California has a layered system for burial and memorial services. Private memorial parks, county-run grounds, special cemetery districts, church-owned cemeteries and federal veterans' cemeteries all operate side by side. Each answers to a different authority, and that affects prices, who may be buried there and who you call when something goes wrong. This page explains how the system fits together so you can reach the right office on the first call.

Who Regulates Cemeteries in California

The main state regulator is the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, part of the California Department of Consumer Affairs. It licenses private cemetery authorities, cemetery brokers and salespersons, crematories and funeral establishments under the Cemetery and Funeral Act. If a private cemetery mishandles a contract, a pre-need sale or a burial record, the Bureau is where you file a complaint.

Not every cemetery falls under that license. Grounds run by a city, county or special district follow other rules, chiefly the Public Cemetery District Law in the Health and Safety Code. Cemeteries owned by religious organizations are often exempt from Bureau licensing as well. In practice, a diocesan office, a city-owned graveyard and a for-profit memorial park may each handle a dispute differently.

A few rules apply almost everywhere in the state:

How Cemeteries Differ Between Southern California, the Bay Area and the Central Valley

Geography shapes cemetery services as much as state law does. A family in Los Angeles faces tight land and large commercial operators. A family in a small Sierra foothill town may deal with a part-time district office. Cremation now accounts for a majority of dispositions in the state, which is why many offices also handle niches, scattering gardens and memorial walls. Knowing which setting you are in tells you what to expect.

Southern California: Large Memorial Parks and Inland Growth

Southern California holds the state's largest concentration of cemeteries, and Los Angeles County has more listings than any other county in our database. The Los Angeles-area entries range from Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Parks & Mortuaries on South Glendale Avenue to All Souls Cemetery And Mausoleum on Cherry Avenue in Long Beach and Pomona Western Memorial Service on North Garey Avenue. Many are memorial parks that bundle burial, mausoleum space, cremation niches and chapels. Because land is costly, entombment and niches are common. Inland, San Bernardino County and Riverside County have expanded with their populations. Examples include Mt View Mortuary & Cemetery on East Highland Avenue in San Bernardino, Colton Western Memorial on East Cooley Drive, and Evergreen Memorial Historic Cemetery in Riverside. In Garden Grove, the Diocese of Orange Catholic Cemeteries office on Chapman Avenue handles Catholic cemetery matters for Orange County.

The Bay Area: Colma, Oakland and the East Bay

San Francisco closed itself to new burials in the early 1900s, and most of its dead were moved south to Colma in San Mateo County. A San Francisco address, such as La Mission Memorial Plan on 17th Street, therefore does not always mean the grave is inside the city. Across the bay, Alameda County lists Chapel of the Chimes on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland, a landmark building designed by architect Julia Morgan. It also lists Hayward All Saints Cemetery on 2nd Street and Livermore St Michael Cemetery on East Avenue. Further south, an entry such as Cypress Granite & Memorials on Keyes Street in San Jose appears under cemeteries in our database, though the name suggests a monument business, so confirm what it offers before you visit. Contra Costa County to the north has its own mix of church and district grounds.

Central Valley, Sacramento and the North Coast

Away from the coast, ownership shifts toward small-town and district-run grounds. Fresno Odd Fellows Cemetery on West Belmont Avenue reflects the fraternal-society cemeteries common in nineteenth-century California towns. Valley listings also include Acacia Memorial Park in Modesto, Evergreen Funeral Home And Memorial Park on B Street in Merced, Woodland Cemetery in Yolo County and Arvin Cemetery on South Vineland Road in Kern County. In the capital region, Catholic Cemeteries-Sacramento operates from 21st Street, and Sacramento County ranks high in our listings. North of the Bay, Sonoma County has a dense spread of small cemeteries. They include Sonoma City Cemetery, Druids Cemetery on Occidental Road in Sebastopol and a Department of Cemeteries office on Bennett Valley Road in Santa Rosa. Rural offices often keep limited hours, so leave a clear voicemail and expect a callback.

Veterans, Catholic and Historic Cemeteries Across California

Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, at 1800 Cabrillo Memorial Drive in San Diego County, is run by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, not the state. VA eligibility rules apply. Eligible veterans, and generally their spouses and dependent children, receive a gravesite, opening and closing, and a government headstone or marker at no charge. Families usually need the discharge papers, often the DD-214. Space is limited at older national cemeteries, so confirm which options are open for new requests.

The Catholic Church runs its own network. Catholic Cemeteries-Sacramento and the Diocese of Orange Catholic Cemeteries work as diocesan offices that set their own policies on plots, cremated remains and eligibility. A diocesan office often manages several cemeteries, so its address may be an administrative building rather than the burial grounds. Ask which cemetery is actually assigned before you drive out.

California's oldest cemeteries trace back to the Gold Rush and early statehood. Evergreen Memorial Historic Cemetery in Riverside dates to the nineteenth century, and many older grounds are kept up by small associations or volunteers. Record-keeping at these sites can be incomplete. For family history, ask the office about burial registers first, then check county historical societies and the county recorder.

Preparing to Contact a California Cemetery Office

Start by confirming who owns the cemetery: a private company, a church, a city, a district or the VA. The owner determines the price list, the complaint route and the rules for markers. Then call during weekday business hours, since grounds are often open from dawn to dusk but offices are not. Ask about plot availability, the interment right, the opening and closing charge, and any vault or liner requirement. Request prices in writing, and ask whether weekend or holiday burials cost extra.

Bring the funeral director's paperwork or a certified death certificate, photo ID, and any deed or certificate of interment right for an existing plot. For pre-need contracts, bring the contract and payment records. In the Central Valley, summer heat can push services to early morning, so ask about scheduling. If a problem arises, a private cemetery complaint goes to the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, a district matter to its board of trustees, a city cemetery to the city, and a national cemetery to the VA.

Government cemeteries in California include facilities administered by the VA's National Cemetery Administration, state veterans cemeteries funded through state and federal partnerships, and local municipal and county cemeteries operated by city and county governments throughout the state.

Cemetery locations are available in 343 cities across California. They are spread across 55 counties.

Cities with the highest concentration include Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, where established municipal cemeteries have served their communities for generations and maintain extensive historical burial records.

Veterans in California may be eligible for burial in a state veterans cemetery at little or no cost. Contact the California Department of Veterans Affairs or Veterans Services to confirm eligibility requirements and available state-operated facilities.

Cemetery by Counties

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Families and genealogists in California can often request burial records from municipal cemetery offices or search online databases maintained by state archives and historical societies. Many California counties have digitized older cemetery records that are available through county clerk or public library genealogy collections.

Browse Cemetery by county across California to find the nearest location.

Cremation, Sea Burial and Records Requests in California

California families increasingly choose cremation, and state law has widened the options. Alkaline hydrolysis, sometimes called aquamation, became legal in 2020, and a 2022 law allows natural organic reduction beginning in 2027. Availability depends on the provider, so ask a funeral home or crematory what it offers before assuming an option exists near you.

Sea scattering is common along the coast. The Los Angeles listings include Ash Burial At Sea Cemetery on Venice Boulevard. Pets have their own places too, such as Pine Knoll Pet Cemetery on Sims Road in Santa Cruz. Pet cemeteries are separate from human burial grounds, so confirm what any of them permits before you buy.

Records are the other common reason to call. A cemetery office can usually confirm who is buried in a plot, the section and lot number, and who owns the interment right. Death certificates come from the county recorder or health department, and older burials may need research through local historical societies. When a listing has no phone number, such as Benicia Saint Dominics Cemetery on Hillcrest Avenue in Solano County, check with the local parish or the county before visiting.

Costs vary widely between a rural district plot and a Los Angeles memorial park, so request written prices from each. Compare the interment right, opening and closing, the marker, and any vault or liner requirement. If you are unsure which agency to call, start with the cemetery's own office, then the county.

The Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, part of the California Department of Consumer Affairs, licenses and inspects private cemetery authorities, crematories, funeral establishments and related professionals under the Cemetery and Funeral Act. Public cemeteries run by cities, counties and special districts mostly fall under the Public Cemetery District Law and answer to their own boards. Religious cemeteries are often exempt from licensing. For a complaint, first identify who owns the cemetery. A private memorial park in Los Angeles goes to the Bureau, while a district-run cemetery in a rural county goes to that district's board of trustees.

Often yes, but not always on the same terms. Public cemetery districts exist mainly to serve people who live within their boundaries and help support them through property taxes. Many districts charge nonresidents a higher fee, and some limit sales when space runs short. Each district's board sets its own policy, so there is no single statewide answer. Call the office and ask for the current resident and nonresident price lists in writing. Also ask whether a nonresident with a spouse or parent already buried there qualifies for different treatment, since policies on family ties differ between districts.

Fort Rosecrans, at 1800 Cabrillo Memorial Drive, is a federal cemetery run by the Department of Veterans Affairs, so VA eligibility rules apply rather than state rules. Eligible veterans and generally their spouses and dependent children may receive a gravesite, opening and closing, and a government headstone or marker at no cost. A funeral director normally submits the request along with the veteran's discharge papers, often the DD-214. Because space at older national cemeteries is limited, ask which burial options are open for new requests. The listed phone number is 619-553-2084, and staff can explain current procedures.

You need a certified death certificate filed with the local registrar and a permit for disposition. The funeral director usually handles both, along with the medical certification signed by a physician or the coroner. If the death falls under the coroner's jurisdiction, such as an unattended or accidental death, release of the body can take longer. The cemetery will also ask for written authorization from the person legally entitled to control the remains and, for an existing plot, proof of the interment right. Order several certified copies of the death certificate, since banks and insurers each ask for one.

Yes, within limits. Federal EPA rules generally require scattering at least three nautical miles from shore, and the person responsible must notify the EPA within 30 days afterward. California has its own rules for scattering on land and in harbors, and private property needs the owner's permission. Licensed operators can handle the logistics. Our database lists Ash Burial At Sea Cemetery at 931 Venice Boulevard in Los Angeles, reachable at 424-346-0194. Harbors, state parks and national parks set separate permit rules, so check with the managing agency before scattering anywhere other than open ocean.

Counties are responsible for the disposition of unclaimed or indigent decedents, usually through the coroner, medical examiner or public administrator. Families who cannot pay should contact the county office where the death occurred before signing any funeral contract. Some counties offer a basic cremation or burial, but the service is minimal and eligibility rules vary. Veterans may qualify for a free national cemetery burial, and insurance, union or other benefits may help. Ask the county what it does with remains afterward, since some hold ashes for a period and later inter them together.