Bill Text: IL HB5632 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: 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.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-1)

Status: (Failed) 2014-12-03 - Session Sine Die [HB5632 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-HB5632-Amended.html

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Rep. Kelly Burke

Filed: 3/4/2014

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AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 5632
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 5632 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"Section 5. The Cemetery Oversight Act is amended by
changing Sections 5-20 and 20-5 as follows:
(225 ILCS 411/5-20)
(Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2021)
Sec. 5-20. Exemptions.
(a) Full exemption. Except as provided in this subsection,
this Act does not apply to (1) any cemetery authority operating
as a family burying ground or religious burying ground, (2) any
cemetery authority that has not engaged in an interment,
inurnment, or entombment of human remains within the last 10
years, or (3) any cemetery authority that is less than 3 acres.
For purposes of determining the applicability of this
subsection, the number of interments, inurnments, and

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

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disqualify it from a partial exemption is required to apply for
licensure within one year following the date on which it
changes its status. A cemetery authority that maintains a
partial exemption that fails to timely apply for licensure
shall be deemed to have engaged in unlicensed practice and
shall be subject to discipline in accordance with Article 25 of
this Act.
(c) Nothing in this Act applies to the City of Chicago in
its exercise of its powers under the O'Hare Modernization Act
or limits the authority of the City of Chicago to acquire
property or otherwise exercise its powers under the O'Hare
Modernization Act, or requires the City of Chicago, or any
person acting on behalf of the City of Chicago, to comply with
the licensing, regulation, investigation, or mediation
requirements of this Act in exercising its powers under the
O'Hare Modernization Act.
(Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12.)
(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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 every day of the year from sunrise to sunset each day
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.
(Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
2014.".