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Is it legal to sell human remains as oddities in Minnesota? – MinnPost
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No.
A 2024 bill made it a felony to sell human remains as oddities, a term used for unusual commodities such as taxidermy, bugs and bones.
HF3490 banned the sale of human remains under almost all circumstances in Minnesota. The only exceptions are to medical institutions/practitioners, companies registered with the Food and Drug Administration for research purposes, or to law enforcement, search and rescue units and other emergency management in order to train dogs to find dead bodies.
On Jan. 3, Minnesotan Mathew Lampi was sentenced to 15 months in prison for interstate transport of stolen goods — in this case, human remains. One of these remains, sent to Lampi by “oddities” merchant Jeremy Lee Pauley, was the body of a stillborn child from Arkansas. In exchange for the body and $1,500, Lampi gave Pauley five human skulls.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources:
Minnesota Legislature: HF 3940
Minnesota Legislature: Minnesota Session Laws – 2024, Regular Session
Minnesota Senate Counsel, Research & Fiscal Analysis: Chapter 123 – Judiciary and Public Safety Supplemental Budget and Policy Act (H.F. No. 5216)
United States Department of the Interior: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
WBUR: Harvard, the human remains trade, and collectors who fuel the market
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Pennsylvania: Minnesota Man Sentenced To 15 Months For Trafficking In Stolen Human Remains
KARE 11+: MN man pleads guilty for role in trade of stolen hhttps://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/mn-man-mathew-lampi-pleads-guilty-for-role-in-buying-selling-stolen-human-body-parts/89-54a0da29-31fd-4d69-9e6b-2688b677bbc3uman body parts
Minnesota Star Tribune: Prison for Minnesota tattoo artist who trafficked in stolen human remains
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by Deanna Pistono, MinnPost
April 9, 2025
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