CEMETERY ACT-MAUSOLEUM CRYPTS765 ILCS 835/9from Ch. 21, par. 21.2Amends the Cemetery Protection Act. Provides that a cemetery lot or a mausoleum crypt (instead of just a cemetery lot) may be presumed abandoned if the listed circumstances exist. Effective immediately. HB0264 EngrossedLRB09406182LCB36249bAN ACT concerning cemeteries.Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:Section 5. The Cemetery Protection Act is amended by changing Sections .01, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5a, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, and 14 as follows:(765 ILCS 835/.01)(from Ch. 21, par. 14.01)Sec. .01. For the purposes of this Act, the term:"Cemetery"cemetery authority" is
defined as in Section 2 of the "Cemetery Care Act", approved July 21, 1947,
as now and hereafter amended."Community mausoleum" means a mausoleum owned and operated by a cemetery authority that contains multiple entombment rights sold to the public.(765 ILCS 835/1)(from Ch. 21, par. 15)Sec. 1. (a) 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 3 felony.(a-5) 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 4
felony.(b) Any person who acts without proper legal authority and who willfully
and knowingly:(1) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a burial ground where
skeletal remains are buried or a grave, crypt, vault, mausoleum, or other
repository of human remains;(2) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a park or other
area
clearly designated to preserve and perpetuate the memory of a deceased
person or group of persons;(3) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates plants, trees,
shrubs, or
flowers located upon or around a repository for human remains or within a
human graveyard or cemetery; or(4) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a fence, rail,
curb, or
other structure of a similar nature intended for the protection or for the
ornamentation of any tomb, monument, gravestone, or other structure of
like character;is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor if the amount of the damage is less than
$500, a Class 4
felony if the amount of the damage is at least $500 and less than $10,000, a
Class 3 felony if the amount of the
damage is at least $10,000 and less than $100,000, or a Class 2 felony if the
damage is
$100,000 or more and shall provide
restitution to
the cemetery authority or property owner for the amount of any damage caused.(b-5) Any person who acts without proper legal authority and who willfully
and knowingly defaces, vandalizes, injures, or removes a gravestone or other
memorial, monument, or marker commemorating a deceased person or group of
persons,
whether located within or outside of a recognized cemetery, memorial park, or
battlefield is guilty of a Class 4 felony for damaging at least one but no more
than 4
gravestones, a
Class 3 felony for damaging at least 5 but no more than 10 gravestones, or a
Class 2
felony for
damaging more than 10 gravestones and shall provide restitution to the
cemetery authority or property owner for the amount of any damage caused.(b-7) Any person who acts without proper legal authority
and who willfully and knowingly removes with the intent to
resell a gravestone or other memorial, monument, or marker
commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether
located within or outside a recognized cemetery, memorial
park, or battlefield, is guilty of a Class 2 felony.(c) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the removal or
unavoidable breakage or injury by a cemetery authority of anything placed
in or upon any portion of its cemetery in violation of any of the rules and
regulations of the cemetery authority, nor to the removal of anything
placed in the cemetery by or with the consent of the cemetery authority
that in the judgment of the cemetery authority has become wrecked,
unsightly, or dilapidated.(d) If an unemancipated minor is found guilty of violating any of the
provisions of subsection (b) of this Section and is unable to provide
restitution to the cemetery authority or property owner, the parents or
legal guardians of that minor shall provide restitution to the cemetery
authority or property owner for the amount of any damage caused, up to the
total amount allowed under the Parental Responsibility Law.(e) Any person who shall hunt, shoot
or discharge any gun, pistol or other missile, within the limits of any
cemetery, or shall cause any shot or missile to be discharged into or over
any portion thereof, or shall violate any of the rules made and established
by the board of directors of such cemetery, for the protection or
government thereof, is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor.(f) Any person who knowingly enters or knowingly remains upon the
premises of a public or private cemetery without authorization during hours
that the cemetery is posted as closed to the public is guilty of a Class A
misdemeanor.(g) All fines
when recovered, shall be paid over by the court or officer receiving the
same to the cemetery authorityassociation and be applied, as far as possible in
repairing the injury, if any, caused by such offense. Provided, nothing
contained in this Act shall deprive such cemetery authorityassociation, or the owner
of any interment, entombment, or inurement rightlot or monument from maintaining an action for the recovery of
damages caused by any injury caused by a violation of the provisions of
this Act, or of the rules established by the board of directors of such
cemetery authorityassociation. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to
prohibit the discharge of firearms loaded with blank ammunition as part of
any funeral, any memorial observance or any other patriotic or military
ceremony.(765 ILCS 835/2)(from Ch. 21, par. 16)Sec. 2. The cemetery authorityboard of directors of such society or association is hereby
authorized to make by-laws or rules and regulations for the government thereof, and to make rules
regarding the driving of cars, motorcycles, carriages, processions, teams, and the speed
thereof, the use of avenues, lots, walks, ponds, water courses, vaults,
buildings, or other places within such cemetery, the operations and good management in such cemetery, the protection of visitors, the protection of employees, and for the maintenance of
good order and quiet in such cemetery, all such rules to be subject to the
rights of interment, entombment, or inurnment rightlot owners, or others, owning any interest in such cemetery; and
all persons found guilty of a violation of such rules shall be guilty of a
petty offense and shall be punished by a fine of not less than $100$5, nor more
than $500$100 for each offense. No judge shall be disqualified from hearing any
cause that may be brought before him under the provisions of this Act, nor
shall any person be disqualified from acting as a juror in such cause, by
reason of any interest or ownership they or either of them may have in the
interment, entombment, or inurnment rightslots of such cemetery.(765 ILCS 835/3)(from Ch. 21, par. 17)Sec. 3. The cemetery authoritydirectors of any cemetery society, or cemetery association, may
appoint policemen to protect such cemetery and preserve order therein, and
such policemen shall have the same power in respect to any offenses
committed in such cemetery, or any violation of this act, that city
marshals or policemen in cities have in respect to maintaining order in
such cities or arresting for offenses committed therein.(765 ILCS 835/4)(from Ch. 21, par. 18)Sec. 4. The cemetery authorityboard of directors of such cemetery society, or cemetery
association, or the trustees of any public graveyard, may set apart such
portion as they see fit of the moneys received from the sale of the interment, entombment, or inurnment rightslots,
in such cemetery or graveyard, which sums shall be kept separate from all
other assets as an especial trust fund, and they shall keep the same
invested in safe interest or income paying securities, for the purpose of
keeping said cemetery or graveyard, and the interment, entombment, or inurnment rightslots therein, permanently in
good order and repair, and the interest or income derived from such trust
fund shall be applied only to that purpose, and shall not be diverted from
such use.(765 ILCS 835/5)(from Ch. 21, par. 19)Sec. 5. It shall be the duty of the board of directors of such cemetery
society, or cemetery authorityassociation, or trustees of a public graveyard to
receive by gift or bequest, real or personal property, or the income or
avails of property which shall be conveyed in trust for the improvement,
maintenance, repair, preservation and ornamentation of such interment, entombment, or inurnment rightslot or lots,
vault or vaults, tomb or tombs, or other such structures in the cemetery or
graveyard of which such board or trustees have control, as may be
designated by the terms of such gift or bequest, and in accordance with
such reasonable rules and regulations therefor, as shall be made by such
board of directors or trustees, and such board of directors or trustees
shall keep such trust funds invested in safe interest or income bearing
securities, the income from which shall be used for the purpose aforesaid.(765 ILCS 835/5a)(from Ch. 21, par. 19a)Sec. 5a. The cemetery authoritydirectors or managing officers of any cemetery society
or cemetery association may invest the funds received under Section 4 or
5 in notes secured by a first mortgage or trust deed upon improved or
income producing real estate situated in this State and not exceeding
one-half the value thereof at the time the investment is made by the
directors. Whenever any cemetery society or cemetery authorityassociation acquires
property as a result of the foreclosure of such mortgage, or
in any other manner, the directors or managing officers of such society
or authorityassociation have the power to sell and convey the land received.(765 ILCS 835/8)(from Ch. 21, par. 21.1)Sec. 8. Where the cemetery is a privately operated cemetery, as defined in
Section 2 of the Cemetery Care Act, enacted by the Sixty-fifth General
Assembly or where the interment, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment rights in a community columbariumlot or lots, vault or vaults, tomb or tombs, or
other such structures in the cemetery or graveyard are in a privately
operated cemetery, as defined in Section 2 of that Act, then such board of
directors or managing officers of such cemetery, society or cemetery
authorityassociation, or the trustees of any public graveyard or the cemetery
society or cemetery association, shall also comply with the provisions of
the Cemetery Care Act, enacted by the Sixty-fifth General Assembly.(765 ILCS 835/9)(from Ch. 21, par. 21.2)Sec. 9. When there is no memorial, monument, or marker installed on a
cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment rights in a community columbariumlot; no interment in a cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot; no transfer or assignment of a
cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot on the cemetery authority records; no contact by an owner recorded
in the cemetery authority records; publication has been made in a local
newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the interment, entombment, or inurnment rights are located and no
response was received; and 5060 years have passed since the cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot was
sold,
there is a presumption that the cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot has been abandoned, unless a specific agreement has been entered into designating said rights to be inviolate.
Alternatively, where there is an obligation to pay a cemetery authority,
annually
or periodically, maintenance or care charges on a cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot, or part
thereof, and the owner of or claimant to a right or easement for burial in
such cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot, or part thereof, has failed to pay the required annual
or periodic maintenance or care charges for a period of 30 years or more,
such continuous failure to do so creates and establishes a presumption that
the cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot, or part thereof, has been abandoned.Upon a court's determination of abandonment, the ownership of a right or
easement for burial in a
cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot, or part thereof, shall be subject to sale in the manner
hereinafter provided.(765 ILCS 835/10)(from Ch. 21, par. 21.3)Sec. 10. A cemetery authority may file in the office of the clerk of the
circuit court of the county in which the cemetery is located a verified
petition praying for the entry of an order adjudging a cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot, or
part thereof, to have been abandoned. The petition shall describe the
cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot, or part thereof, alleged to have been abandoned, shall allege
ownership by the petitioner of the cemetery, and, if
known, the name of the owner of the right or easement for burial in such
cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot, or part thereof, as is alleged to have been abandoned, or, if
the owner thereof is known to the petitioner to be deceased, then the
names, if known to petitioner, of such claimants thereto as are the
heirs-at-law and next-of-kin or the specific legatees
under the will of the
owner of the right or easement for burial in such interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot, or part thereof,
and such other facts as the petitioner may have with respect to ownership
of the right or easement for burial in such cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot, or part thereof.The petition shall also allege the facts with respect to the abandonment of
the cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot or facts about
the obligation of the owner to pay annual or periodic maintenance or care
charges on such cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium,lot, or part thereof, the amount of such charges
as are due and unpaid, and shall also allege the continuous failure by the
owner or
claimant to pay such charges for a period of 30 consecutive years or more.Irrespective of diversity of ownership of the right or easement for
burial therein, a cemetery authority may include in one petition as many
cemetery interment rights, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment rights in a community columbariumlots, or parts thereof, as are alleged to have been abandoned.(765 ILCS 835/12)(from Ch. 21, par. 21.5)Sec. 12. In the event the owner, the claimant, or the heirs-at-law and
next-of-kin or the specific legatees under the will of
either the owner or
claimant submits proof of ownership to the court or appears and
answers
the petition, the presumption of abandonment
shall no longer exist and the court shall set the matter for hearing upon
the petition and such answers thereto as may be filed.In the event the defendant or defendants fails to appear and answer
the petition, or in the event that upon the hearing the court determines
from the evidence presented that there has been an abandonment of the
cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot for 5060 years or a continuous failure to pay
the annual or periodic maintenance or care charges on such interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot, or part
thereof, for a period of 30 years or more preceding the filing of the
petition, then, in either such event, an order shall be entered
adjudicating such interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot, or part thereof, to have been abandoned and
adjudging the right or easement for burial therein to be subject to sale by
the cemetery authority at the expiration of one year from the date of the
entry of such order. Upon entry of an order adjudicating abandonment of a
cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium,lot, or part thereof, the court shall fix such sum as is deemed a
reasonable fee for the services of petitioner's attorney.(765 ILCS 835/13)(from Ch. 21, par. 21.6)Sec. 13. In the event that, at any time within one year after adjudication
of abandonment, the owner or claimant of a interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot, or part thereof, which has
been adjudged abandoned, shall contact the court or the cemetery authority
and pay all maintenance or care charges that are
due and unpaid, shall reimburse the cemetery authority for the costs of
suit and necessary expenses incurred in the proceeding with respect to such
interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot, or part thereof, and shall contract for its future care and
maintenance, then such lot, or part thereof,
shall not be sold as herein
provided and, upon petition of the owner or claimant, the order or judgment
adjudging
the same to have been abandoned shall be vacated as to such interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot, or part
thereof.(765 ILCS 835/14)(from Ch. 21, par. 21.7)Sec. 14. After the expiration of one year from the date of entry of an
order adjudging a interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot, or part thereof, to have been abandoned, a cemetery
authority shall have the right to do so and may sell such interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot, or part
thereof, at public sale and grant an easement therein for burial purposes
to the purchaser at such sale, subject to the interment of any human
remains theretofore placed therein and the right to maintain memorials
placed thereon. A cemetery authority may bid at and purchase such interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbariumlot, or
part thereof, at such sale.Notice of the time and place of any sale held pursuant to an order
adjudicating abandonment of a cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium, or part thereof, shall be published
once in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the
cemetery is located, such publication to be not less than 30 days prior to
the date of sale.The proceeds derived from any sale shall be used to reimburse the
petitioner for the costs of suit and necessary expenses, including
attorney's fees, incurred by petitioner in the proceeding, and the balance,
if any, shall be deposited into the cemetery authority's care fund or, if
there is no care fund, used by the cemetery authority for the care of its
cemetery and for no other purpose.Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.