HB 2239 Washington House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Providing Washingtonians and their loved ones with location choices for interment of remains.

HB 2239 allows Washington property owners to establish family burial grounds on their private land for interring remains of family members. It requires a 25-foot setback from property lines, prohibits burial within 150 feet of critical areas or 50 feet of public rights-of-way, and limits burial areas to 10% of the parcel. The bill prohibits selling burial plots or charging fees for interments, mandates reporting each burial to the state and county with specific details, and sets rules for relocating remains with family consent. This directly affects private landowners and families seeking burial options on their own property, while ensuring environmental and community safeguards.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

Signed into Law

Mar 2026

Introduced Jan 2, 2026 Signed Mar 24, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Substitute Bill → Substitute Passed Legislature · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to renumber sections and update references to the new chapter number from 23 to 22. The policy content regarding family burial ground regulations, penalties, and exemptions remains substantively unchanged.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remain the same; only the internal section numbering and cross-references to the new chapter were adjusted.

TECHNICAL

All references to the new chapter created by the bill were updated from 'section 23' to 'section 22' to reflect the renumbering of the bill's sections.

The bill's section numbers were renumbered sequentially (e.g., former Sec. 7 is now Sec. 7, but the content previously labeled as Sec. 7 and Sec. 8 was consolidated or renumbered to align with the new chapter reference).

Floor votes · Senate Mar 6, 2026 · House Mar 12, 2026

How they voted

48–2

Passed · 1 other

Total votes 51

Mar 6, 2026

D Democratic31

29 Yea 2 Nay

93% Yea

R Republican20

19 Yea 1

95% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Mar 24, 2026

Signed into law

Governor signed.

executive

Mar 12, 2026

Upper · Passed

President signed.

upper

Mar 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

Speaker signed.

lower

Mar 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed final passage; yeas, 96; nays, 0; absent, 0; excused, 2.

lower

Mar 12, 2026

Lower · Passed

House concurred in Senate amendments.

lower

Mar 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

Floor amendment(s) adopted.

upper

Mar 6, 2026

Amended

Committee amendment not adopted.

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

LAW - Majority; do pass with amendment(s).

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Law & Justice at 10:30 AM.

upper

Feb 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Law & Justice at 10:30 AM.

upper

Feb 4, 2026

Committee

Referred to Rules 2 Review.

lower

Feb 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary at 10:30 AM.

lower

Jan 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary at 10:30 AM.

lower

1 primary · 6 co-sponsors