)
An authorizing agent who is not available to execute a cremation
authorization form in person may designate another individual to
serve as the authorizing agent by providing to the crematory facility
where the cremation is to occur a written designation
,
signed by the authorizing agent and by a witness who observed the
authorizing agent execute the designation,
authorizing that other individual to serve as the authorizing agent.
Any such written designation shall contain the name of the decedent,
the name and address of the authorizing agent, the relationship of
the authorizing agent to the decedent, and the name and address of
the individual who is being designated to serve as the authorizing
agent. Upon receiving such a written designation, the operator shall
permit the individual named in the written designation to serve as
the authorizing agent and to execute the cremation authorization form
authorizing the cremation of the decedent named in the written
designation.
(D)
(E)
An authorizing agent who signs a cremation authorization form under
this section is hereby deemed to warrant the accuracy of the
information and statements contained in such authorization form,
including the identification of the decedent and the agent's
authority to authorize the cremation. A funeral home and its
employees are not responsible for verifying the accuracy of any
information or statements the authorizing agent made on the
authorization form, unless the funeral home or its employees have
actual knowledge to the contrary regarding any such information or
statement. When delivering the decedent's remains to a crematory
facility or in carrying out the disposition in its own facility, the
funeral home is responsible for having the decedent identified
pursuant to division
(B)
(C)
of this section and carrying out the obligations imposed on the
funeral home by division (B) of section 4717.29 of the Revised Code.
(E)
(F)
At any time after executing a cremation authorization form and prior
to the beginning of the cremation process, the authorizing agent who
executed the cremation authorization form under division (A) or
(C)
(D)
of this section may, in writing, modify the arrangements for the
final disposition of the cremated remains of the decedent set forth
in the authorization form or may, in writing, revoke the
authorization, cancel the cremation, and claim the decedent's body
for purposes of making alternative arrangements for the final
disposition of the decedent's body. The crematory facility shall
cancel the cremation if the crematory facility receives such a
revocation before beginning the cremation.
(F)
(G)
A cremation authorization form executed under this section does not
constitute a contract for conducting the cremation of the decedent
named in the authorization form or for the final disposition of the
cremated remains of the decedent. The revocation of a cremation
authorization form or modification of the arrangements for the final
disposition of the cremated remains of the decedent pursuant to
division
(E)
(F)
of this section does not affect the validity or enforceability of any
contract for the cremation of the decedent named in the authorization
form or for the final disposition of the cremated remains of the
decedent.
Sec.
4717.30.
(A)
A crematory operator, crematory facility, funeral director, or
funeral home is not liable in damages in a civil action for any of
the following actions or omissions, unless the actions or omissions
were made with malicious purpose, in bad faith, or in a wanton or
reckless manner or unless any of the conditions set forth in
divisions (B)(1) to (3) of this section apply:
(1)(a)
For having arranged or performed the cremation of the decedent, or
having released or disposed of the cremated remains, in accordance
with the instructions set forth in the cremation authorization form
executed by the decedent on an antemortem basis under section 4717.21
of the Revised Code;
(b)
For having arranged or performed the cremation of the decedent or
body parts removed from the decedent or living person or having
released or disposed of the cremated remains in accordance with
section 4717.27 of the Revised Code or the instructions set forth in
a cremation authorization form executed by the person authorized to
serve as the authorizing agent for the cremation of the decedent or
for the cremation of body parts of the decedent or living person,
named in the cremation authorization form executed under section
4717.24 or 4717.25 of the Revised Code.
(2)
For having arranged or performed the cremation of the decedent, or
having released or disposed of the cremated remains, in accordance
with section 4717.27 of the Revised Code or the instructions set
forth in the cremation authorization form executed by a designated
agent under division
(C)
(D)
of section 4717.24 of the Revised Code.
(B)
The crematory operator, crematory facility, funeral director, or
funeral home is not liable in damages in a civil action for refusing
to accept a dead human body or body parts or to perform a cremation
under any of the following circumstances, unless the refusal was made
with malicious purpose, in bad faith, or in a wanton or reckless
manner:
(1)
The crematory operator, crematory facility, funeral director, or
funeral home has actual knowledge that there is a dispute regarding
the cremation of the decedent or body parts, until such time as the
crematory operator, crematory facility, funeral director, or funeral
home receives an order of the probate court having jurisdiction
ordering the cremation of the decedent or body parts or until the
crematory operator, crematory facility, funeral director, or funeral
home receives from the parties to the dispute a copy of a written
agreement resolving the dispute and authorizing the cremation to be
performed.
(2)
The crematory operator, crematory facility, funeral director, or
funeral home has a reasonable basis for questioning the accuracy of
any of the information or statements contained in a cremation
authorization form executed under section 4717.21, 4717.24, or
4717.25 of the Revised Code, as applicable, that authorizes the
cremation of the decedent or body parts.
(3)
The crematory operator, crematory facility, funeral director, or
funeral home has any other lawful reason for refusing to accept the
dead human body or body parts or to perform the cremation.
(C)
A crematory operator, crematory facility, funeral director, or
funeral home is not liable in damages in a civil action for refusing
to release or dispose of the cremated remains of a decedent or body
parts when the crematory operator, crematory facility, funeral
director, or funeral home has actual knowledge that there is a
dispute regarding the release or final disposition of the cremated
remains in connection with any damages sustained, prior to the time
the crematory operator, crematory facility, funeral home, or funeral
director receives an order of the probate court having jurisdiction
ordering the release or final disposition of the cremated remains, or
prior to the time the crematory operator, crematory facility, funeral
director, or funeral home receives from the parties to the dispute a
copy of a written agreement resolving the dispute and authorizing the
cremation to be performed.
(D)
A crematory operator, crematory facility, funeral director, or
funeral home is not liable in damages in a civil action in connection
with the cremation of, or disposition of the cremated remains of, any
dental gold, jewelry, or other items of value delivered to the
crematory facility or funeral home with a dead human body or body
parts, unless either or both of the following apply:
(1)
The cremation authorization form authorizing the cremation of the
decedent or body parts executed under section 4717.21, 4717.24, or
4717.25 of the Revised Code, as applicable, contains specific
instructions for the removal or recovery and disposition of any such
dental gold, jewelry, or other items of value prior to the cremation,
and the crematory operator, crematory facility, funeral director, or
funeral home has failed to comply with the written instructions.
(2)
The actions or omissions of the crematory operator, crematory
facility, funeral director, or funeral home were made with malicious
purpose, in bad faith, or in a wanton or reckless manner.
(E)(1)
This section does not create a new cause of action against or
substantive legal right against a crematory operator, crematory
facility, funeral director, or funeral home.
(2)
This section does not affect any immunities from civil liability or
defenses established by another section of the Revised Code or
available at common law to which a crematory operator, crematory
facility, funeral director, or funeral home may be entitled under
circumstances not covered by this section.
Section
2.
That
existing sections 4717.01, 4717.12, 4717.24, and 4717.30 of the
Revised Code are hereby repealed.