Idaho lawmaker introducing bill addressing what mortuaries can do with unclaimed ashes
Published at | Updated at
IDAHO FALLS – Stephanie Mickelsen is anticipating a “chaotic” legislative session as it wraps its third day in Boise.
The Republican Representative for District 32, which includes most of Bonneville County, is headed into the session on the heels of a censure from the Legislative District 32 committee. The committee is dissatisfied with her performance, based on the way she voted on 13 different bills in the last legislative session.
Though she pledged to support the Republican Party platform when she filed to run for office, the committee says her voting record appears to be more in line with the Democrat Party. The fact that she did not attend the committee’s public hearing last month, which was designed to give her a chance to account for her votes, indicates she has no interest in the Republican Party’s concerns, they say.
The committee is calling on Mickelsen to “reaffirm her commitment” to the party this session and to “consider the platform when evaluating proposed legislation.”
Mickelsen tells EastIdahoNews.com her responsibility is to her constituents and she’s planning to continue to represent them, regardless of how the committee feels about that.
“That’s the responsibility I have and the local party is going to have to do whatever they want to do,” Mickelsen says. “I’m going to continue to vote the way constituents in my district need me to vote.”
Mickelsen’s three committee assignments include Environment, Energy & Technology, Resources & Conservation and Revenue & Taxation.
There are multiple bills she’s working on. One of them introduces the idea of electronic driver’s licenses, which we’re planning to cover in a future story.
One piece of legislation she’s particularly passionate about revolves around the disposal of unclaimed ashes at a funeral home.
“Apparently, there are people who have their loved ones cremated and then don’t want to collect their ashes,” says Mickelsen. “Funeral homes are at a loss at what they can do because state statute doesn’t really spell that out.”
‘A side of the industry no one ever thinks about’
Kelby Dayley, funeral director at Coltrin Mortuary in Idaho Falls, brought this to her attention. The crematory has 10 urns with unclaimed ashes currently in storage. The oldest one dates back to 2013.
It’s an issue they deal with every so often, he says, and there are a variety of reasons for it.
“Sometimes I think it’s neglect or regret. They don’t want their loved ones ashes (because they didn’t get along with them),” Dayley says. “Other times, people (who live outside the area) don’t want to pay for the shipping (of the urn) because it costs too much money.”
Though the mortuary tries contacting the family about it, Dayley says many times they say they’ll come pick it up and never do or they don’t respond.
Brian Wood at Wood Funeral Home — which has a “closet full” of unclaimed ashes over the years with the oldest ones dating back 20-30 years — cites similar reasons.
“More often than not, they are what the county deems an indigent case. Somebody is either alone or homeless and the county eventually signs as a representative to cremate. Once we cremate, that’s when we are worried legally what to do with the cremains,” Wood explains.
RELATED | What happens to a body after it’s taken to a funeral home?
Under Idaho law, the final disposition of a dead body is defined as the burial or cremation. Idaho code 31-2802 specifies how the burial or cremation of unclaimed bodies in a coroner’s custody should be handled, but there is no statute explaining how it works for mortuaries.
Since the law doesn’t define what to do with cremains if no one claims them, Wood says funeral homes have the burden of storing them indefinitely and it makes them liable to potential lawsuits if they dispose of them without permission from the family.
“It’s a gray area that’s never been addressed,” he says.
Family members have the right to scatter ashes wherever they choose, as long as they have permission from the property owner. There is a statute that says ashes cannot be scattered in a waterway, according to Mickelsen. The reason for it is tied to concerns about water contamination.
Wood feels funeral homes should have a right to scatter ashes a year after the cremation if no one comes forward to claim them, on the condition it’s done in an “honorable and dignified manner.”
Dayley feels similarly, saying it’s not doing the mortuary any good to store cremains for a family “who doesn’t want to pick them up.” But he thinks a year might be too soon.
“Three to five years (is a good timeframe),” says Dayley.
Cremations are becoming more common due to a variety of factors, and both men say having state guidance on the matter would be helpful.
RELATED | Rising trend prompts opening of new cremation center in Ammon
Though they’re hopeful a solution will be reached eventually, they don’t anticipate it happening quickly because it’s “a side of the industry no one ever thinks about.”
Mickelsen is planning to introduce the bill soon. It’s in the preliminary stages, so it’s hard to say what committee will approve it or whether it will move forward. The Legislature is scheduled to be in session through at least March 22.