Title 10, Property Rights and Transactions

As used in ORS 97.010 to 97.040, 97.012, 97.110 to 97.450, 97.510 to 97.730, 97.810 to 97.920, 97.923 to 97.949, 97.990 and 97.994: (1) “Alkaline hydrolysis” or “hydrolysis” means the technical process for reducing human remains by placing the remains in a dissolution chamber tha…

Services and merchandise offered under a transportation protection agreement shall not be considered funeral merchandise, funeral services, prearrangement sales or a prearrangement sales contract. [2025 c.242 §1] Note: 97.012 was enacted into law by the Legislative Assembly but w…

(1) The provisions of ORS 97.030, 97.120, 97.310 to 97.350, 97.360 (1), 97.510 and 97.550 relating to private cemeteries do not apply to: (a) Any religious or eleemosynary corporation, church, religious society or denomination, corporation sole administering temporalities of any …

No cemetery authority or person having a right of sepulture or any other right under ORS 97.010 to 97.040, 97.110 to 97.450, 97.510 to 97.730, 97.810 to 97.920 and 97.990 acquires any vested right by virtue thereof which the Legislative Assembly may not subsequently amend, alter …

Except for ORS 97.730, 97.010 to 97.040, 97.110 to 97.450, 97.510 to 97.730, 97.810 to 97.920 and 97.990 do not apply to private family burial grounds where lots are not offered for sale.

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, whenever a person dies and no autopsy is ordered by a medical examiner or district attorney pursuant to ORS 146.117, an autopsy may not be conducted without the prior written consent of a person within the first applicable…

No person shall attach, detain or claim to detain any human remains for any debt or demand or upon any pretended lien or charge.

A cemetery authority shall deposit or dispose of human remains as provided by ORS 97.010 to 97.040, 97.110 to 97.450, 97.510 to 97.730, 97.810 to 97.920 and 97.990.

(1) Any individual of sound mind who is 18 years of age or older, by completion of a written signed instrument or by preparing or prearranging with any funeral service practitioner licensed under ORS chapter 692, may direct any lawful manner of disposition of the individual’s rem…

No cemetery authority, crematory operator, alternative disposition facility operator or licensed funeral service practitioner interring, cremating or reducing remains pursuant to a written instrument signed by the decedent or a person described in ORS 97.130 (2) shall be liable f…

(1)(a) If the cemetery authority, crematory operator, alternative disposition facility operator or licensed funeral service practitioner has been authorized to cremate or reduce remains of a decedent pursuant to ORS 97.130, the authorization must also contain further instructions…

Notwithstanding section 14, chapter 653, Oregon Laws 1991, or ORS 469.525, diagnostic or therapeutic radioisotopes remaining inside the uncremated or unreduced body of a deceased person may be buried, entombed or otherwise disposed of in a cemetery or other lawful place for the b…

(1) No hospital or sanitarium, or the employees, agents or representatives thereof, shall send or cause to be sent to any funeral service practitioner, undertaker, mortician or embalmer the remains of any decedent without having complied with this section before final disposition…

(1) As used in this section, “indigent person” means a deceased person who does not have a death or final expense benefit or insurance policy that pays for disposition of the deceased person’s body or other means to pay for disposition of the deceased person’s body and: (a) Who d…

An institution that receives a body pursuant to ORS 97.170 and that intends to use the body for ongoing research may properly preserve the body upon receipt for anatomical purposes, but may not use or dismember the body for at least 30 days after receipt. If a relative or friend …

Unless required by a medical examiner to determine the cause of death or specifically authorized and ordered by the superintendent of the hospital or institution in which any person coming under the provisions of ORS 97.170 may die, no such body as is mentioned in ORS 97.170 is s…

(1) An institution that uses a body for ongoing research pursuant to ORS 97.170 shall bury respectfully or cremate or reduce the remains upon completion of use. If the institution cremates or reduces the remains, the institution shall deliver the cremated or reduced remains to a …

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, a person may not knowingly accept payment or other consideration, directly or indirectly, for displaying human remains to the public. (2) Subsection (1) of this section does not apply if: (a) The display has the written co…

(1) The estate of a decedent whose remains are displayed in violation of ORS 97.205 may bring a civil action for injunctive relief, damages or other appropriate relief against any person whose conduct in connection with the display is unlawful under ORS 97.205. (2) Upon prevailin…

The body of any person who died of smallpox, diphtheria, scarlet fever or other disease that the Oregon Health Authority, by rule, may prescribe, shall not be subject to the provisions of ORS 97.170 to 97.200. [Amended by 1977 c.582 §2; 2009 c.595 §62]

(1) Except as provided in ORS 97.223, the remains of a deceased person interred in a plot in a cemetery may be removed from the plot with the consent of the cemetery authority and written consent of: (a) The person under ORS 97.130 (2)(a), (b) or (c) who has the authority to dire…

(1) In the event of a natural disaster or similar emergency that causes interred human remains to be completely or partially dislodged from their original designated plot, the cemetery authority of the cemetery where the plot is located may, as the cemetery authority deems fit: (…

As used in ORS 97.231 to 97.246: (1) “County veterans’ service officer” means a county veterans’ service officer appointed under ORS 408.410. (2) “Eligible decedent” means the unclaimed cremated remains of a veteran or spouse, dependent or survivor of a veteran that are entitled …

(1) The governing body of each county shall designate one or more veterans’ remains coordinators who shall exercise due diligence to: (a) Identify unclaimed cremated remains located in the county in consultation with the county veterans’ service officer, the United States Departm…

(1) Before causing the interment of an eligible decedent under ORS 97.234, the veterans’ remains coordinator shall report to the county veterans’ service officer: (a) The facts relied upon to establish eligibility for interment under ORS 97.234; (b) The plan for the interment of …

(1) A funeral establishment in possession of an eligible decedent shall, upon request of a veterans’ remains coordinator, release the veteran status information associated with the eligible decedent to the veterans’ remains coordinator. (2) A veterans’ remains coordinator may use…

(1) A veterans’ remains coordinator who identifies or locates an eligible decedent shall report to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs: (a) Veteran status information known about the veteran associated with the eligible decedent; and (b) Contact information for the p…

(1) A veterans’ remains coordinator or county veterans’ service officer shall carry out the duties under ORS 97.231 to 97.246 in accordance with rules adopted by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. (2) The Department of Veterans’ Affairs may adopt rules to implement the provisio…

(1) Every cemetery authority, from time to time as its property may require for cemetery purposes, shall: (a) In case of land, survey and subdivide it into sections, blocks, plots, avenues, walks or other subdivisions and make a good and substantial map or plat showing them, with…

In case of a cemetery lot, the cemetery authority shall file the map or plat in the office of the recording officer of the county in which all or a portion of the property is situated, and it forthwith shall file for record in that officer’s office a written declaration dedicatin…

Upon the filing of the map or plat and of the declaration for record, the dedication is complete for all purposes, and thereafter the property shall be held, occupied and used exclusively for cemetery purposes.

After property is dedicated to cemetery purposes pursuant to ORS 97.310 to 97.330 and 97.360 (1), neither the dedication nor the title of a plot owner shall be affected by the dissolution of the cemetery authority by nonuser on its part, by alienation of the property, by any encu…

Dedication to cemetery purposes pursuant to ORS 97.010 to 97.040, 97.110 to 97.450, 97.510 to 97.730, 97.810 to 97.920 and 97.990 is not invalid as violating any laws against perpetuities or the suspension of the power of alienation of title to or use of property, and is deemed t…

(1) Any part or subdivision of the property so mapped and platted may, by order of the directors and consent of the lot owners, be resurveyed and altered in shape and size and an amended map or plat filed, so long as such change does not disturb any interred remains. (2) Whenever…

When any application mentioned in ORS 97.360 (2) is filed, the court or board shall fix the time for the hearing of it and notice of the time thereof shall be given by publication in a paper of general circulation published in the town in which the cemetery is situated or in the …

At the hearing mentioned in ORS 97.370 the court or board shall consider and hear any evidence introduced in favor of the proposed change and all objections thereto and, after a full hearing thereon, may allow the proposed change and replat in whole or in part. If the proposed ch…

If any damages are claimed by the owner of any lot in any such cemetery as is mentioned in ORS 97.360 (2), which lot is adjacent to the avenues, streets, alleys, driveways or parks vacated as provided in ORS 97.380, they shall be ascertained by the county court or board of county…

Any owner or association accepting the trust of handling and disposing of lots newly created pursuant to ORS 97.380 shall by the acceptance thereof agree to dispose of the lots only for burial purposes and at a price not less than that fixed by the county court or board of county…

The vacation of an avenue, street, alley, driveway, walk or park adjacent to a cemetery lot shall vest in the owner of such lot no interest in the vacated portion thereof; but the adjacent owner shall, for 30 days after the date of such an order of vacation, have the right to pur…

Any owner of such cemetery as is mentioned in ORS 97.360 (2), or of any lot therein, or any relative or heir of any deceased person buried in such cemetery who fails to appear and file written objection to any proposed replat, alteration or vacation, authorized by ORS 97.360 (2),…

The enactment of ORS 97.360 (2) and 97.370 to 97.430 is hereby declared to be a necessary exercise of the police powers of the state in order to preserve and keep existing cemeteries as resting places for the dead and to preserve old and historic cemeteries from becoming unkempt …

(1) Property dedicated to cemetery purposes shall be held and used exclusively for cemetery purposes until the dedication is removed from all or any part of it by an order and decree of the county court or board of county commissioners of the county in which the property is situa…

Consistent with the provisions of ORS 368.326 to 368.366, a county may vacate any real property interests the county may own in a cemetery. Consistent with ORS 368.366 (2), the county may vacate its real property interests in favor of a private nonprofit organization provided the…

(1)(a) Whenever any cemetery that is within the limits of any county, city or town has been abandoned, or it is desirable to abandon such cemetery, the governing body of any county, if the cemetery is owned by the county, or the corporate authorities of the city or town, if the c…

(1) A person may not lay out, open up or use any property for cemetery or burial park purposes unless the person: (a) Is the owner of the property; (b) Has the written consent of the planning commission of the county or city having jurisdiction under ORS 92.042 or, if there is no…

(1) After filing the map or plat and recording the declaration of dedication, a cemetery authority may sell and convey plots subject to such rules and regulations as may be then in effect and subject to such other and further limitations, conditions and restrictions made a part o…

A person, firm or corporation may not sell or offer to sell a cemetery plot upon the promise, representation or inducement of resale at a financial profit, except with the consent and approval of the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services. Each violation of …

No cemetery authority shall pay or offer to pay, and no person, firm or corporation shall receive, directly or indirectly, a commission, bonus, rebate or other thing of value for the sale of a plot or services. This does not apply to a person regularly employed by the cemetery au…

No person shall pay, cause to be paid or offer to pay, and no person, firm or corporation shall receive, directly or indirectly, except as provided in ORS 97.530, any commission, bonus, rebate or other thing of value in consideration of recommending or causing a dead human body t…

All plots, the use of which has been conveyed by deed or certificate of ownership as a separate plot, are indivisible except with the consent of the cemetery authority, or as provided by law.