FINAL BILL REPORT

                           2SSB 5800

                           C 53 L 94

                      SYNOPSIS AS ENACTED

Brief Description:  Increasing the penalty for violating human remains.

SPONSORS: Senate Committee on Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Senators Nelson, A. Smith and Winsley)

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LAW & JUSTICE

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

BACKGROUND:

Current statutes provide criminal penalties if a person mutilates, disinters, or removes human remains from the place of interment without authority of law.  It has been suggested that sexual contact with a deceased person should also be prohibited.

SUMMARY:

A person who has sexual contact or sexual intercourse with a dead human body is guilty of a class C felony.  The crime is added to the criminal code and ranked at seriousness level V for the purposes of the Sentencing Reform Act.

VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE:

Senate    46   0

House     95   0

EFFECTIVE:June 9, 1994