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Monday, Dec. 8, 2025

Can funeral directors operate without licenses in Colorado?

Cassis Tingley, The Colorado Sun
yes

Colorado does not currently require funeral directors, mortuary science practitioners, embalmers, cremationists or natural reductionists to have a license to operate in the state. 

Following a 2024 bill passed after a number of high-profile scandals involving improper disposal of bodies by Colorado funeral homes, these professions will require a license starting Jan. 1, 2027. 

The new rules require a criminal background check, clean disciplinary record in the mortuary field, an application fee and completion of an accredited mortuary science program or, for cremationists and natural reductionists, certification as a crematory operator.

These regulations come after funeral homes in Penrose, Littleton and Las Animas County were found to have mishandled remains. In Penrose, authorities found more than 190 improperly stored bodies decomposing at Return to Nature Funeral Home. 

Colorado is the last state in the U.S. to require licensing for professions in the mortuary field. 

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