(a) The operator of a crematory facility may schedule the time for the cremation of a dead human body to occur at the operator’s own convenience at any time after the conditions set forth in § 62-5-504 have been met and the decedent or body parts have been delivered to the facility, unless, in the case of a dead human body, the operator has received specific instructions to the contrary from the licensed establishment. The operator of a crematory facility becomes responsible for a dead human body or body parts when the body or body parts have been delivered to or accepted by the facility or an employee or agent of the facility.
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 62-5-507

  • Body parts: means limbs or other portions of the anatomy that are removed from a living person for medical purposes during biopsy, treatment or surgery. See Tennessee Code 62-5-501
  • Casket: means a rigid container that is designed for the encasement of a dead human body and that is constructed of wood, metal or another rigid material, is ornamented and lined with fabric and may or may not be combustible. See Tennessee Code 62-5-501
  • Cremation: means the heating process by which a human body or body parts are reduced to bone fragments through combustion and evaporation. See Tennessee Code 62-5-101
  • Crematory: includes crematorium. See Tennessee Code 62-5-101
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Personal representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
  • signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Temporary container: means a receptacle for cremated remains composed of cardboard, plastic, metal or another material that can be closed in a manner that prevents the leakage or spillage of the cremated remains and the entrance of foreign material and that is of sufficient size to hold the cremated remains until they are placed in an urn or scattered. See Tennessee Code 62-5-501
  • Urn: means a receptacle designed to encase cremated remains permanently. See Tennessee Code 62-5-501
(b) No operator of a crematory facility shall fail to do either of the following:

(1) Upon receipt at the crematory facility of any dead human body that has not been embalmed, place the body in a holding or refrigerated facility at the crematory facility and keep the body in the holding or refrigerated facility until near the time the cremation process commences or until the body is held at the facility for eight (8) hours or longer. If the body is held for eight (8) hours or longer, place the body in a refrigerated facility at the crematory facility and keep the body in the refrigerated facility until near the time the cremation process commences; or
(2) Upon receipt of any dead human body that has been embalmed, place the body in a holding facility at the crematory facility and keep the body in the holding facility until the cremation process commences.
(c) No operator of a crematory facility shall fail to cremate, in its entirety with the body, the casket or container, if any, in which the body was delivered or accepted by the crematory facility, if the instructions for the disposition of the body so request that item be cremated with the body; provided, that the crematory facility shall be permitted to remove any non-combustible materials from the casket or container prior to cremation.
(d) No operator of a crematory facility shall simultaneously cremate more than one (1) decedent or body parts removed from more than one (1) decedent or living person in the same cremation chamber. This subsection (d) does not prohibit the use of cremation equipment that contains more than one (1) cremation chamber.
(e) No operator of a crematory facility shall permit any person other than employees of the crematory facility, a licensed funeral director or a designee of a funeral director and persons authorized pursuant to the instructions of the decedent or an heir or personal representative of the decedent, if any, to be present in the holding facility or cremation room while any dead human bodies or body parts are being held there prior to cremation or are being cremated or while any cremated remains are being removed from the cremation chamber.
(f)

(1) No operator of a crematory facility shall remove any dental gold, body parts, organs or other items of value from a dead human body prior to the cremation or from the cremated remains after cremation unless the operator was acting under instructions that specifically authorize the removal of any dental gold, body parts, organs or other items of value.
(2) No operator of a crematory facility who removes any dental gold, body parts, organs, or other items from a dead human body or assists in the removal shall charge a fee for doing so that exceeds the actual cost to the crematory facility for performing or assisting in the removal of those materials.
(g) Upon the completion of each cremation, the operator of a crematory facility shall remove from the cremation chamber all of the cremation residue that is practicably recoverable. If all of the recovered cremated remains will not fit in the urn selected or in the temporary container, the operator shall place the remainder in a separate temporary container; and the cremated remains placed in the separate temporary container shall be delivered, released or disposed of together with those in the urn or other temporary container. Nothing in this section requires an operator of a crematory facility to recover any specified quantity or quality of cremated remains upon the completion of a cremation, but shall only require an operator to recover from the cremation chamber all of the cremation residue that is practically recoverable.
(h) No operator of a crematory facility shall knowingly represent that an urn or temporary container contains the recovered cremated remains of a specific decedent or of body parts removed from a specific decedent or living person when it does not. This section does not prohibit the making of such a representation because of the presence in the recovered cremated remains of de minimis amounts of the cremated remains of another decedent or of body parts.
(i) Operators of a crematory facility or a funeral director shall ship or cause to be shipped any cremated remains by a class or method of mail, common carrier service or delivery service that has an internal system for tracing the location of the cremated remains during shipment and that requires a signed receipt from the person accepting delivery of the cremated remains.
(j) Operators of a crematory facility shall establish and maintain a system for accurately identifying each dead human body in the facility’s possession and for identifying each decedent or living person from whom body parts in the facility’s possession were removed throughout all phases of the holding and cremation process.
(k) No operator of a crematory facility shall knowingly use or allow the use of the same cremation chamber for the cremation of dead human bodies or human body parts and animals.
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