{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-21-21-1161","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 21, § 21-1161","heading":"Unlawful removal of dead body - Violation of or damage to","body":"casket or burial vault.\n\nA. No person shall intentionally remove the dead body of a\n\nhuman being or any part thereof from the initial site where such\n\ndead body is located for any purpose, unless such removal is\n\nauthorized by a district attorney or his authorized representative\n\nor medical examiner or his authorized representative, or is not\n\nrequired to be investigated pursuant to the provisions of Section\n\n938 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes, said authorization by the\n\ndistrict attorney or medical examiner shall not be required prior to\n\nthe removal of said body. A district attorney having jurisdiction\n\nmay refuse to prosecute a violation of this subsection if the\n\ndistrict attorney determines that circumstances existed which would\n\njustify such removal or that such removal was not an act of malice\n\nor wantonness.\n\nB. No person shall remove any part of the dead body of a human\n\nbeing from any grave or other place where the same has been buried,\n\nor from any place where the same is deposited while awaiting burial,\n\nwith intent to sell the same, or to dissect it without authority of\n\nlaw, or from malice or wantonness.\n\nC. No person shall willfully or with malicious intent violate\n\nor cause damage to the casket or burial vault holding the deceased\n\nhuman remains.\n\nD. Any person convicted of violating any of the provisions of\n\nthis section shall be guilty of a Class D1 felony offense and shall\n\nbe punished by imprisonment as provided for in subsections B through\n\nF of Section 20N of this title, or by a fine not exceeding Five\n\nThousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment.\n\nR.L. 1910, § 2456. Amended by Laws 1986, c. 281, § 1, eff. Nov. 1,\n\n1986; Laws 1989, c. 193, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1989; Laws 1997, c. 133,\n\n§ 300, eff. July 1, 1999; Laws 1999, 1st Ex.Sess., c. 5, § 201, eff.\n\nJuly 1, 1999; Laws 2025, c. 486, § 401, eff. Jan. 1, 2026.\n\nNOTE: Laws 1998, 1st Ex.Sess., c. 2, § 23 amended the effective\n\ndate of Laws 1997, c. 133, § 300 from July 1, 1998, to July 1, 1999.","path":["OK Code","Title 21"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os21.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"f5114b22cf108efa113d7d1da1fdf4219f2600fbc36d96c8df388be4fc0d6f54","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-21-21-1160","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-21-21-1161.1"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}