TITLE 27

CEMETERIES AND CREMATORIUMS

CHAPTER 5

PROTECTION OF GRAVES

27-502.  Prohibited acts. (1) Except as provided in section 27-503, Idaho Code, no person shall willfully remove, mutilate, deface, injure or destroy any cairn or grave. Persons disturbing graves through inadvertence, including by construction, mining, or logging, shall cause the human remains to be reinterred. The expense for such reinterment shall be at least partially borne by the state historical society with the exception of acts prohibited by subsection (2) of this section that are not exempted by subsection (3) of this section.

(2)  No person or entity shall:

(a)  Possess, sell, purchase, or lease any artifacts or any human remains taken from a cairn, grave, or burial site in a manner other than that authorized under section 27-503, Idaho Code, or subsection (3) of this section;

(b)  Publicly display or exhibit any human remains; or

(c)  Sell or advertise the sale of any material advertised as real human remains.

(3)  The provisions of this section shall not apply to:

(a)  Actions taken in the performance of official law enforcement, county coroner, or any other governmental duties and actions taken in accordance with the instructions of government officials;

(b)  Actions taken in the care of a decedent in compliance with Idaho law by a licensed medical practice or care center, mortuary, cemetery, human remains transportation service, first responder service, or medical transportation service;

(c)  Actions taken by state-licensed medical centers, medical research facilities, or other research centers in good standing with the state of Idaho and federally registered as a tax-exempt organization with the internal revenue service;

(d)  Actions taken by public museums or regionally accredited certificate-granting or degree-granting postsecondary education institutions registered in good standing with the state of Idaho and federally registered as a tax-exempt organization with the internal revenue service;

(e)  Actions taken by an entity to facilitate transportation of human remains to or from such museums or regionally accredited certificate-granting or degree-granting postsecondary education institutions in accordance with contractual obligations to such museum or educational entity;

(f)  Any work in compliance with the revised uniform anatomical gifts act, chapter 34, title 39, Idaho Code, or the national organ transplant act, 42 U.S.C. 274e(c)(2);

(g)  Any possession of a decedent by a loved one or good Samaritan awaiting response by those described in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this subsection;

(h)  Any action deemed exempt by the Idaho attorney general;

(i)  Any action or human remains specimen as provided in section 27-503, Idaho Code, or the federal native American graves protection and repatriation act;

(j)  Any action taken in accordance with or by the representative holding right of disposition of cremated human remains;

(k)  Possession of cremains, as defined in section 54-1102, Idaho Code;

(l)  Possession of protected religious relics as provided in section 73-402, Idaho Code; and

(m)  Actions taken by persons to turn in human remains, in good faith, to law enforcement or the county coroner.

(4)  A violation of the provisions of this section shall be a felony punishable as provided in section 18-112, Idaho Code.

(5)  Seizure of evidence of a violation:

(a)  Evidence of a violation of the provisions of this section shall be subject to seizure by persons authorized to enforce the provisions of this section and subject to forensic and DNA testing.

(b)  Evidence seized pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be subject to forfeiture upon the order of a court if the court determines by a preponderance of the evidence that the evidence was used in, or constitutes the fruit of, a violation of this section.

(c)  Human remains forfeited pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection shall be sent to the county coroner at the conclusion of all proceedings related to the violation of the provisions of this section.

History:

[27-502, added 1984, ch. 73, sec. 4, p. 137; am. 2026, ch. 253, sec. 1, p. 1092.]