100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB4946

 

Introduced , by Rep. Nick Sauer

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
765 ILCS 835/1  from Ch. 21, par. 15

    Amends the Cemetery Protection Act. Provides that any person who acts without proper legal authority and who willfully and knowingly destroys or damages the remains of a deceased human being or who desecrates human remains is guilty of a Class 2 (instead of a Class 3) felony. Provides that any person who acts without proper legal authority and who willfully and knowingly removes any portion of the remains of a deceased human being from a burial ground where skeletal remains are buried or from a grave, crypt, vault, mausoleum, or other repository of human remains is guilty of a Class 2 (instead of Class 4) felony.


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CORRECTIONAL BUDGET AND IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning cemeteries.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Cemetery Protection Act is amended by
5changing Section 1 as follows:
 
6    (765 ILCS 835/1)  (from Ch. 21, par. 15)
7    Sec. 1. (a) Any person who acts without proper legal
8authority and who willfully and knowingly destroys or damages
9the remains of a deceased human being or who desecrates human
10remains is guilty of a Class 2 Class 3 felony.
11    (a-5) Any person who acts without proper legal authority
12and who willfully and knowingly removes any portion of the
13remains of a deceased human being from a burial ground where
14skeletal remains are buried or from a grave, crypt, vault,
15mausoleum, or other repository of human remains is guilty of a
16Class 2 Class 4 felony.
17    (b) Any person who acts without proper legal authority and
18who willfully and knowingly:
19        (1) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a burial
20    ground where skeletal remains are buried or a grave, crypt,
21    vault, mausoleum, or other repository of human remains;
22        (2) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a park or
23    other area clearly designated to preserve and perpetuate

 

 

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1    the memory of a deceased person or group of persons;
2        (3) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates plants,
3    trees, shrubs, or flowers located upon or around a
4    repository for human remains or within a human graveyard or
5    cemetery; or
6        (4) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a fence,
7    rail, curb, or other structure of a similar nature intended
8    for the protection or for the ornamentation of any tomb,
9    monument, gravestone, or other structure of like
10    character;
11is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor if the amount of the damage
12is less than $500, a Class 4 felony if the amount of the damage
13is at least $500 and less than $10,000, a Class 3 felony if the
14amount of the damage is at least $10,000 and less than
15$100,000, or a Class 2 felony if the damage is $100,000 or more
16and shall provide restitution to the cemetery authority or
17property owner for the amount of any damage caused.
18    (b-5) Any person who acts without proper legal authority
19and who willfully and knowingly defaces, vandalizes, injures,
20or removes a gravestone or other memorial, monument, or marker
21commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether
22located within or outside of a recognized cemetery, memorial
23park, or battlefield is guilty of a Class 4 felony for damaging
24at least one but no more than 4 gravestones, a Class 3 felony
25for damaging at least 5 but no more than 10 gravestones, or a
26Class 2 felony for damaging more than 10 gravestones and shall

 

 

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1provide restitution to the cemetery authority or property owner
2for the amount of any damage caused.
3    (b-7) Any person who acts without proper legal authority
4and who willfully and knowingly removes with the intent to
5resell a gravestone or other memorial, monument, or marker
6commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether
7located within or outside a recognized cemetery, memorial park,
8or battlefield, is guilty of a Class 2 felony.
9    (c) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the
10removal or unavoidable breakage or injury by a cemetery
11authority of anything placed in or upon any portion of its
12cemetery in violation of any of the rules and regulations of
13the cemetery authority, nor to the removal of anything placed
14in the cemetery by or with the consent of the cemetery
15authority that in the judgment of the cemetery authority has
16become wrecked, unsightly, or dilapidated.
17    (d) If an unemancipated minor is found guilty of violating
18any of the provisions of subsection (b) of this Section and is
19unable to provide restitution to the cemetery authority or
20property owner, the parents or legal guardians of that minor
21shall provide restitution to the cemetery authority or property
22owner for the amount of any damage caused, up to the total
23amount allowed under the Parental Responsibility Law.
24    (d-5) Any person who commits any of the following:
25        (1) any unauthorized, non-related third party or
26    person who enters any sheds, crematories, or employee

 

 

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1    areas;
2        (2) any non-cemetery personnel who solicits cemetery
3    mourners or funeral directors on the grounds or in the
4    offices or chapels of a cemetery before, during, or after a
5    burial;
6        (3) any person who harasses or threatens any employee
7    of a cemetery on cemetery grounds; or
8        (4) any unauthorized person who removes, destroys, or
9    disturbs any cemetery devices or property placed for safety
10    of visitors and cemetery employees;
11is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and of
12a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense.
13    (e) Any person who shall hunt, shoot or discharge any gun,
14pistol or other missile, within the limits of any cemetery, or
15shall cause any shot or missile to be discharged into or over
16any portion thereof, or shall violate any of the rules made and
17established by the board of directors of such cemetery, for the
18protection or government thereof, is guilty of a Class C
19misdemeanor.
20    (f) Any person who knowingly enters or knowingly remains
21upon the premises of a public or private cemetery without
22authorization during hours that the cemetery is posted as
23closed to the public is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
24    (g) All fines when recovered, shall be paid over by the
25court or officer receiving the same to the cemetery authority
26and be applied, as far as possible in repairing the injury, if

 

 

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1any, caused by such offense. Provided, nothing contained in
2this Act shall deprive such cemetery authority or the owner of
3any interment, entombment, or inurnment right or monument from
4maintaining an action for the recovery of damages caused by any
5injury caused by a violation of the provisions of this Act, or
6of the rules established by the board of directors of such
7cemetery authority. Nothing in this Section shall be construed
8to prohibit the discharge of firearms loaded with blank
9ammunition as part of any funeral, any memorial observance or
10any other patriotic or military ceremony.
11(Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 96-863, eff. 3-1-10.)