(760 ILCS 100/9) (from Ch. 21, par. 64.9)

Sec. 9. Application for license.

(a) Prior to the acceptance of care funds authorized by Section 3 of this Act or the sale or transfer of the controlling interest of a licensed cemetery authority, a cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery shall make application to the Comptroller for a license to hold the funds.

In the case of a sale or transfer of the controlling interest of the cemetery authority, the prior license shall remain in effect until the Comptroller issues a new license to the newly-controlled cemetery authority as provided in Section 15b. Upon issuance of the new license, the prior license shall be deemed surrendered if the licensee has agreed to the sale and transfer and has consented to the surrender of the license. A sale or transfer of the controlling interest of a cemetery authority to an immediate family member is not considered a transfer of the controlling interest for purposes of this Section.

(b) Applications for license shall be filed with the Comptroller. Applications shall be in writing under oath, signed by the applicant, and in the form furnished by the Comptroller. The form furnished by the Comptroller shall enable a cemetery authority to apply for license of multiple cemetery locations within a single license application. A check or money order in the amount of $25 per license seeking to be issued under the application, payable to: Comptroller, State of Illinois, shall be included. Each application shall contain the following:

(1) the full name and address (both of residence and of place of business) of the applicant, if an individual; of every member, if the applicant is a partnership or association; of every officer or director, if the applicant is a corporation; and of any party owning 10% or more of the cemetery authority, and the full name and address of the parent company, if any;

(2) a detailed statement of the applicant's assets and liabilities;

(2.1) the name, address, and legal boundaries of each cemetery for which the care funds shall be entrusted and at which books, accounts, and records shall be available for examination by the Comptroller as required by Section 13 of this Act;

(3) as to the name of each individual person listed under (1) above, a detailed statement of each person's business experience for the 10 years immediately preceding the application; the present and previous connection, if any, of each person with any other cemetery or cemetery authority; whether each person has ever been convicted of any felony or has ever been convicted of any misdemeanor of which an essential element is fraud or has been involved in any civil litigation in which a judgment has been entered against him or her based on fraud; whether each person is currently a defendant in any lawsuit in which the complaint against the person is based upon fraud; whether such person has failed to satisfy any enforceable judgment entered by a court of competent jurisdiction in any civil proceedings against such individual;

(4) the total amount in trust and now available from sales of lots, graves, crypts or niches where part of the sale price has been placed in trust; the amount of money placed in the care funds of each applicant; the amount set aside in care funds from the sale of lots, graves, crypts and niches for the general care of the cemetery and the amount available for that purpose; the amount received in trust by special agreement for special care and the amount available for that purpose; the amount of principal applicable to trust funds received by the applicant; and

(5) any other information that the Comptroller may reasonably require in order to determine the qualifications of the applicant to be licensed under this Act.

Such information shall be furnished whether the care funds are held by the applicant as trustee or by an independent trustee. If the funds are not held by the applicant, the name of the independent trustee holding them is also to be furnished by the applicant.

(c) Applications for license shall also be accompanied by a fidelity bond issued by a bonding company or insurance company authorized to do business in this State or by an irrevocable, unconditional letter of credit issued by a bank or trust company authorized to do business in the State of Illinois, as approved by the State Comptroller, where such care funds exceed the sum of $15,000. Such bond or letter of credit shall run to the Comptroller and his or her successor for the benefit of the care funds held by such cemetery authority or by the trustee of the care funds of such cemetery authority. Such bonds or letters of credit shall be in an amount equal to 1/10 of such care funds. However, such bond or letter of credit shall not be in an amount less than $1,000; the first $15,000 of such care funds shall not be considered in computing the amount of such bond or letter of credit. No application shall be accepted by the Comptroller unless accompanied by such bond or letter of credit.

Applications for license by newly organized cemetery authorities after January 1, 1960 shall also be accompanied by evidence of a minimum care fund deposit in an amount to be determined as follows: if the number of inhabitants, either in the county in which the cemetery is to be located or in the area included within a 10 mile radius from the cemetery if the number of inhabitants therein is greater, is 25,000 or less the deposit shall be $7,500; if the number of inhabitants is 25,001 to 50,000, the deposit shall be $10,000; if the number of inhabitants is 50,001 to 125,000, the deposit shall be $15,000; if the number of inhabitants is over 125,000, the deposit shall be $25,000.

After an amount equal to and in addition to the required minimum care fund deposit has been deposited in trust, the cemetery authority may withhold 50% of all future care funds until it has recovered the amount of the minimum care fund deposit.

(d) (Blank).

(e) All bonds and bonding deposits made by any cemetery authority may be returned to the cemetery authority or cancelled as to care funds invested with an investment company.

(Source: P.A. 92-419, eff. 1-1-02.)