State	Burial Depth Requirement	Home Burial	Distance from Water	Distance from Buildings	Body Care	Related Statutes
Alabama	None	Check local zoning ordinances	--	--	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	--	Private Burial in Alaska
Arizona	--	Check zoning	--	--	Body must be embalmed OR refrigerated after 24 hours	36-326
Arkansas	--	Must be in established cemetery; may apply for special family plot permit	--	--	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 ​	--	--	--	Division 8, Chapter 3.5, 8113
Colorado	--	Must be recorded with county within 30 days; Check for county zoning ordinances - many have changed since 2021	--	--	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	--	--	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	--	--	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	--	--	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	--	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	--	--	Body must be embalmed OR refrigerated after 30 hours	§11-22-5
Idaho	--	Check zoning	--	--	--	--
Illinois	18” from top of body or casket/vault to surface	Check zoning	--	--	Funeral director must be hired to file death certificate	--
Indiana	24" from top of body or casket/vault to surface	Must be in established cemetery; may apply for special family plot permit	--	--	Disposition must occur within a reasonable time; funeral director must be hired to handle disposition permit, receive cremated remains	--
Iowa	3 ft from surface	Check zoning	--	--	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	--	--	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	--
Kentucky	36" from top of casket	Check zoning	--	--	--	§ ​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	--	--	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…”	--
Maine	--	Check zoning	--	--	Report diseases to attending physician to see if medical examiner needs to be involved	--
Maryland	--	Check zoning	--	--	Report contagious disease to attending physician	--
Massachusetts	--	Check zoning	--	--	--	--
Michigan	--	Check zoning	--	--	Funeral director must be hired to file the death certificate and oversee disposition; embalming is required for bodies with rare infectious or communicable diseases	--
Minnesota	--	Check zoning	--	--	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	--
Mississippi	24” from top of body or casket/vault to surface	Check zoning	--	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	--
Missouri	--	Check zoning	--	--	Embalming is required for bodies with infectious or communicable diseases if not buried or cremated within 24 hours	--
Montana	18” from top of body or casket/vault to surface	Check zoning	--	--	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	--
Nebraska	--	Check zoning	--	--	Funeral director must be hired to file the death certificate, sign transit permits, and supervise interments	--
Nevada	--	Check zoning	--	--	Bodies held for cremation must be refrigerated after 24 hours; report contagious or communicable disease to attending physician to consult state guidelines	--
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	--
New Jersey	4’ adult from top to surface 3.5’ child from top to surface	Check zoning	--	--	Funeral director must be hired to file the death certificate and supervise disposition	--
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	--
New York	--	Check zoning Funeral director must be hired to supervise interment	--	--	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	--
North Carolina	18" from top of body or casket/vault to surface	Check zoning	--	--	Embalming is not allowed when death is due to specific diseases	--
North Dakota	3.5' from top of body or casket/vault to surface	Check zoning	--	--	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	--
Ohio	--	Check zoning	--	--	Bodies with communicable diseases must be buried or cremated within 24 hours	--
Oklahoma	--	Check zoning	--	--	--	--
Oregon	--	Check zoning	--	--	Dispositions not occurring within 10 days must be reported to the Mortuary Board	--
Pennsylvania	24” from the hipbone or casket/vault to surface	Check zoning	Cannot have water on property that drains into municipal water source	--	--	28 Pa. Code § 1.2
Rhode Island	--	Check zoning	--	--	--	--
South Carolina	Nature preserve cemeteries are exempt from burial depth requirements	Check zoning	--	--	--	§ ​SC 40-8-200
South Dakota	--	Check zoning	150’ from known water source	--	--	--
Tennessee	--	Check zoning	--	--	--	--
Texas	24” from top of body or casket/vault to surface	Check zoning	--	--	Bodies must be embalmed OR refrigerated to 35-40° after 24 hours unless placed in a sealed container	--
Utah	--	Check zoning	--	--	--	--
Vermont	3.5’ adult and infant min. bottom depth	Check zoning	200’ from drilled well; other municipal water and flood plain restrictions	--	--	--
Virginia	--	Check zoning	--	--	Body must be embalmed OR refrigerated after 48 hours	--
Washington	--	Must be an established cemetery	--	--	--	--
West Virginia	--	Check zoning	--	--	--	--
Wisconsin	--	Check zoning	--	--	--	--
Wyoming	--	Check zoning	--	--	Embalming is required for bodies with specific communicable diseases	--