OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The costs incurred to cremate Oklahoma inmates would be deducted from the deceased prisoner's account under a bill that has cleared the Senate.

The Senate voted 41-0 on Thursday for the bill that would allow the Department of Corrections to access money accumulated in an inmate's "trust fund" to offset the roughly $350 cost for cremation. The bill was requested by the department, which expects the cost of inmate cremations to increase as the average age of prisoners continues to rise.

The Senate author of the bill, Lawton Republican Don Barrington, says it's not uncommon for personal belongings and money in an inmate's account to be collected by a designee who refuses to claim the remains.