Cemetery and Crematory Regulation
Cemetery licensure
Oregon licenses cemeteries and requires cemetery authorities to maintain records of interments and lot ownership, provide a written contract for lot sales, and fund endowment care. A portion of each lot sale must be deposited into an endowment care trust; the cemetery must report and use the fund only for care and maintenance as allowed. Preneed cemetery merchandise and services are also regulated.
Crematory licensure and operations
A crematory must be licensed, and a certified crematory operator must perform or directly supervise cremations. Before cremation, the operator must obtain written authorization from the person with right to control disposition, confirm the identity of the remains, remove any pacemaker or hazardous device, and ensure the death certificate and disposition permit are complete. Oregon imposes a waiting period after death before cremation, generally 48 hours, unless an exception applies.
Records and remains handling
The crematory must maintain a chain-of-custody record, place an identifying tag with the remains, and process remains separately to prevent commingling. Cremated remains must be returned in a labeled container. The cemetery or crematory must retain records for the period set by rule.
Worked example
A crematory receives remains at 3 p.m. Monday and schedules cremation for 8 a.m. Tuesday. If Oregon’s 48-hour waiting period has not been met and no exception applies, the crematory must wait. Proceeding early is a violation even with family consent.
Traps
Do not confuse cemetery endowment care with preneed funeral trusts. Do not assume a funeral director’s authorization substitutes for the crematory’s own authorization. Do not skip pacemaker removal. Do not commingle remains or omit the ID tag.