Bill Text: TX HB2371 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to the disposition of burial spaces and abandoned plots in certain cemeteries in the possession and control of a municipality.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2023-05-23 - Effective on 9/1/23 [HB2371 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB2371-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Relating to the disposition of burial spaces and abandoned plots in certain cemeteries in the possession and control of a municipality.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2023-05-23 - Effective on 9/1/23 [HB2371 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB2371-Introduced.html
88R7248 LRM-F | ||
By: Turner | H.B. No. 2371 |
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relating to the disposition of burial spaces and abandoned plots in | ||
certain cemeteries in the possession and control of a municipality. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 713.009, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended by amending Subsection (f) and adding Subsections (f-1) and | ||
(f-2) to read as follows: | ||
(f) After taking the action described by Subsection (d), the | ||
municipality or corporation shall continue to maintain the cemetery | ||
so that it does not endanger the public health, safety, comfort, or | ||
welfare. Additional burial spaces may not be offered for sale, | ||
except as provided by Subsection (f-1). | ||
(f-1) A municipality that has taken possession and control | ||
of a cemetery under this section for at least 25 years may sell | ||
additional burial spaces in the cemetery if, after a public | ||
hearing, the governing body of the municipality by official action | ||
finds that: | ||
(1) the cemetery has been consistently maintained in | ||
accordance with Section 713.011; and | ||
(2) the sale and use of additional burial spaces in the | ||
cemetery will not endanger the public health, safety, comfort, or | ||
welfare. | ||
(f-2) A municipality shall provide written notice of a | ||
public hearing required under Subsection (f-1). The notice must: | ||
(1) describe the municipality's proposed action; | ||
(2) identify the cemetery that is the subject of the | ||
hearing by name and location; | ||
(3) be published in a newspaper of general | ||
circulation: | ||
(A) once a week for three consecutive weeks: | ||
(i) in a county in which the cemetery is | ||
located; or | ||
(ii) in the absence of a newspaper in that | ||
county, in the neighboring county nearest to the cemetery that has a | ||
newspaper of general circulation; and | ||
(B) with a final date of publication that is not | ||
less than one week and not more than two weeks before the date of the | ||
hearing; and | ||
(4) be mailed to the Texas Historical Commission not | ||
less than one week before the date of the hearing. | ||
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 713, Health and Safety | ||
Code, is amended by adding Sections 713.012 and 713.013 to read as | ||
follows: | ||
Sec. 713.012. ABANDONED PLOTS IN CERTAIN CEMETERIES IN | ||
MUNICIPAL POSSESSION AND CONTROL. (a) This section applies only to | ||
a cemetery for which the governing body of a municipality by | ||
official action issues the findings described by Section | ||
713.009(f-1). | ||
(b) After notice provided in accordance with Subsection (c) | ||
and a public hearing, the governing body of a municipality may by | ||
official action declare a plot in a cemetery subject to this section | ||
as presumed abandoned if: | ||
(1) the municipality does not have any record of | ||
ownership or sale of the plot; | ||
(2) the plot has not been used for interment; and | ||
(3) the plot is not within a family enclosure or area | ||
of plots of related persons. | ||
(c) A municipality shall provide written notice of the | ||
public hearing required under Subsection (b) that satisfies the | ||
notice requirements described by Section 713.009(f-2). | ||
(d) The municipality may combine the notice and hearing | ||
required under this section with the notice and hearing required | ||
under Sections 713.009(f-1) and (f-2). | ||
(e) A municipality has the exclusive right of sepulture in | ||
an abandoned plot in a cemetery subject to this section and may | ||
convey that right in the plot. | ||
(f) A person may rebut the presumption of abandonment by | ||
submitting to the municipality a deed, certificate of ownership, | ||
bill of sale, receipt, instrument of conveyance, or other evidence | ||
of ownership under which the person may claim the exclusive right of | ||
sepulture in the plot in accordance with Section 711.039. | ||
Sec. 713.013. APPEAL OF FINDING OF ABANDONMENT. (a) Not | ||
later than the 10th day after the date the governing body of a | ||
municipality declares a plot abandoned under Section 713.012, a | ||
person aggrieved by the declaration or a taxpayer residing in the | ||
municipality may file with a district court, county court, or | ||
county court at law of the county in which the cemetery is located a | ||
verified petition that states the decision is wholly or partly | ||
illegal and the grounds of the illegality. | ||
(b) On the filing of the petition, the court may grant a writ | ||
of certiorari directed to the governing body to review the | ||
governing body's decision. The writ must require the governing | ||
body's return to be made and served on the petitioner not later than | ||
the 10th day after the date the writ is issued, unless otherwise | ||
extended by the court. Granting of the writ does not stay the | ||
proceedings on appeal, but on application and after notice to the | ||
governing body, the court may grant a restraining order. | ||
(c) The governing body's return must be verified and | ||
concisely state any pertinent facts that show the grounds of the | ||
decision under appeal. The governing body is not required to return | ||
the original documents on which the governing body acted but may | ||
return certified or sworn copies of the documents or parts of the | ||
documents as required by the writ. | ||
(d) If a court determines at the hearing that testimony is | ||
necessary for proper disposition of the matter, the court may take | ||
evidence or appoint a referee to take evidence as directed. The | ||
referee shall report the evidence to the court with the referee's | ||
findings of fact and conclusions of law. The referee's report | ||
constitutes a part of the proceedings on which the court makes a | ||
decision. | ||
(e) The court may wholly or partly reverse or affirm or | ||
modify the appealed decision. The court may not assess costs | ||
against the governing body unless the court determines that the | ||
governing body acted with gross negligence, bad faith, or malice in | ||
making the decision. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |