California · Health and Safety Code - HSC

HSC §7054: (a) (1) Except as authorized pursuant to the sections referred to in subdivision (b), a person who deposits or disposes of human remains in any place, except in a cemetery, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Misdemeanor

What this law says, in plain English

A person who deposits or disposes of human remains outside a cemetery is guilty of a misdemeanor, unless authorized by law or involving cremated/hydrolyzed remains or Native American reburial.

Read the full statutory text
(a) (1) Except as authorized pursuant to the sections referred to in subdivision (b), a person who deposits or disposes of human remains in any place, except in a cemetery, is guilty of a misdemeanor. (2) Every licensee or registrant pursuant to Chapter 12 (commencing with Section 7600) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code and the agents and employees of the licensee or registrant, or an unlicensed person acting in a capacity in which a license from the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau is required, who, except as authorized pursuant to the sections referred to in subdivision (b), deposits or disposes of human remains in any place, except in a cemetery, is guilty of a misdemeanor that shall be punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both that imprisonment and fine. (b) (1) Cremated remains or hydrolyzed human remains may be disposed of pursuant to Sections 7054.6, 7116, 7117, and 103060. (2) Reduced human remains may be disposed of pursuant to Sections 7054.5, 7116, and 103060. (c) Subdivision (a) of this section shall not apply to the reburial of Native American remains under an agreement developed pursuant to subdivision ( l ) of Section 5097.94 of the Public Resources Code, or implementation of a recommendation or agreement made pursuant to Section 5097.98 of the Public Resources Code.

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