SB 1973

relating to the regulation of human body acquisition services and
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1.  Subtitle B, Title 8, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 692B to read as follows:
CHAPTER 692B.  HUMAN BODY ACQUISITION SERVICES AND AUTHORIZED
Sec. 692B.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
(1)  "Authorized recipient" means a person or facility
located in this state that in accordance with state law and the
rules adopted under this chapter obtains a whole body, body
segment, part, or nontransplant anatomical part from a human body
acquisition service or the commission.
(2)  "Body" means the intact corporeal remains of a
(3)  "Body segment" means a portion of a whole body
detached for purposes of study, evaluation, education, or research
and composed of contiguous mixed tissues with relationships altered
only at the segment boundaries.
(4)  "Commission" means the Texas Funeral Service
(5)  "Department" means the Department of State Health
(6)  "Human body acquisition service" means a person or
facility that solicits, retrieves, performs donor selection on,
preserves, transports, allocates, distributes, acquires,
processes, stores, or arranges storage for whole bodies, body
segments, parts, or nontransplant anatomical parts, solely for
education or research purposes.
(7)  "Nontransplant anatomical part" means a part
donated for a purpose other than transplantation.
(8)  "Part" has the meaning assigned by Section
Sec. 692B.002.  RULES.  To protect the public health,
safety, and welfare, the commission, in consultation with the
department, shall adopt the rules necessary to implement and
Sec. 692B.003.  INFORMED CONSENT REQUIRED.  (a)  A human body
acquisition service may accept a donation of a whole body, body
segment, part, or nontransplant anatomical part only if the service
obtains documented informed consent to the donation from a person
authorized to consent to the donation in accordance with Chapter
(b)  The informed consent document for a donation governed by
(1)  identify the authorized recipient of the donation;
(2)  indicate whether the gift is of the whole body or
is limited to specified identifiable body segments, parts, or
nontransplant anatomical parts; and
(3)  clearly specify the authorized uses of the donated
(c)  Except as provided by Section 692B.004, a human body
acquisition service may only use or transfer a whole body, body
segment, part, or nontransplant anatomical part for a purpose
specified in the informed consent document.
Sec. 692B.004.  PRESUMPTION FOR RECIPIENT OF UNSPECIFIED
DONATION.  (a)  Unless specific direction is provided in an informed
consent document for a donation of a whole body, body segment, part,
or nontransplant anatomical part, the donated body, segment, or
part is presumed to be donated to the commission or a person or
facility included on the commission's list of authorized recipients
(b)  The commission or a person or facility included on the
commission's list of authorized recipients under Section
692B.006(c) may transfer or authorize the transfer of the whole
body, body segment, part, or nontransplant anatomical part to
another person authorized to receive an anatomical gift under
Chapter 691 or 692A for purposes of:
(1)  medical or dental education;
(2)  medical or dental research; or
(3)  the advancement of medical or dental science,
Sec. 692B.005.  RETRIEVAL AND ACQUISITION OF NONTRANSPLANT
ANATOMICAL PARTS.  A nontransplant anatomical part may be retrieved
(1)  a hospital licensed under Chapter 241; or
(2)  a human body acquisition service.
Sec. 692B.006.  RULES.  (a)  The commission by rule, and in
consultation with the department, shall establish eligibility
criteria for a person or facility to qualify as an authorized
recipient to receive a whole body, body segment, part, or
nontransplant anatomical part under this chapter.
(b)  The rules adopted under Subsection (a) must prohibit the
transfer of a whole body, body segment, part, or nontransplant
(1)  a person or facility located in a country for which
coverage is prohibited under Section 1380.003, Insurance Code;
(2)  a business entity, as defined by Section 572.002,
(3)  a person or facility that charges an admission fee
to allow members of the public to view a whole body, body segment,
part, or nontransplant anatomical part.
(c)  The commission shall publish and maintain a list of
persons and facilities that satisfy the eligibility criteria under
Subsection (a) on the commission's Internet website.
(d)  The commission shall conduct a random audit of persons
and facilities that receive a whole body, body segment, part, or
nontransplant anatomical part under this chapter to ensure the
religious or sincerely held beliefs of the deceased individual
whose whole body, body segment, part, or nontransplant anatomical
part the institution receives are honored during each step of the
human body acquisition process, if those beliefs are known to the
Sec. 692B.007.  REPORT.  On request, a human body
acquisition service or authorized recipient shall submit to the
commission reports on the service's or recipient's activities as
may be required by this chapter or commission rule.  The director of
the human body acquisition service or authorized recipient shall
Sec. 692B.008.  ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES.  (a)  Each human
body acquisition service and authorized recipient is subject to
regulation, including investigations and enforcement, under
(b)  A person who violates this chapter is subject to the
enforcement and penalties authorized under Chapter 691 as if the
person violated or failed to perform a duty imposed under that
SECTION 2.  Chapter 692B, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to conduct that is subject to regulation,
enforcement, and penalties under that chapter that occurs on or
after the effective date of this Act.  Conduct that occurs before
that date is governed by the law in effect on the date the conduct
occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that
SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.