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Public Act 103-0841 Public Act 0841 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | Public Act 103-0841 | HB4934 Enrolled | LRB103 35553 RLC 65625 b |
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| AN ACT concerning State government. | 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 and 1 and by adding Section 17 as | follows: | (765 ILCS 835/.01) (from Ch. 21, par. 14.01) | Sec. .01. For the purposes of this Act, the term: | "Cemetery authority" means an individual or legal entity | that owns or controls cemetery lands or property. | "Community mausoleum" means a mausoleum owned and operated | by a cemetery authority that contains multiple entombment | rights sold to the public. | "Not-for-profit corporation" means a corporation as | defined in the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986. | "Veteran" means a person who has served as a member of the | armed forces of the United States, the Illinois National | Guard, or a reserve component of the armed forces of the United | States and has been buried in a grave that is more than 100 | years old. | "Veterans' organization" means an organization comprised | of members of which substantially all are individuals who are | veterans or spouses, widows, or widowers of veterans, the |
| primary purpose of which is to promote the welfare of its | members and to provide assistance to the general public in | such a way as to confer a public benefit. | (Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12 .) | (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 , nor to the removal, | replacement, or installation of a gravestone or other | memorial, monument, or marker commemorating a veteran pursuant | to Section 17 of this Act . | (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. | (d-5) Any person who commits any of the following: | (1) any unauthorized, non-related third party or |
| person who enters any sheds, crematories, or employee | areas; | (2) any non-cemetery personnel who solicits cemetery | mourners or funeral directors on the grounds or in the | offices or chapels of a cemetery before, during, or after | a burial; | (3) any person who harasses or threatens any employee | of a cemetery on cemetery grounds; or | (4) any unauthorized person who removes, destroys, or | disturbs any cemetery devices or property placed for | safety of visitors and cemetery employees; | is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and of | a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense. | (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 authority |
| 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 authority or the owner of | any interment, entombment, or inurnment right 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 authority. 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. | (Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 96-863, eff. 3-1-10.) | (765 ILCS 835/17 new) | Sec. 17. Memorialization of veteran remains. | (a) If a veterans' organization or not-for-profit | corporation has identified human remains of a veteran that are | more than 100 years old and wishes to have a marker placed to | designate the grave as that of a veteran, a cemetery authority | may allow memorialization without permission of the decedent's | heirs under this Section. The marker may be for a previously | unmarked grave or serve as a replacement of or repair to an | existing damaged marker. All costs for memorialization under | this Section, including the marker, its installation, and any | removal of or repair to a previous marker that is damaged, | shall be entirely borne by the veterans' organization. In no |
| event shall the human remains be disturbed. | (b) The memorialization and its installation, and any | removal of or repair to a damaged marker, may only take place | with the permission of the involved cemetery authority and in | compliance with the rules and regulations and any collective | bargaining agreement of the involved cemetery. | (c) Before any memorialization under this Section may take | place, the veterans' organization must first make a good faith | effort to contact the decedent's next of kin, and if there is | no response within 120 days, the process may proceed. The | veterans' organization shall provide the cemetery authority | with a notarized statement detailing its efforts to identify | and contact the next of kin and the lack of response thereto, | which statement may be made a part of the cemetery records. | (d) If any heir of a decedent later objects to a | memorialization made under this Section, the sole remedy shall | be the removal of the involved marker at the expense of the | involved veterans' organization. If the veterans' organization | no longer exists or is without funds, removal shall be at the | expense of the heir. In no event shall there be monetary | damages, or any other equitable relief or penalties, against | the cemetery authority, cemetery, or veterans' association. |
Effective Date: 1/1/2025
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