Colorado governor to sign bills regulating funeral homes after discovery of 190 rotting bodies

DENVER (AP) — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is set to sign two bills Friday morning that overhaul the state’s oversight of the funeral home industry after a series of gruesome discoveries, including 190 discomposing bodies in a facility, families being sent fake ashes and the unauthorized sale of body parts.

The cases put Colorado’s lax funeral home regulations — some of the weakest in the nation — in the spotlight and rocked hundreds of already grieving families. Some had ceremonially spread ashes that turned out to be fake. Others said they had nightmares of what their decaying loved ones’ might have looked like.

The proposals bring Colorado in line with most other states.

One requires regulators to routinely inspect funerals homes and give them more enforcement power. Another implements licensing for funeral directors and other industry roles. Those qualifications include background checks, degrees in mortuary science, passing a national exam and work experience.

Previously, funeral home directors in Colorado didn’t have to graduate from high school, let alone get a degree.

The funeral home industry was generally on board with the changes, though some were concerned that strict requirements for funeral home directors were unnecessary and would make it difficult to find hirable applicants.

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