Sen. Sara Feigenholtz

Filed: 4/13/2023

 

 


 

 


 
10300HB1571sam001LRB103 27276 JDS 60072 a

1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1571

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1571 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 1. References to Act. This Act may be referred to
5as the Michael Bauer Memorial Act.
 
6    Section 5. The Cemetery Oversight Act is amended by
7changing Sections 10-23 and 20-5 as follows:
 
8    (225 ILCS 411/10-23)
9    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027)
10    Sec. 10-23. Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics.
11Licensed cemetery authorities and their licensed cemetery
12managers and customer service employees, and cemetery
13authorities maintaining a partial exemption and their cemetery
14managers and customer service employees shall:
15        (a) refrain from committing any action that may

 

 

10300HB1571sam001- 2 -LRB103 27276 JDS 60072 a

1    violate Section 25-10 of this Act;
2        (b) be aware of applicable federal and State laws and
3    regulations, adhere to those laws and regulations, and be
4    able to explain them to families in an understandable
5    manner;
6        (c) treat all human remains with proper care and
7    dignity, honoring known religious, ethnic, and personal
8    beliefs;
9        (d) protect all confidential information;
10        (e) carry out all aspects of service in a competent
11    and respectful manner;
12        (f) fulfill all written and verbal agreements and
13    contracts;
14        (g) provide honest, factual, and complete information
15    regarding all aspects of the services offered and
16    provided;
17        (h) not engage in advertising that is false,
18    misleading, or otherwise prohibited by law;
19        (i) not discriminate against any person because of
20    race, creed, marital status, sex, national origin, sexual
21    orientation, or color, except a religious cemetery may
22    restrict its services to those of the same religious faith
23    or creed. A cemetery authority operating any cemetery may
24    designate parts of cemeteries or burial grounds for the
25    specific use of persons whose religious code requires
26    isolation;

 

 

10300HB1571sam001- 3 -LRB103 27276 JDS 60072 a

1        (j) to have clear and specific cemetery rules and
2    regulations, subject to other applicable law, including
3    this Act, and to apply them equally to all consumers and
4    individuals families served;
5        (k) report all violations of this Act and this Section
6    to the Department.
7(Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12.)
 
8    (225 ILCS 411/20-5)
9    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027)
10    Sec. 20-5. Maintenance and records.
11    (a) A cemetery authority shall provide reasonable
12maintenance of the cemetery property and of all lots, graves,
13crypts, and columbariums in the cemetery based on the type and
14size of the cemetery, topographic limitations, and contractual
15commitments with consumers. Subject to the provisions of this
16subsection (a), reasonable maintenance includes:
17        (1) the laying of seed, sod, or other suitable ground
18    cover as soon as practical following an interment given
19    the weather conditions, climate, and season and the
20    interment's proximity to ongoing burial activity;
21        (2) the cutting of lawn throughout the cemetery at
22    reasonable intervals to prevent an overgrowth of grass and
23    weeds given the weather conditions, climate, and season;
24        (3) the trimming of shrubs to prevent excessive
25    overgrowth;

 

 

10300HB1571sam001- 4 -LRB103 27276 JDS 60072 a

1        (4) the trimming of trees to remove dead limbs;
2        (5) maintaining, repairing, or removing, if necessary,
3    drains, water lines, roads, buildings, fences, and other
4    structures; and
5        (6) keeping the cemetery premises free of trash and
6    debris.
7    In determining whether a cemetery authority provides
8reasonable maintenance of the cemetery property, the
9Department shall consider:
10        (1) the cemetery authority's contractual obligations
11    for care and maintenance;
12        (2) the size of the cemetery;
13        (3) the extent and use of the cemetery authority's
14    financial resources;
15        (4) the standard of maintenance of one or more
16    similarly situated cemeteries; in determining whether a
17    cemetery is similarly situated, the Department shall
18    consider the cemetery's size, location, topography, and
19    financial resources, and whether the cemetery is a
20    fraternal cemetery, a religious cemetery, a public
21    cemetery, a cemetery owned and operated by a cemetery
22    association, or a licensed cemetery.
23    Reasonable maintenance by the cemetery authority shall not
24preclude the exercise of lawful rights by the owner of an
25interment, inurnment, or entombment right, or by the
26decedent's immediate family or other heirs, in accordance with

 

 

10300HB1571sam001- 5 -LRB103 27276 JDS 60072 a

1reasonable rules and regulations of the cemetery or other
2agreement of the cemetery authority.
3    In the case of a cemetery dedicated as a nature preserve
4under the Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act, reasonable
5maintenance by the cemetery authority shall be in accordance
6with the rules and master plan governing the dedicated nature
7preserve.
8    A cemetery authority accused of violating the reasonable
9maintenance standard set forth in this Section shall have a
10reasonable opportunity to cure the violation. The cemetery
11authority shall have 10 business days after receipt of notice
12to cure the violation. If a cemetery authority cannot cure the
13violation within 10 business days, then the cemetery authority
14may request a time extension in order to cure the violation.
15The request for an extension shall be made in writing to the
16Department and must be postmarked within 10 business days
17after receipt of the notice of the alleged violation. The
18request shall outline all reasons for the extension and an
19estimated date by which the cure will be accomplished.
20Acceptable reasons include, without limitation, delays caused
21by weather conditions, season or climate, equipment failures,
22or acquisitions of materials or supplies being addressed by
23the authority in a timely manner, and unexpected temporary
24absences of personnel. The Department may approve or deny the
25extension. If the extension is denied, then the cemetery
26authority must cure the violation within 10 business days

 

 

10300HB1571sam001- 6 -LRB103 27276 JDS 60072 a

1after the date of receipt of the Department's extension
2denial. If the extension is granted, then the cemetery
3authority must cure the violation within the extended period
4of time. A cemetery authority that does not cure the violation
5within the appropriate period of time shall be subject to
6discipline in accordance with Article 25 of this Act.
7    (b) A cemetery authority, before commencing cemetery
8operations or within 6 months after the effective date of this
9Act, shall cause an overall map of its cemetery property,
10delineating all lots or plots, blocks, sections, avenues,
11walks, alleys, and paths and their respective designations, to
12be filed at its on-site office, or if it does not maintain an
13on-site office, at its principal place of business. The
14cemetery authority shall update its map and index described in
15subsection (b-5) within a reasonable time after any expansion
16or alteration of the cemetery property. A cemetery manager's
17certificate acknowledging, accepting, and adopting the map
18shall also be included with the map. The Department may order
19that the cemetery authority obtain a cemetery plat and that it
20be filed at its on-site office, or if it does not maintain an
21on-site office, at its principal place of business if (1) a
22human body that should have been interred, entombed, or
23inurned at the cemetery after the effective date of this
24amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly is missing,
25displaced, or dismembered and (2) the cemetery map contains
26serious discrepancies.

 

 

10300HB1571sam001- 7 -LRB103 27276 JDS 60072 a

1    In exercising this discretion, the Department shall
2consider whether the cemetery authority would experience an
3undue hardship as a result of obtaining the plat. The cemetery
4plat, as with all plats prepared under this Act, shall comply
5with the Illinois Professional Land Surveyor Act of 1989 and
6shall delineate, describe, and set forth all lots or plots,
7blocks, sections, avenues, walks, alleys, and paths and their
8respective designations. A cemetery manager's certificate
9acknowledging, accepting, and adopting the plat shall also be
10included with the plat.
11    (b-5) A cemetery authority shall maintain an index that
12associates the identity of deceased persons interred,
13entombed, or inurned after the effective date of this Act with
14their respective place of interment, entombment, or inurnment.
15    (c) The cemetery authority shall open the cemetery map or
16plat to public inspection. The cemetery authority shall make
17available a copy of the overall cemetery map or plat upon
18written request and shall, if practical, provide a copy of a
19segment of the cemetery plat where interment rights are
20located upon the payment of reasonable photocopy fees. Any
21unsold lots, plots, or parts thereof, in which there are not
22human remains, may be resurveyed and altered in shape or size
23and properly designated on the cemetery map or plat. However,
24sold lots, plots, or parts thereof in which there are human
25remains may not be renumbered or renamed. Nothing contained in
26this subsection, however, shall prevent the cemetery authority

 

 

10300HB1571sam001- 8 -LRB103 27276 JDS 60072 a

1from enlarging an interment right by selling to its owner the
2excess space next to the interment right and permitting
3interments therein, provided reasonable access to the
4interment right and to adjoining interment rights is not
5thereby eliminated.
6    (d) A cemetery authority shall keep a record of every
7interment, entombment, and inurnment completed after the
8effective date of this Act. The record shall include the
9deceased's name, age, date of burial, and the specific
10location of the interred, entombed, or inurned human remains.
11The specific location shall correspond to the map or plat
12maintained in accordance with subsection (b) of this Section.
13    (e) (Blank).
14    (f) A cemetery authority shall make publicly available for
15inspection and, upon reasonable request and the payment of a
16reasonable copying fee, provide a copy of its rules and
17regulations through continuous publication on an Internet
18website or social media page, with a reference to and notice of
19the rules and regulations set forth in every contract or legal
20agreement with any person for services in relation to the
21cemetery. If the cemetery authority does not operate or
22maintain any website or social media page, then it shall
23provide a copy of its rules and regulations to each person
24either prior to or contemporaneous with the cemetery
25authority's representative's presentment of any contract or
26legal agreement for services in relation to the cemetery or

 

 

10300HB1571sam001- 9 -LRB103 27276 JDS 60072 a

1within 5 days of such a person's request. A cemetery authority
2may charge a reasonable copying fee in exchange for a paper
3copy of the cemetery authority's rules and regulations. A
4cemetery authority shall make available for viewing and
5provide a copy of its current prices of interment,
6disinterment, inurnment, or entombment rights.
7    (g) A cemetery authority shall provide access to the
8cemetery under the cemetery authority's reasonable rules and
9regulations.
10    (h) A cemetery authority shall be responsible for the
11proper opening and closing of all graves, crypts, or niches
12for human remains in any cemetery property it owns.
13    (i) A licensed cemetery authority shall keep in this State
14and use in its business such records as will enable the
15Department to determine whether such licensee or trustee is
16complying with the provisions of this Act and with the rules,
17regulations, and directions made by the Department under this
18Act. The licensed cemetery authority shall keep the records in
19electronic or written format at the location identified in the
20license issued by the Department or as otherwise agreed by the
21Department in writing. The books, accounts, and records shall
22be accessible for review upon demand of the Department.
23(Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12.)
 
24    Section 15. The Disposition of Remains Act is amended by
25changing Section 50 as follows:
 

 

 

10300HB1571sam001- 10 -LRB103 27276 JDS 60072 a

1    (755 ILCS 65/50)
2    Sec. 50. Disputes.
3    (a) Any dispute among any of the persons listed in Section
45 concerning their right to control the disposition, including
5cremation, of a decedent's remains shall be resolved by a
6court of competent jurisdiction within 30 days of the dispute
7being filed with the court. A cemetery organization or funeral
8establishment shall not be liable for refusing to accept the
9decedent's remains, or to inter or otherwise dispose of the
10decedent's remains, until it receives a court order or other
11suitable confirmation that the dispute has been resolved or
12settled.
13    (b) Any dispute over a disinterment shall be resolved by a
14circuit court with all reasonable promptness by the court. If
15the court finds that a party to a disinterment dispute has
16acted in bad faith, the court may, in its sole discretion,
17award costs, including reasonable attorney's fees, against the
18person it finds has acted in bad faith.
19(Source: P.A. 101-381, eff. 1-1-20.)
 
20    Section 20. The Cemetery Protection Act is amended by
21changing Section 2 as follows:
 
22    (765 ILCS 835/2)  (from Ch. 21, par. 16)
23    Sec. 2. The cemetery authority is hereby authorized to

 

 

10300HB1571sam001- 11 -LRB103 27276 JDS 60072 a

1make by-laws or rules and regulations for the government
2thereof, and to make rules regarding the driving of cars,
3motorcycles, carriages, processions, teams, and the speed
4thereof, the use of avenues, lots, walks, ponds, water
5courses, vaults, buildings, or other places within such
6cemetery, the operations and good management in such cemetery,
7the protection of visitors, the protection of employees, and
8for the maintenance of good order and quiet in such cemetery,
9all such rules to be subject to the rights of interment,
10entombment, or inurnment, and disinterment right owners, or
11others, owning any interest in such cemetery; and all persons
12found guilty of a violation of such rules shall be guilty of a
13petty offense and shall be punished by a fine of not less than
14$100, nor more than $500 for each offense. No judge shall be
15disqualified from hearing any cause that may be brought before
16him under the provisions of this Act, nor shall any person be
17disqualified from acting as a juror in such cause, by reason of
18any interest or ownership they or either of them may have in
19the interment, entombment, or inurnment rights of such
20cemetery. The rules and regulations shall be made publicly
21available through continuous publication on an Internet
22website or social media page, with a reference to and notice of
23the rules and regulations set forth in every contract or legal
24agreement with any person for services in relation to the
25cemetery. If the cemetery authority does not operate or
26maintain any website or social media page, then it shall

 

 

10300HB1571sam001- 12 -LRB103 27276 JDS 60072 a

1provide a copy of the rules and regulations to each person
2either prior to or contemporaneous with the cemetery
3authority's representative's presentment of any contract or
4legal agreement for services in relation to the cemetery or
5within 5 days of such a person's request. A cemetery authority
6may charge a reasonable copying fee in exchange for a paper
7copy of the cemetery authority's rules and regulations.
8(Source: P.A. 94-44, eff. 6-17-05.)".