98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB5632

 

Introduced , by Rep. Kelly Burke

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
225 ILCS 411/5-20
225 ILCS 411/20-5

    Amends the Cemetery Oversight Act. Provides that a cemetery authority and a cemetery authority claiming a partial exemption shall provide access to the cemetery every day of the year from sunrise to sunset each day and shall have an employee on site at all times during these hours of operation to assist cemetery visitors. Effective on July 1, 2014.


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A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Cemetery Oversight Act is amended by
5changing Sections 5-20 and 20-5 as follows:
 
6    (225 ILCS 411/5-20)
7    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2021)
8    Sec. 5-20. Exemptions.
9    (a) Full exemption. Except as provided in this subsection,
10this Act does not apply to (1) any cemetery authority operating
11as a family burying ground or religious burying ground, (2) any
12cemetery authority that has not engaged in an interment,
13inurnment, or entombment of human remains within the last 10
14years, or (3) any cemetery authority that is less than 3 acres.
15For purposes of determining the applicability of this
16subsection, the number of interments, inurnments, and
17entombments shall be aggregated for each calendar year. A
18cemetery authority claiming a full exemption shall apply for
19exempt status as provided for in Section 10-20 of this Act. A
20cemetery authority claiming a full exemption shall be subject
21to Sections 10-40, 10-55, and 10-60 of this Act. A cemetery
22authority that performs activities that would disqualify it
23from a full exemption is required to apply for licensure within

 

 

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1one year following the date on which its activities would
2disqualify it for a full exemption. A cemetery authority that
3previously qualified for and maintained a full exemption that
4fails to timely apply for licensure shall be deemed to have
5engaged in unlicensed practice and shall be subject to
6discipline in accordance with Article 25 of this Act.
7    (b) Partial exemption. If a cemetery authority does not
8qualify for a full exemption and (1) engages in 25 or fewer
9interments, inurnments, or entombments of human remains for
10each of the preceding 2 calendar years, (2) operates as a
11public cemetery, or (3) operates as a religious cemetery, then
12the cemetery authority is partially exempt from this Act but
13shall be required to comply with Sections 10-23, 10-40, 10-55,
1410-60, subsections (a), (b), (b-5), (c), (d), (g), and (h) of
15Section 20-5, Sections 20-6, 20-8, 20-10, 20-12, 20-30, 20-35,
1620-40, 25-3, and 25-120, and Article 35 of this Act. Cemetery
17authorities claiming a partial exemption shall apply for the
18partial exemption as provided in Section 10-20 of this Act. A
19cemetery authority that changes to a status that would
20disqualify it from a partial exemption is required to apply for
21licensure within one year following the date on which it
22changes its status. A cemetery authority that maintains a
23partial exemption that fails to timely apply for licensure
24shall be deemed to have engaged in unlicensed practice and
25shall be subject to discipline in accordance with Article 25 of
26this Act.

 

 

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1    (c) Nothing in this Act applies to the City of Chicago in
2its exercise of its powers under the O'Hare Modernization Act
3or limits the authority of the City of Chicago to acquire
4property or otherwise exercise its powers under the O'Hare
5Modernization Act, or requires the City of Chicago, or any
6person acting on behalf of the City of Chicago, to comply with
7the licensing, regulation, investigation, or mediation
8requirements of this Act in exercising its powers under the
9O'Hare Modernization Act.
10(Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12.)
 
11    (225 ILCS 411/20-5)
12    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2021)
13    Sec. 20-5. Maintenance and records.
14    (a) A cemetery authority shall provide reasonable
15maintenance of the cemetery property and of all lots, graves,
16crypts, and columbariums in the cemetery based on the type and
17size of the cemetery, topographic limitations, and contractual
18commitments with consumers. Subject to the provisions of this
19subsection (a), reasonable maintenance includes:
20        (1) the laying of seed, sod, or other suitable ground
21    cover as soon as practical following an interment given the
22    weather conditions, climate, and season and the
23    interment's proximity to ongoing burial activity;
24        (2) the cutting of lawn throughout the cemetery at
25    reasonable intervals to prevent an overgrowth of grass and

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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1of the 97th General Assembly is missing, displaced, or
2dismembered and (2) the cemetery map contains serious
3discrepancies.
4    In exercising this discretion, the Department shall
5consider whether the cemetery authority would experience an
6undue hardship as a result of obtaining the plat. The cemetery
7plat, as with all plats prepared under this Act, shall comply
8with the Illinois Professional Land Surveyor Act of 1989 and
9shall delineate, describe, and set forth all lots or plots,
10blocks, sections, avenues, walks, alleys, and paths and their
11respective designations. A cemetery manager's certificate
12acknowledging, accepting, and adopting the plat shall also be
13included with the plat.
14    (b-5) A cemetery authority shall maintain an index that
15associates the identity of deceased persons interred,
16entombed, or inurned after the effective date of this Act with
17their respective place of interment, entombment, or inurnment.
18    (c) The cemetery authority shall open the cemetery map or
19plat to public inspection. The cemetery authority shall make
20available a copy of the overall cemetery map or plat upon
21written request and shall, if practical, provide a copy of a
22segment of the cemetery plat where interment rights are located
23upon the payment of reasonable photocopy fees. Any unsold lots,
24plots, or parts thereof, in which there are not human remains,
25may be resurveyed and altered in shape or size and properly
26designated on the cemetery map or plat. However, sold lots,

 

 

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1plots, or parts thereof in which there are human remains may
2not be renumbered or renamed. Nothing contained in this
3subsection, however, shall prevent the cemetery authority from
4enlarging an interment right by selling to its owner the excess
5space next to the interment right and permitting interments
6therein, provided reasonable access to the interment right and
7to adjoining interment rights is not thereby eliminated.
8    (d) A cemetery authority shall keep a record of every
9interment, entombment, and inurnment completed after the
10effective date of this Act. The record shall include the
11deceased's name, age, date of burial, and the specific location
12of the interred, entombed, or inurned human remains. The
13specific location shall correspond to the map or plat
14maintained in accordance with subsection (b) of this Section.
15    (e) (Blank).
16    (f) A cemetery authority shall make available for
17inspection and, upon reasonable request and the payment of a
18reasonable copying fee, provide a copy of its rules and
19regulations. A cemetery authority shall make available for
20viewing and provide a copy of its current prices of interment,
21inurnment, or entombment rights.
22    (g) A cemetery authority shall provide access to the
23cemetery every day of the year from sunrise to sunset each day
24and shall have an employee on site at all times during these
25hours of operation to assist cemetery visitors under the
26cemetery authority's reasonable rules and regulations.

 

 

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1    (h) A cemetery authority shall be responsible for the
2proper opening and closing of all graves, crypts, or niches for
3human remains in any cemetery property it owns.
4    (i) A licensed cemetery authority shall keep in this State
5and use in its business such records as will enable the
6Department to determine whether such licensee or trustee is
7complying with the provisions of this Act and with the rules,
8regulations, and directions made by the Department under this
9Act. The licensed cemetery authority shall keep the records in
10electronic or written format at the location identified in the
11license issued by the Department or as otherwise agreed by the
12Department in writing. The books, accounts, and records shall
13be accessible for review upon demand of the Department.
14(Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12.)
 
15    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
162014.