State |
Burial Depth Requirement |
Home Burial |
Distance from Water |
Distance from Buildings |
Body Care |
Related Statutes |
Alabama |
None |
Check local zoning ordinances |
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Embalming is required in order to leave the state unless the body is going to be used for medical research |
AL Code 1975 |
Alaska |
None Environmental Health recommends: 3.5 -4 ft |
Check zoning |
None Environmental Health recommends: 200 ft |
None Environmental Health recommends: 200 ft |
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Arizona |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Body must be embalmed OR refrigerated after 24 hours |
36-326 |
Arkansas |
-- |
Must be in established cemetery; may apply for special family plot permit |
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Body must be embalmed OR refrigerated at <45° after 24 hours unless cremating; neither are required for 48 hours if planning to cremate; embalming is required in order to leave the state |
20.17.2 |
California |
18” from top of body or coffin/vault to surface |
Must be in established cemetery; may apply for special family plot permit |
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Division 8, Chapter 3.5, 8113 |
Colorado |
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Must be recorded with county within 30 days; Check for county zoning ordinances - many have changed since 2021 |
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Body must be embalmed OR refrigerated after 24 hours; contagious or communicable diseases must be reported to local or state health officers by person acting as funeral director |
Title 25. Health § 25-2-111 |
Connecticut |
"No person shall bury the body of any deceased person in such a manner that the top of the outside container within which such body is placed is less than two and one-half feet below the surface of the ground, except if such container is made of concrete or other impermeable material, the top of such container shall not be less than one and one-half feet below the surface." |
Check zoning |
1/2 mile from reservoir 600’ |
350' from buildings |
Funeral director must be hired to supervise interment, remove body, file death certificate; if the person dies of a communicable disease, disposition must be handled by a licensed embalmer; disposition must occur within a reasonable time |
19a-368j, 295-319 (315d) |
Delaware |
18” from top of body or casket/vault to surface |
Check zoning; outside town limits in Kent and Sussex counties |
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Body must be embalmed OR refrigerated after 24 hours; disposition must occur within 5 days |
4202-4.0 |
District of Columbia |
4' from top of casket |
Not allowed due to space constraints |
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Disposition must occur within one week; disposition of contagious or infectious diseased bodies must be handled by a licensed FD |
§ 43–116 |
Florida |
12” from top of body or casket/vault to surface |
Check zoning |
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Must be embalmed OR refrigerated after 24 hours |
FL Stat § 497.274 (2022) |
Georgia |
None; recommend 3' |
Check zoning; not allowed in Bibb County |
25' from state waters |
50 ' from property lines |
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Title XV, Chapter 165.05 |
Hawaii |
"...depth sufficient to prevent the creation of any public nuisance or public health hazard and to make it impossible for hogs and other animals, or surface drainage or wash, to uncover it" |
Check zoning |
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Body must be embalmed OR refrigerated after 30 hours |
§11-22-5 |
Idaho |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Illinois |
18” from top of body or casket/vault to surface |
Check zoning |
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Funeral director must be hired to file death certificate |
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Indiana |
24" from top of body or casket/vault to surface |
Must be in established cemetery; may apply for special family plot permit |
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Disposition must occur within a reasonable time; funeral director must be hired to handle disposition permit, receive cremated remains |
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Iowa |
3 ft from surface |
Check zoning |
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Body can be held without preservation up to 72 hours; then refrigerated at between 38 and 42 degrees for 72 more; communicable disease must be reported to attending physician; funeral director must be hired to handle arrangements with crematories; bodies with infectious diseases must be embalmed |
97.13(4) |
Kansas |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Body must be embalmed OR refrigerated after 24 hours; extensions possible; check statutes for specific infectious or contagious diseases that must be handled by a licensed FD unless disposition occurs within 24 hours |
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Kentucky |
36" from top of casket |
Check zoning |
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§ 901-005:1 |
Louisiana |
24” from top of body or casket/vault to surface |
Must be in established cemetery; may apply for special family plot permit |
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Body must be embalmed OR refrigerated at below 45° after 30 hours; funeral director must be hired for “…any service whatsoever connected with the management of funerals…” |
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Maine |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Report diseases to attending physician to see if medical examiner needs to be involved |
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Maryland |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Report contagious disease to attending physician |
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Massachusetts |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Michigan |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Funeral director must be hired to file the death certificate and oversee disposition; embalming is required for bodies with rare infectious or communicable diseases |
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Minnesota |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Body must be embalmed OR refrigerated after 72 hours; refrigeration limited to 6 days; dry ice use limited to 4 days; disposition must occur within a reasonable time |
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Mississippi |
24” from top of body or casket/vault to surface |
Check zoning |
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500’ from medical buildings |
Body must be embalmed OR refrigerated after 24 hours if destination cannot be reached and does not take place within 48 hours; contagious disease that endangers public health must be reported to a Medical Examiner |
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Missouri |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Embalming is required for bodies with infectious or communicable diseases if not buried or cremated within 24 hours |
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Montana |
18” from top of body or casket/vault to surface |
Check zoning |
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A body that died of infectious disease must be disposed of as soon as reasonably possible and with minimal handling; body must be embalmed OR refrigerated if not expected to reach its destination within 48 hours |
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Nebraska |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Funeral director must be hired to file the death certificate, sign transit permits, and supervise interments |
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Nevada |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Bodies held for cremation must be refrigerated after 24 hours; report contagious or communicable disease to attending physician to consult state guidelines |
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New Hampshire |
-- |
Check zoning |
50’ from known water source |
100' from buildings 50' from highways |
Dead bodies under professional care must be embalmed, encased, or refrigerated after 48 hours |
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New Jersey |
4’ adult from top to surface 3.5’ child from top to surface |
Check zoning |
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Funeral director must be hired to file the death certificate and supervise disposition |
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New Mexico |
6’ minimum bottom depth |
Check zoning |
50’ from known water source |
5’ from property line |
Body must be embalmed OR refrigerated at below 40° if not disposed of within 24 hours; report contagious or communicable disease to the Office of Medical Investigation |
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New York |
-- |
Check zoning Funeral director must be hired to supervise interment |
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Funeral director must be hired to file the death certificate; receive body from a hospital, institution or other place; personally supervise the funeral services; supervise interment |
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North Carolina |
18" from top of body or casket/vault to surface |
Check zoning |
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Embalming is not allowed when death is due to specific diseases |
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North Dakota |
3.5' from top of body or casket/vault to surface |
Check zoning |
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Requires immediate disposition under specific conditions; any body must be embalmed if it will not reach its destination within 24 hours, or if disposition is not accomplished within 48; all dispositions must occur within 8 days |
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Ohio |
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Check zoning |
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Bodies with communicable diseases must be buried or cremated within 24 hours |
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Oklahoma |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Oregon |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Dispositions not occurring within 10 days must be reported to the Mortuary Board |
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Pennsylvania |
24” from the hipbone or casket/vault to surface |
Check zoning |
Cannot have water on property that drains into municipal water source |
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28 Pa. Code § 1.2 |
Rhode Island |
-- |
Check zoning |
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South Carolina |
Nature preserve cemeteries are exempt from burial depth requirements |
Check zoning |
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§ SC 40-8-200 |
South Dakota |
-- |
Check zoning |
150’ from known water source |
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Tennessee |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Texas |
24” from top of body or casket/vault to surface |
Check zoning |
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Bodies must be embalmed OR refrigerated to 35-40° after 24 hours unless placed in a sealed container |
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Utah |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Vermont |
3.5’ adult and infant min. bottom depth |
Check zoning |
200’ from drilled well; other municipal water and flood plain restrictions |
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Virginia |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Body must be embalmed OR refrigerated after 48 hours |
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Washington |
-- |
Must be an established cemetery |
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West Virginia |
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Check zoning |
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Wisconsin |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Wyoming |
-- |
Check zoning |
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Embalming is required for bodies with specific communicable diseases |
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Photo images by Lee Webster and William R. Crangle
All rights reserved © FuneralPartnership.org