MarylandHB 06982026 Regular SessionHouse

State Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors – Board Operations and Regulation of Crematories and Reduction Facilities

Sponsored By: Harry Bhandari (Democratic)

Signed by Governor

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16 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 5 costs, 7 mixed.

Higher fines for funeral service providers

Beginning July 1, 2026, the Board can fine providers up to $10,000 per violation, up from $5,000. The daily maximum for violations continuing past the correction deadline rises from $500 to $1,000. These limits apply under both registration and permit rules, including violations of Board orders. The Board must weigh seriousness, harm, good-faith efforts, and past violations when setting fines. Fines can replace or accompany a reprimand, suspension, or loss of registration or permit.

Registration required for cremation service providers

Beginning July 1, 2026, individuals must register before operating covered crematories or reduction facilities or offering covered services, unless exempt. Applicants must be at least 18, meet character and facility-affiliation requirements, and hold approved certification and required training. They pay a nonrefundable application fee and other Board-set fees; the law states no amounts. Registration cannot be transferred, does not authorize a burial-goods business, and unregistered people cannot claim they are authorized operators. Providing burial goods and selling prepaid goods also count as facility operations.

Facility businesses face permits and qualifications

Beginning July 1, 2026, most facility businesses must be corporations, limited liability companies, or partnerships with Board permits. Exceptions cover registered operators working as sole proprietors and registrants employed by sole proprietors. Applicants must name a separate registered operator for each facility, provide personnel information, and submit a status certificate dated within 30 days before application. Permits last two years; application, renewal, and reinstatement require Board-set fees, and permits must be displayed. Ownership-based exemptions end, but medical or educational crematory exemptions remain; expired permits can be restored with renewal qualifications and a sworn statement of no operation during the lapse.

Good-faith veteran transfers gain liability protection

Licensed funeral homes and crematory permit holders receive civil-liability protection for covered transfers made in good faith. The transfer must involve unclaimed cremated remains of a veteran or eligible dependent. The remains must go to a veterans service organization for disposition as provided by law. This protection does not extend in this provision to other remains or transfers.

Board cannot charge per cremation

The Board cannot charge a crematory a fee for each cremation. This ban does not eliminate registration or permit fees. The law gives no amount for the prohibited charge or guaranteed savings for customers.

More inspection capacity for funeral services

Beginning July 1, 2026, the Board must employ at least two inspectors. It may inspect covered operators' sites and records after a written complaint or on its own initiative. Beginning in fiscal year 2028, a position number must be created for a full-time Board inspector. The law states no salary or separate appropriation for that position.

Safety checks before reduced soil release

The Board must set safety rules for natural organic reduction, which turns human remains into soil. Rules must require advance written notice about legal restrictions, operator training, and records of minimum process temperatures and durations. Reduction is barred when remains are known or reasonably suspected to be embalmed or to pose unreasonable biological risks. Soil requires routine sampling and independent laboratory tests for heavy metals and pathogens, with results available to health authorities on request. Soil cannot be released until all testing limits are met, including less than 0.01 mg/kg dry weight for specified physical contaminants.

Pet cremation loses ongoing care duty

The law removes crematory operators and cremation-service sales from this statutory ongoing-care duty for pet remains. Covered pet burial-lot or burial-right sales still carry the duty when permanent care is stated or implied. The change does not specify any refund, price change, or payment.

Prepaid trusts lose crematory investment restriction

Required prepaid funeral trusts lose a specific restriction on investments in crematory property, buildings, facilities, and permanent improvements. The corresponding restriction on cemetery property and facilities remains. This removes one safeguard governing prepaid money, not every trust investment rule. The law states no investment amount or resulting loss to buyers.

Veteran remains process is repealed

The law repeals a statutory process for specified unclaimed cremated, hydrolyzed, and soil remains. That process included sharing identifying information with veterans service organizations to check veteran or eligible-dependent status. Its associated response, transfer, and notification requirements are also removed. This repeal concerns that process and does not establish that all other disposition rules end.

Easier complaints but narrower legal options

Registration and permit complaints must be written and state specific facts, but no longer need to be sworn. Required settlement attempts, binding arbitration, and the specified court appeal of complaint dismissals are removed. After investigation, the Board must offer notice and a hearing for supported disciplinary action, or dismiss unsupported complaints. Beginning July 1, 2026, Board files generally cannot be obtained or used as evidence in civil cases, except for Board-decision challenges and otherwise discoverable records. Records shared for listed reviews stay confidential, and Board members and participants receive the liability protection described in state law.

Prepaid funeral contracts lose specific rules

Beginning July 1, 2026, the law repeals specific prepaid funeral-contract rules covering authorized sellers, contract types, and insurance or annuity funding. This removes those statutory requirements and protections; the supplied provision does not identify replacement rules. The contract definition lists licensed funeral directors, licensed morticians, and surviving spouses as provider parties. Registered crematory and reduction operators are no longer listed in that definition.

Prepaid sales coverage expands and narrows

The law removes subtitle exclusions for burial-space sales, specified prepaid funeral contracts, and private family cemetery sales. Those activities no longer qualify for exclusion on those grounds. At the same time, the definition of prepaid services covers services connected with burial and no longer expressly includes cremation. The definition change does not state how any specific cremation service is treated.

Operators face renewals but can restore registration

Operator registrations expire after two years; renewal requires continued qualifications, an application, required documents, and a Board-set fee. Each renewal lasts two more years. The Board must restore expired registration when applicants meet renewal requirements, pay a reinstatement fee, and swear they did not operate during the lapse. Responsible parties must report listed changes to facility ties, personnel, names, or addresses within one week. Operators must clearly display their registration at the business address.

Funeral enforcement expands but changes scope

The Board can deny or discipline registrations for misconduct, including fraud, inadequate supervision, inspection refusal, and disobeying orders, after required hearings. Beginning July 1, 2026, it can seek court orders stopping covered work while charges that could lead to suspension or revocation remain pending. Orders last until lifted or charges are decided or dismissed; establishment receivers remain available after license or permit suspension or revocation, replacing the removed person-based authority. Cemetery officials can discipline providers after Maryland courts find unfair, abusive, or deceptive trade-practice violations. Funeral homes also face license discipline for employee violations of the named remains-handling requirements when the home knew of or directed them.

New regulator for cremation and reduction

Beginning July 1, 2026, crematory and reduction-facility oversight moves to the State Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors. These facilities leave the Office of Cemetery Oversight's framework, while cemetery and burial-goods rules remain there. The Board must establish registration, permits, fees, inspections, complaint reviews, hearings, and health and ethics rules. Existing permits and registrations stay valid through their current terms, and holders keep their prior qualification status under repealed rules. The Office keeps complaints filed before July 1 until they are resolved.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

Harry Bhandari
Democratic • House

Cosponsors

Heather Bagnall
Democratic • House
Bonnie Cullison
Democratic • House
Pam Lanman Guzzone
Democratic • House
Terri L. Hill
Democratic • House
Thomas S. Hutchinson
Republican • House
Aaron M. Kaufman
Democratic • House
Nicholaus R. Kipke
Republican • House
Lesley J. Lopez
Democratic • House
Ashanti Martinez
Democratic • House
April Rose
Republican • House
Samuel I. Rosenberg
Democratic • House
Jennifer White Holland
Democratic • House
Teresa Woorman
Democratic • House

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 178 • No: 0

Senate vote • 4/13/2026

Third Reading Passed

Yes: 42 • No: 0 • Other: 3

House vote • 3/23/2026