Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of Public Act 094-0044
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Public Act 094-0044


 

Public Act 0044 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY



 


 
Public Act 094-0044
 
HB0264 Enrolled LRB094 06182 LCB 36249 b

    AN 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.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 2908.)
 
    (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 authority
association 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
association, or the owner of any interment, entombment, or
inurement right lot 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 association. 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. 92-419, eff. 1-1-02.)
 
    (765 ILCS 835/2)  (from Ch. 21, par. 16)
    Sec. 2. The cemetery authority board 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 right lot 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 rights
lots of such cemetery.
(Source: P.A. 78-255.)
 
    (765 ILCS 835/3)  (from Ch. 21, par. 17)
    Sec. 3. The cemetery authority directors 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.
(Source: Laws 1885, p. 57.)
 
    (765 ILCS 835/4)  (from Ch. 21, par. 18)
    Sec. 4. The cemetery authority board 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 rights lots, 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 rights lots 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.
(Source: Laws 1909, p. 101.)
 
    (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 authority association, 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 rights lot 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.
(Source: Laws 1909, p. 101.)
 
    (765 ILCS 835/5a)  (from Ch. 21, par. 19a)
    Sec. 5a. The cemetery authority directors 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
authority association 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 authority
association have the power to sell and convey the land
received.
(Source: P.A. 80-660.)
 
    (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 columbarium
lot 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 authority association, 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.
(Source: Laws 1947, p. 356.)
 
    (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 columbarium lot; no interment in a cemetery
interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or
lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community
columbarium lot; 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
columbarium lot 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 50 60 years have passed since the cemetery interment right,
entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt
section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium lot 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 columbarium lot 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 columbarium lot, 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
columbarium lot, 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
columbarium lot, 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 columbarium lot, or
part thereof, shall be subject to sale in the manner
hereinafter provided.
(Source: P.A. 92-419, eff. 1-1-02.)
 
    (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 columbarium lot, 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
columbarium lot, 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 columbarium lot, 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 columbarium lot, 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 columbarium lot, 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 columbarium lot 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 columbarium lots, or parts
thereof, as are alleged to have been abandoned.
(Source: P.A. 92-419, eff. 1-1-02.)
 
    (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 columbarium lot for 50 60 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 columbarium lot, 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 columbarium lot, 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.
(Source: P.A. 92-419, eff. 1-1-02.)
 
    (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
columbarium lot, 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 columbarium lot, 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 columbarium lot, or part thereof.
(Source: P.A. 92-419, eff. 1-1-02.)
 
    (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 columbarium lot, 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 columbarium lot, 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 columbarium lot, 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.
(Source: P.A. 92-419, eff. 1-1-02.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.

Effective Date: 6/17/2005