H 41

No. 30  Page 1 of 2
2025
No. 30. An act relating to abuse of the dead body of a person.
  (H.41)
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
Sec. 1. 13 V.S.A. § 3761a is added to read:
§ 3761a. ABUSE OF THE DEAD BODY OF A PERSON
   (a) No person shall, knowingly without legal authorization, intentionally
burn, mutilate, disfigure, dismember, or destroy the dead body of a person.
   (b) No person shall violate subsection (a) of this section for the purpose of
concealing a crime or avoiding apprehension, prosecution, or conviction of a
crime.
   (c) No person shall commit sexual conduct upon the dead body of a person.
   (d)(1) A person who violates subsection (a) of this section shall be
imprisoned not more than five years or fined not more than $5,000.00, or both.
      (2) A person who violates subsection (b) or (c) of this section shall be
imprisoned not more than 15 years or fined not more than $10,000.00, or both.
   (e) As used in this section:
      (1) “Dead body of a person” does not include the cremated remains of a
person.
      (2) “Sexual conduct” means any of the following committed against the
dead body of a person:
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No. 30  Page 2 of 2
2025
  (A) any conduct involving contact between the penis and the vulva,
the penis and the penis, the penis and the anus, the mouth and the penis, the
mouth and the anus, the vulva and the vulva, or the mouth and the vulva;
  (B) any intrusion, however slight, by any part of an individual’s body
or any object into any part of a dead human body with the intent of arousing,
appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions, or sexual desire of any individual;
  (C) any touching of the dead human body with the intent of arousing,
appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions, or sexual desire of any individual;
  (D) masturbation; or
  (E) bestiality.
Sec. 2. 18 V.S.A. § 5211 is amended to read:
§ 5211. UNAUTHORIZED BURIAL OR REMOVAL; PENALTY
   A person who buries, entombs, transports, or removes the dead body of a
person without a burial-transit permit so to do, or in any other manner or at any
other time or place than as specified in such permit, shall be imprisoned not
more than five years or fined subject to a civil penalty of not more than
$1,000.00, or both.
Sec. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE
   This act shall take effect on July 1, 2025.
Date Governor signed bill: May 22, 2025
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