By Paige Orr, Fox23 News
TULSA, Okla. — Oklahoma is moving closer to becoming the 15th state to legalize “natural organic reduction,” a process more commonly known as human composting.
House Bill 3660, which has already cleared the Oklahoma House of Representatives and is currently under consideration in the Senate, would allow human remains to be transformed into nutrient-rich soil through a contained, natural process.
While the bill’s author, Rep. Eddy Dempsey, has stated the legislation is intended to give families more end-of-life choices and personal freedom, some local residents say the proposal caught them by surprise.
“To be honest, I was appalled,” said Lavonne May, a Tulsa resident who has lived in Oklahoma for 68 years. “I’d never heard of this before… I just wanted to reach out to make sure that people know what’s going on. We have the right to know.”
The process of natural organic reduction typically takes about eight weeks. It involves placing remains in a specialized vessel with organic materials like wood chips and straw to accelerate natural decomposition.
For May, the shift feels out of step with the state’s traditions.
“This concerns me because I’ve been in Oklahoma since I was 5 years old. And I’ve been there for 68 years and I’ve always been proud of my state,” May said. “I’m not so proud about Oklahoma’s doing with this. I would tell them not to do it. I would tell them to think about it carefully.”
“I think the respect and dignity is more about how you’re treating the people that are across the table from you,” Dugan said. “Certainly, there’s some of that when we’re talking about dealing with human remains as well. But if we can take somebody and put them in a cremation retort and burn them, I don’t know why we couldn’t do any of those other aspects that get us to that same kind of answer.”
Dugan also addressed concerns regarding the safety of the process, noting that the decomposition happens in a strictly controlled environment.
“They want to shake somebody up and scare them into, we’re going to create a human health issue,” Dugan said. “I just don’t see that being a problem with this. I mean, it’s all being done contained. Cremation doesn’t create a health issue… So, I don’t see our industry creating health issues. If anything, we help them.”
Currently, human composting is legal in 14 states, including Washington, Colorado, and most recently, Georgia and New Jersey.
The Oklahoma bill includes a $750 licensing fee for any facility that wishes to offer the service. If signed into law, the act would take effect on Nov. 1, 2026.
