HB3834 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB100 08179 SMS 18275 b

100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB3834

Introduced , by Rep. Dan Brady

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

225 ILCS 411/20-5

Amends the Cemetery Oversight Act. Provides that a public cemetery shall make all cemetery services available during their advertised hours of operation, including burial services on cemetery property. Provides that a public cemetery may not charge any additional fees based on the time of providing a service, so long as the service takes place during the advertised hours of operation. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning regulation.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Cemetery Oversight Act is amended by changing Section 20-5 as follows:

(225 ILCS 411/20-5)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2021)

Sec. 20-5. Maintenance and records.

(a) A cemetery authority shall provide reasonable maintenance of the cemetery property and of all lots, graves, crypts, and columbariums in the cemetery based on the type and size of the cemetery, topographic limitations, and contractual commitments with consumers. Subject to the provisions of this subsection (a), reasonable maintenance includes:

(1) the laying of seed, sod, or other suitable ground cover as soon as practical following an interment given the weather conditions, climate, and season and the interment's proximity to ongoing burial activity;

(2) the cutting of lawn throughout the cemetery at reasonable intervals to prevent an overgrowth of grass and weeds given the weather conditions, climate, and season;

(3) the trimming of shrubs to prevent excessive overgrowth;

(4) the trimming of trees to remove dead limbs;

(5) maintaining, repairing, or removing, if necessary, drains, water lines, roads, buildings, fences, and other structures; and

(6) keeping the cemetery premises free of trash and debris.

In determining whether a cemetery authority provides reasonable maintenance of the cemetery property, the Department shall consider:

(1) the cemetery authority's contractual obligations for care and maintenance;

(2) the size of the cemetery;

(3) the extent and use of the cemetery authority's financial resources;

(4) the standard of maintenance of one or more similarly situated cemeteries; in determining whether a cemetery is similarly situated, the Department shall consider the cemetery's size, location, topography, and financial resources, and whether the cemetery is a fraternal cemetery, a religious cemetery, a public cemetery, a cemetery owned and operated by a cemetery association, or a licensed cemetery.

Reasonable maintenance by the cemetery authority shall not preclude the exercise of lawful rights by the owner of an interment, inurnment, or entombment right, or by the decedent's immediate family or other heirs, in accordance with reasonable rules and regulations of the cemetery or other agreement of the cemetery authority.

In the case of a cemetery dedicated as a nature preserve under the Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act, reasonable maintenance by the cemetery authority shall be in accordance with the rules and master plan governing the dedicated nature preserve.

A cemetery authority accused of violating the reasonable maintenance standard set forth in this Section shall have a reasonable opportunity to cure the violation. The cemetery authority shall have 10 business days after receipt of notice to cure the violation. If a cemetery authority cannot cure the violation within 10 business days, then the cemetery authority may request a time extension in order to cure the violation. The request for an extension shall be made in writing to the Department and must be postmarked within 10 business days after receipt of the notice of the alleged violation. The request shall outline all reasons for the extension and an estimated date by which the cure will be accomplished. Acceptable reasons include, without limitation, delays caused by weather conditions, season or climate, equipment failures, or acquisitions of materials or supplies being addressed by the authority in a timely manner, and unexpected temporary absences of personnel. The Department may approve or deny the extension. If the extension is denied, then the cemetery authority must cure the violation within 10 business days after the date of receipt of the Department's extension denial. If the extension is granted, then the cemetery authority must cure the violation within the extended period of time. A cemetery authority that does not cure the violation within the appropriate period of time shall be subject to discipline in accordance with Article 25 of this Act.

(b) A cemetery authority, before commencing cemetery operations or within 6 months after the effective date of this Act, shall cause an overall map of its cemetery property, delineating all lots or plots, blocks, sections, avenues, walks, alleys, and paths and their respective designations, to be filed at its on-site office, or if it does not maintain an on-site office, at its principal place of business. The cemetery authority shall update its map and index described in subsection (b-5) within a reasonable time after any expansion or alteration of the cemetery property. A cemetery manager's certificate acknowledging, accepting, and adopting the map shall also be included with the map. The Department may order that the cemetery authority obtain a cemetery plat and that it be filed at its on-site office, or if it does not maintain an on-site office, at its principal place of business if (1) a human body that should have been interred, entombed, or inurned at the cemetery after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly is missing, displaced, or dismembered and (2) the cemetery map contains serious discrepancies.

In exercising this discretion, the Department shall consider whether the cemetery authority would experience an undue hardship as a result of obtaining the plat. The cemetery plat, as with all plats prepared under this Act, shall comply with the Illinois Professional Land Surveyor Act of 1989 and shall delineate, describe, and set forth all lots or plots, blocks, sections, avenues, walks, alleys, and paths and their respective designations. A cemetery manager's certificate acknowledging, accepting, and adopting the plat shall also be included with the plat.

(b-5) A cemetery authority shall maintain an index that associates the identity of deceased persons interred, entombed, or inurned after the effective date of this Act with their respective place of interment, entombment, or inurnment.

(c) The cemetery authority shall open the cemetery map or plat to public inspection. The cemetery authority shall make available a copy of the overall cemetery map or plat upon written request and shall, if practical, provide a copy of a segment of the cemetery plat where interment rights are located upon the payment of reasonable photocopy fees. Any unsold lots, plots, or parts thereof, in which there are not human remains, may be resurveyed and altered in shape or size and properly designated on the cemetery map or plat. However, sold lots, plots, or parts thereof in which there are human remains may not be renumbered or renamed. Nothing contained in this subsection, however, shall prevent the cemetery authority from enlarging an interment right by selling to its owner the excess space next to the interment right and permitting interments therein, provided reasonable access to the interment right and to adjoining interment rights is not thereby eliminated.

(d) A cemetery authority shall keep a record of every interment, entombment, and inurnment completed after the effective date of this Act. The record shall include the deceased's name, age, date of burial, and the specific location of the interred, entombed, or inurned human remains. The specific location shall correspond to the map or plat maintained in accordance with subsection (b) of this Section.

(e) (Blank).

(f) A cemetery authority shall make available for inspection and, upon reasonable request and the payment of a reasonable copying fee, provide a copy of its rules and regulations. A cemetery authority shall make available for viewing and provide a copy of its current prices of interment, inurnment, or entombment rights.

(g) A cemetery authority shall provide access to the cemetery under the cemetery authority's reasonable rules and regulations.

(h) A cemetery authority shall be responsible for the proper opening and closing of all graves, crypts, or niches for human remains in any cemetery property it owns.

(i) A licensed cemetery authority shall keep in this State and use in its business such records as will enable the Department to determine whether such licensee or trustee is complying with the provisions of this Act and with the rules, regulations, and directions made by the Department under this Act. The licensed cemetery authority shall keep the records in electronic or written format at the location identified in the license issued by the Department or as otherwise agreed by the Department in writing. The books, accounts, and records shall be accessible for review upon demand of the Department.

(j) A public cemetery shall make all cemetery services available during their advertised hours of operation, including burial services on cemetery property. A public cemetery may not charge any additional fees based on the time of providing a service, so long as the service takes place during the advertised hours of operation.

(Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.