Bill Commons

DE HB 359

enacted

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 AND TITLE 31 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DISPOSITION OF HUMAN REMAINS.

Delaware · 2025-2026 Regular Session (153rd General Assembly) · lower

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Quick answers

Did DE HB 359 pass?

Yes. DE HB 359 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2026-09-24): Signed by Governor

What is DE HB 359 about?

This Act permits the State to bury or cremate an unclaimed body or remains of an indigent individual without requiring written consent of the next of kin or other legally responsible party. This statutory change will reduce costs, conserve cemetery space, and reduce environmental impacts by limiting formaldehyde exposure in the soil.

Who sponsors DE HB 359?

David L. Wilson, Melanie Ross Levin, Russell Huxtable and 7 others are the primary sponsors of DE HB 359.

Description

This Act permits the State to bury or cremate an unclaimed body or remains of an indigent individual without requiring written consent of the next of kin or other legally responsible party. This statutory change will reduce costs, conserve cemetery space, and reduce environmental impacts by limiting formaldehyde exposure in the soil.

Introduced
2026-04-15
Latest action
2026-09-24 — Signed by Governor
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Sponsors

  • David L. Wilsonprimary
  • Melanie Ross Levinprimary
  • Russell Huxtableprimary
  • Kerri Evelyn Harrisprimary
  • Claire Snyder-Hallprimary
  • Sarah McBrideprimary
  • Stell Parker Selbyprimary
  • Ray Seigfriedprimary
  • Nicole Pooreprimary
  • DeShanna U Nealprimary

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

  1. 2026-09-24

    Signed by Governor

    executive-signature

  2. 2026-06-25

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

    passage

  3. 2026-06-17

    Reported Out of Committee (Health & Social Services) in Senate with 7 Favorable

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  4. 2026-05-05

    Assigned to Health & Social Services Committee in Senate

    introduction,referral-committee

  5. 2026-05-05

    Passed By House. Votes: 37 YES 4 ABSENT

    passage

  6. 2026-04-22

    Reported Out of Committee (Health & Human Development) in House with 1 Favorable, 9 On Its Merits

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  7. 2026-04-15

    Introduced and Assigned to Health & Human Development Committee in House

    introduction,referral-committee

Versions

Documents

Votes

  • SM

    2026-05-05 · pass · 37-0

    Member-level votes (41)
    • Alonna Berry: yes
    • Stephanie T. Bolden: yes
    • Frank Burns: yes
    • William Bush: yes
    • William J. Carson: yes
    • Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha: other
    • Richard G. Collins: yes
    • Franklin D. Cooke: yes
    • Daniel B. Short: yes
    • Timothy D. Dukes: yes
    • Mara Gorman: yes
    • Ronald E. Gray: yes
    • Krista Griffith: yes
    • Kerri Evelyn Harris: yes
    • Debra Heffernan: yes
    • Kevin S Hensley: other
    • Jeff Hilovsky: yes
    • Valerie Jones Giltner: yes
    • Kendra Johnson: yes
    • Kimberly Williams: yes
    • Kamela T Smith: yes
    • Larry Lambert: yes
    • Sean M. Lynn: yes
    • Michael F. Smith: other
    • Melissa Minor-Brown: yes
    • Shannon Morris: yes
    • Eric Morrison: yes
    • DeShanna U Neal: yes
    • Josue O Ortega: yes
    • Edward S. Osienski: yes
    • Sophie Phillips: yes
    • Charles S Postles Jr.: yes
    • Cyndie Romer: yes
    • Melanie Ross Levin: yes
    • Sherae'a Moore: other
    • Bryan W. Shupe: yes
    • Claire Snyder-Hall: yes
    • Jeffrey N. Spiegelman: yes
    • Jesse R. Vanderwende: yes
    • Madinah Wilson-Anton: yes
    • Lyndon D. Yearick: yes

  • 2/3

    2026-06-25 · pass · 21-0

    Member-level votes (21)
    • Darius J. Brown: yes
    • Eric Buckson: yes
    • Daniel Cruce: yes
    • Stephanie L. Hansen: yes
    • Gerald W. Hocker: yes
    • Kyra L. Hoffner: yes
    • Russell Huxtable: yes
    • Dave G. Lawson: yes
    • S. Elizabeth Lockman: yes
    • Spiros Mantzavinos: yes
    • Trey Paradee: yes
    • Brian Pettyjohn: yes
    • Marie Pinkney: yes
    • Nicole Poore: yes
    • Bryant L. Richardson: yes
    • Ray Seigfried: yes
    • David P. Sokola: yes
    • Laura V. Sturgeon: yes
    • Bryan Townsend: yes
    • John "Jack" Walsh: yes
    • David L. Wilson: yes

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=143094

Attribution

Data from openstates_api_sync, retrieved 2026-10-01T23:04:44.345163Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

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Use this data

Every field on this page is available from the free public API — no key or licence required. Fetch this bill as JSON: GET /api/v1/bills?jurisdiction=DE&identifier=HB 359. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.

Known limitations

  • Sponsor party and chamber affiliation are not yet captured by this API.
  • Committee referrals are not yet captured.

See the methodology page for data sources and limitations.