New Mexico Statutes
Article 32 - Funeral Services
Section 61-32-20 - Embalming. (Repealed effective July 1, 2024.)

A. All dead human bodies not disposed of within twenty-four hours after death or release or receipt by the establishment or crematory shall be embalmed in accordance with the Funeral Services Act or stored under refrigeration as determined by board rule, unless otherwise required by regulation of the office of the state medical investigator or the secretary of health or by orders of an authorized official of the office of the state medical investigator, a court of competent jurisdiction or other authorized official.
B. A dead human body shall not be embalmed except by a funeral service practitioner, embalmer or a funeral service intern under the supervision of a funeral service practitioner.
C. When embalming is not required under the provisions of this section, a dead human body shall not be embalmed without express authorization by the:
(1) surviving spouse or next of kin;
(2) legal agent or personal representative of the deceased; or
(3) person assuming responsibility for final disposition.
D. When embalming is not required, and prior to obtaining authorization for the embalming, a dead human body may be washed and other health procedures, including closing of the orifices, may be performed without authorization.
E. When a dead human body is embalmed, the funeral service practitioner or embalmer who embalms the body or the funeral service intern who embalms the body and the funeral service practitioner who supervises the embalming shall, within twenty-four hours after the embalming procedure, complete and sign an embalming case report describing the elapsed time since death, the condition of the remains before and after embalming and the embalming procedures used. The embalming case report shall be kept on file at the establishment for a period of not less than seven years following the embalming.
F. Except as provided in Subsection A of this section, embalming is not required.
History: 1978 Comp., § 61-32-20, enacted by Laws 1993, ch. 204, § 20; 1999, ch. 284, § 14; 2003, ch. 420, § 8; 2012, ch. 48, § 15; 2019, ch. 164, § 5.
Delayed repeals. — For delayed repeal of this section, see 61-32-31 NMSA 1978.
Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 1993, ch. 204, § 32 repealed former 61-32-20 NMSA 1978, as enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 185, § 20, concerning direct disposition practices, and § 20 of the act enacted a new section, effective June 18, 1993.
The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, included a licensed embalmer within the provisions of the section; after each occurrence of "funeral service practitioner," added "embalmer".
The 2012 amendment, effective July 1, 2012, changed the name of the act; eliminated references to the associate funeral service practitioner; in Subsection A, after "in accordance with the", deleted "Thanatopractice" and added "Funeral Services"; in Subsection B, after "except by a funeral service practitioner", deleted "an associate funeral service practitioner"; and in Subsection E, in the first sentence, after "embalmed, the funeral service practitioner", deleted "or associate funeral service practitioner".
The 2003 amendment, effective July 1, 2003, in Subsection A, inserted "or release or receipt by the establishment or crematory" following "hours after death", deleted "or regulation" following "by board rule", inserted "state" following "office of the" twice; and substituted "A dead human body shall not" for "No dead human body shall" preceding "be embalmed" in Subsections B and C.
The 1999 amendment, effective June 18, 1999, inserted "within twenty-four hours after the embalming procedure" and the language beginning "described the elapsed time" in the first sentence of Subsection E, and added Subsection F.