republic-os/legislation/us/states/ky/2026rs/sb-27.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT relating to cremation of dead bodies."
description: "Amend KRS 72.450 to allow a coroner who is in possession of an unclaimed dead body to have the body buried or cremated; direct that the decision between burial or cremation be made by the governmental entity bearing the expense; require a coroner to be consulted before a government entity decides if an unclaimed dead body is required to be buried or cremated; establish that if Jewish descent is known, that the Chabad of the Bluegrass, or any successor entity, be contacted by the appropriate government entity to inquire if the Chabad of the Bluegrass wants to pay for the burial expense, or if known to be a member of a religious community, the appropriate government entity contact any such religious community that has expressed, in writing, a willingness to the local county coroner that it will pay for, or otherwise provide, the burial expense of the community's members."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ky"
legislature: "Kentucky General Assembly"
session: "2026RS"
identifier: "SB 27"
citation: "Kentucky SB 27 (2026RS)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Cemeteries And Burials", "Coroners", "Counties", "Deaths", "Local Government", "Local Mandate", "Religion"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["G. Elkins", "M. Deneen"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 24
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2026-01-06T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2026-04-13T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6b94966b-6fc1-4cdc-95fa-0fa185de92a7"
source_url: "https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26RS/sb27.html"
source_hash: "9c5f696fd7be5c96e153884862cb2214e50158e346f1690d4f48194ad86ae4a0"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ky"]
---

# Kentucky SB 27 (2026RS) — AN ACT relating to cremation of dead bodies.

Amend KRS 72.450 to allow a coroner who is in possession of an unclaimed dead body to have the body buried or cremated; direct that the decision between burial or cremation be made by the governmental entity bearing the expense; require a coroner to be consulted before a government entity decides if an unclaimed dead body is required to be buried or cremated; establish that if Jewish descent is known, that the Chabad of the Bluegrass, or any successor entity, be contacted by the appropriate government entity to inquire if the Chabad of the Bluegrass wants to pay for the burial expense, or if known to be a member of a religious community, the appropriate government entity contact any such religious community that has expressed, in writing, a willingness to the local county coroner that it will pay for, or otherwise provide, the burial expense of the community's members.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/26RS/sb27/orig_bill.pdf)
2. **Acts Chapter 127** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/acts/26RS/documents/0127.pdf)
3. **Current/Final** (committee substitute) — [source](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/26RS/sb27/bill.pdf)

## Votes

- PASS SB 27 w/ SCS 1 — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- FINAL PASSAGE OF SB 27 w/ HCS 1 — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Pass — **76–12** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- G. Elkins — primary (person)
- M. Deneen — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-01-06T05:00:00+00:00** introduced in Senate `introduction`
- **2026-01-06T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-12T05:00:00+00:00** to State & Local Government (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-21T05:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-22T05:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2026-01-22T05:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Friday, January 23, 2026
- **2026-01-23T05:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed with 35-0 Committee Substitute (1) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-01-27T05:00:00+00:00** received in House
- **2026-01-27T05:00:00+00:00** to Committee on Committees (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-05T05:00:00+00:00** to Local Government (H) `referral-committee`
- **2026-03-24T04:00:00+00:00** reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1) `committee-passage`
- **2026-03-25T04:00:00+00:00** 2nd reading, to Rules `reading-2`
- **2026-03-27T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Tuesday, March 31 2026
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** Committee Substitute (1) adopted
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** 3rd reading, passed 76-12 with Committee Substitute (1) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** received in Senate
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** to Rules (S) `referral-committee`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** posted for passage for concurrence in House Committee Substitute (1)
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** Senate concurred in Committee Substitute (1)
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** passed 37-0 `passage`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by President of the Senate `passage`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House `passage`
- **2026-04-01T04:00:00+00:00** delivered to Governor
- **2026-04-13T04:00:00+00:00** signed by Governor (Acts Ch. 127) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6b94966b-6fc1-4cdc-95fa-0fa185de92a7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Kentucky legislature records).