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2018 Georgia Code 31-21-44 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 31-21-44 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 31-21-44

TITLE 31 HEALTH

Section 21. Dead Bodies, 31-21-1 through 31-21-45.

ARTICLE 3 OFFENSES

31-21-44. Wanton or malicious removal of dead body from grave or disturbance of contents of grave; receipt, retention, disposal, or possession of unlawfully removed dead body or bodily part.

  1. It is unlawful for any person wantonly or maliciously to:
    1. Remove the dead body of a human being from any grave or other place of interment or from any vault, tomb, or sepulcher; or
    2. Otherwise disturb the contents of any grave or other place of interment or any vault, tomb, or sepulcher.
  2. It is unlawful for any person to receive, retain, dispose of, or possess the dead body or any bodily part of a human being knowing it to have been removed unlawfully from any grave or other place of interment or any vault, tomb, or sepulcher. This subsection shall not apply to any person having duties imposed upon that person relating to the possession or disposition of dead bodies while in the performance of said duties, which persons shall include law enforcement personnel, coroners and medical examiners, operators of funeral establishments, cemetery operators, and medical and medical laboratory personnel.
  3. Any person who violates any provision of this Code section shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than five years, or by both such imprisonment and fine.

(Code 1933, § 88-2710.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1980, p. 1434, § 1; Ga. L. 1989, p. 360, § 1.)

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

No basis for private right of action.

- Individual was not permitted pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 9-15-2(d) to file a pro se civil complaint related to the final disposition of a family member's remains because no applicable legal authority recognized any private right of action based on alleged violations of O.C.G.A. § 31-21-44, a criminal statute relating to the disposition of human remains. Verdi v. Wilkinson County, 288 Ga. App. 856, 655 S.E.2d 642 (2007), cert. denied, 2008 Ga. LEXIS 397 (Ga. 2008).

In a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit, a Native American plaintiff failed to state a claim against a city and a private developer for disturbing graves because O.C.G.A. § 31-21-44 criminalized the destruction of graves but did not create a private cause of action. Serpentfoot v. Rome City Comm'n, F.3d (11th Cir. Apr. 7, 2009)(Unpublished).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 22A Am. Jur. 2d, Dead Bodies, § 78.

C.J.S.

- 25A C.J.S., Dead Bodies, § 27 et seq.

ALR.

- Liability for desecration of graves and tombstones, 77 A.L.R.4th 108.

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