Florida Statute 406.61
“Selling, buying, or conveying human remains outside state prohibited; exceptions; penalty”
What it means
Florida wrote a border rule for bodies. Under Florida Statute 406.61, the anatomical board may transport remains out of state for educational or scientific purposes, but any other person, institution, or organization conveying remains into or out of Florida for medical or dental education or research must notify the anatomical board and receive approval first. Selling or buying human remains, or conveying them out of state in violation of the section, is a first-degree misdemeanor.
The section also bans offering any monetary inducement or valuable consideration for human remains — beyond reasonable removal, storage, transportation, and after-use disposition costs — and carves out AATB-accredited nontransplant donation organizations, plus accredited museums exhibiting plastinated remains on 30 days' notice to the board.
- Conveying remains into or out of Florida for education or research requires prior notice to and approval from the anatomical board.
- Selling or buying human remains, or conveying them out of state in violation of the section, is a misdemeanor of the first degree; recognized Florida medical and dental schools are excepted.
- Received remains must carry an original burial-transit permit; dissection, segmentation, or disarticulation requires district medical examiner approval.
- Nontransplant anatomical donation organizations need specific written consent covering dissection and long-term preservation before doing either.
- No valuable consideration may be offered for remains — to a donor, a legally authorized person, an estate, or any third party — beyond reasonable removal, storage, transportation, and disposition costs.
- Exceptions: AATB-accredited nontransplant anatomical donation organizations; accredited museums conveying plastinated remains for exhibition with 30 days' notice and documentation.
How it plays out
This is Florida's anti-body-broker section, and its architecture is the tell: movement control plus a payment ban. When a family suspects a relative's donated remains were commercialized, the questions we work through track the statute — did the remains leave Florida, was the board notified and approval given, was the receiving organization actually accredited, and did any money flow beyond documented costs. A gap in any of those answers is where a civil claim, and sometimes a prosecution, begins.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 406.61 does real work:
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