Bills › 91st General Assembly
Relating to the natural reduction of human remains, making penalties applicable, and including effective date provisions
Sponsored by Rep. Ken Croken (D)
Topics:State government
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedFebruary 12, 2026
- Stopped: SubcommitteeDied when the General Assembly ended
- Next: House committeeFunnel: by February 20, 2026
- Next: Passes the House
- Next: Senate committeeFunnel: by March 20, 2026
- Next: Passes the Senate
- Next: To the Governor
- Next: Signed into law
Died when the session ended The General Assembly adjourned on October 2, 2026. Bills that didn’t pass both chambers died. What’s a funnel?
What’s in it
This bill relates to the practice of natural reduction by funeral directors. The bill defines “natural reduction” as the contained, accelerated conversion of human remains to soil. The bill prohibits a person other than a funeral director from providing natural reduction services and requires that natural reduction services be provided in a natural reduction establishment, as defined in the bill. The bill requires the board of mortuary science to adopt rules for the provision of natural reduction services and the licensure of natural reduction establishments, which shall include a minimum setback distance of 500 feet from any drinking water source.
Read the full explanation
To qualify for a natural reduction establishment license, the bill requires a person to submit an application and license fee as determined by the board. The bill requires the commissioner of insurance (commissioner) to adopt rules for the interment of naturally reduced human remains at a cemetery and prohibits a cemetery from interring naturally reduced human remains unless it complies with the rules of the commissioner. The bill directs the commissioner to inform the board of mortuary science of all cemeteries that can receive naturally reduced human remains. By operation of law, a person who violates a provision of the bill may be subject to a civil penalty as determined by the board and a person who makes a false statement in an application for a natural reduction establishment license is subject to all penalties prescribed for making a false affidavit. A person who fails to comply with the rules of the commissioner relating to the interment of naturally reduced human remains commits an unfair practice and may be subject to civil and criminal penalties. The bill takes effect July 1, 2027, except that the board of mortuary science and commissioner may adopt rules for implementation of the bill prior to that date.
From the explanation printed with the bill as introduced, written by the Legislative Services Agency. Amendments adopted later aren’t reflected. Full bill text
Iowa Code it changes
Read from the bill as introduced. Each links to every bill touching that chapter of the Iowa Code. How the Code works
Lobbying
0 for · 2 against · 2 undecided · Who →
Family tree
Where this legislation came from and where it went: earlier tries, the versions it moved through this Assembly, and later bills built on it.
91st General Assembly
Earlier and later bills are matched by wording or an identical title; check the text to be sure it’s the same idea.
Tried before
This idea has been filed in an earlier General Assembly. None got through a chamber.
- HF 52 Relating to the natural reduction of human remains, making penalties applicable, and inclu…90th General Assembly · Subcommittee recommends passage · same titleCleared committee
- SF 407 Relating to the natural reduction of human remains, making penalties applicable, and inclu…90th General Assembly · In committee · similarCleared committee
Matched by the wording of each bill’s explanation, or an identical title. Companion bills and renumbered versions of this bill aren’t listed; they’re the same bill.