HB4615 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB096 13820 AJO 28893 b

96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
HB4615

Introduced , by Rep. LaShawn K. Ford

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

See Index

Creates the Cemetery Licensing Act. Requires a cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery to (i) be licensed by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation; (ii) employ only licensed cemetery managers and cemetery employees; (iii) establish and make available at the signing of all agreements with a consumer a maintenance policy with a minimum level of care; and (iv) conspicuously post inside the cemetery's office the Bereaved Family's Bill of Rights. Provides that double-stacking in a grave is prohibited unless the purchaser of the grave at the time of the grave purchase gives written permission to double-stack and specifies whose remains may be double-stacked in the specified grave. Prohibits sale of term graves. Provides for the Department, in conjunction with the Cemetery Licensing Commission whose members are appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, to administer the licensing and discipline of licensees. Amends the Cemetery Care Act. Provides that a cemetery authority must annually report to the Comptroller an inventory of the cemetery grounds. Provides that the Office of the Comptroller shall make such inventory reports publicly available by means of a searchable database that is accessible through that agency's website and shall issue a certificate of filing upon timely receipt of a cemetery's annual report. Establishes late filing fees and criminal penalties for specific violations. Grants the Comptroller the authority to initiate an audit of the cemetery business and rulemaking authority to implement specified provisions under the Act. Effective immediately.

CORRECTIONAL BUDGET AND IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning civil law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Cemetery Licensing Act.

Section 5. Legislative intent. It is the intent of the General Assembly that this Act provide for the regulation of cemetery authorities owning, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery, including those who are employed by those cemetery authorities.

Section 10. Definitions. In this Act,

"Act" means the Cemetery Licensing Act.

"Applicant" means any person, as defined in this Section, who applies to the Department for a valid license as a cemetery, cemetery manager, or cemetery employee.

"Cemetery operation" means the maintenance and functioning of a cemetery for entombment, interment, inurnment, or visitation, and care of the physical features of the cemetery including any lot, grave, crypt, niche, mausoleum, columbarium, memorial, or marker therein, including: (i) the planning and platting of the cemetery property for graves, mausoleums, and columbariums; (ii) the marketing and sale of any lot, grave, crypt, niche, memorial, marker, or related matter; (iii) the cutting and trimming of lawn, shrubs, and trees at reasonable intervals; (iv) constructing, maintaining, and repairing any grave, drain, water line, road, mausoleum, columbarium, building, fence, or other structure, in keeping with a well-maintained cemetery; (v) maintenance of machinery, tools, and equipment for such care; (vi) compensation of employees, payment of insurance premiums, and reasonable payments for employees' pension and other benefits plans; and (vii) maintaining necessary records of lot or niche ownership, transfers, and burials, entombments, interments, and inurnments.

"Cemetery" means any land or structure in this State dedicated to and used, or intended to be used, for the entombment, interment, or inurnment of human remains.

"Cemetery authority" means any person, firm, corporation, trustee, partnership, association, or municipality owning, operating, controlling, or managing a cemetery or holding lands for burial grounds or burial purposes in this State.

"Commission" means the Cemetery Licensing Commission.

"Consumer" means a person or entity seeking or receiving licensed activities.

"Credit hour" means 50 minutes of classroom instruction in course work that meets the requirements set forth in rules adopted by the Department.

"Department" means the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

"Double-stacking" means placing human remains in an occupied grave, niche, or crypt without lawfully removing the human remains which occupy the grave, niche, or crypt.

"Entombment right" means the right to place individual human remains or individual cremated human remains in a specific mausoleum crypt or lawn crypt selected by the consumer for use as a final resting place.

"Family burying ground" has the meaning ascribed to that term in the Cemetery Care Act.

"Fraternal cemetery" has the meaning ascribed to that term in the Cemetery Care Act.

"Grave" means a space of ground in a cemetery, used, or intended to be used, for burial.

"Interment right" means the right to place individual human remains or cremated human remains in a specific underground location selected by the consumer for use as a final resting place.

"Inurnment right" means the right to place individual cremated human remains in a specific niche selected by the consumer for use as a final resting place.

"Lawn crypt" means a permanent underground crypt usually constructed of reinforced concrete or similar material installed in multiple units for the entombment of human remains.

"License" means the document issued by the Department certifying that the person named thereon has fulfilled all requirements prerequisite to licensure under this Act.

"Licensed activities" means those activities included in the definition of "cemetery operation".

"Licensee" means any person, as defined in this Section, who holds a valid unexpired license as a cemetery, cemetery manager, or cemetery employee.

"Mausoleum crypt" means a space in a mausoleum used or intended to be used, above or under ground, to entomb human remains.

"Municipal cemetery" has the meaning ascribed to that term in the Cemetery Care Act.

"Niche" means a space in a columbarium used or intended to be used, for inurnment of cremated human remains.

"Person" means and includes individuals, entities, corporations, limited liability companies, registered limited liability partnerships, and partnerships, foreign or domestic, except that when the context otherwise requires, the term may refer to a single individual or other described entity.

"Privately operated cemetery" means any entity that offers interment rights, entombment rights, or inurnment rights, other than a fraternal, municipal, State, federal or religious cemetery or a family burying ground.

"Religious cemetery" has the meaning ascribed to that term in the Cemetery Care Act.

"Secretary" means the Secretary of the Department.

"State or federal cemetery" has the meaning ascribed to that term in the Cemetery Care Act.

"Term grave" means a lot, grave, niche, or crypt sold to be used for entombment, interment, or inurnment for a set term of years.

Section 15. Consumer rights.

(a) A cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery shall establish and make available at the signing of all agreements with a consumer a maintenance policy that sets forth a minimum level of care provided by the cemetery authority.

(b) A cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery shall post inside the cemetery's office in a conspicuous place that is accessible to all persons who enter the premises to purchase or inquire about proffered cemetery services, a sign (in a form prescribed by the Department) reciting the Bereaved Family's Bill of Rights as promulgated by the Department and posted on the Department's website and which states in part that a cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery shall provide for the dignified preservation and complete and permanent entombment, interment, or inurnment of human remains and shall not engage in the practice of gutting, double-stacking, reusing, or reselling any occupied grave site, niche, or crypt. The cemetery authority shall distribute upon reasonable request and to all persons who execute an agreement for burial or related services in the cemetery a clearly printed copy of the Bereaved Family's Bill of Rights.

(c) Nothing contained in this Section, however, shall prevent the owner of an interment right after the effective date of this Act from giving the cemetery authority express written permission to double-stack a grave, niche, or crypt associated with an entombment, interment, or inurnment right, provided that the written permission to double-stack is given by the purchaser of the grave, niche, or crypt at the time of purchase; the written permission expressly names the person whose remains could be double-stacked; and the written permission expressly states that double-stacking may only result in the remains of 2 persons being placed in the grave, niche, or crypt. Any cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery who double-stacks or resells a lot, plot, grave site, niche, or crypt that is occupied with human remains or is shown as being sold on the cemetery's records, or the records filed with the Comptroller under Section 2a of the Cemetery Care Act, and does so without first obtaining written authorization from the entombment, interment, or inurnment right owner shall be guilty of a Class 4 felony.

(d) On and after the effective date of this Act, no term grave shall be sold by any cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery. As to any term grave created prior to the effective date of this Act, any cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery may only remove and relocate any human remains in a term grave to a new location that is appropriate, after notification of the heirs, if any, of the person whose remains are located in the term grave, and at no expense to that person’s estate or heirs.

Section 20. License required.

(a) A cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery shall be licensed as a cemetery by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation on or after January 1, 2013, according this Act and the rules promulgated by the Department.

(b) No person may provide services as a cemetery manager or cemetery employee in this State after January 1, 2013, unless he or she holds a current and valid license as a cemetery manager or cemetery employee issued by the Department.

Section 25. Exemptions. This Act does not apply to a fraternal, municipal, State, federal, or religious cemetery or a family burying ground.

Section 30. Cemetery manager license.

(a) No person shall be qualified for licensure as a cemetery manager under this Act, unless he or she meets all of the following qualifications:

(1) He or she is at least 21 years of age.

(2) He or she is a United States citizen.

(3) He or she provides satisfactory evidence to the Commission of having completed at least 20 credit hours in appropriate cemetery management courses approved by the Commission.

(4) He or she has successfully completed an examination covering the fundamentals of cemetery management, including the Burial Lot Perpetual Trust Act, Cemetery Care Act, Cemetery Perpetual Trust Authorization Act, Cemetery Company Land Not Used for Burial Act, Cemetery Association Land Not Used for Burial Act, Cemetery Removal Act, Cemetery Protection Act, and any other statutes that the Commission deems appropriate as it relates to cemetery management.

(5) He or she has not had a license suspended or revoked in any jurisdiction as a cemetery manager, cemetery employee, or owner of a cemetery, or the comparable category of license, or been convicted of any offense in any jurisdiction for conduct the person engaged in as a cemetery manager, cemetery employee, or owner of a cemetery.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this Section, the examination and initial education requirement shall not apply to a person who, within 6 months after the rules to administer this Act are adopted by the Department, applies for a cemetery manager license by providing satisfactory evidence to the Department and the Commission of qualifying experience or education including, without limitation, evidence that he or she has practiced cemetery management for a period of 5 years.

Section 35. Cemetery employee license.

(a) No person shall be qualified for licensure as a cemetery employee under this Act, unless he or she meets all of the following qualifications:

(1) He or she is at least 18 years of age.

(2) He or she is a United States citizen.

(3) He or she has not had any type of license suspended or revoked by the Department.

(4) He or she has not had any license as a cemetery manager, cemetery employee, or owner of a cemetery, or the comparable category of license, suspended or revoked by any jurisdiction.

Section 40. Cemetery license; cemetery employment.

(a) No firm, association, or corporation shall act as a cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery licensed under this Act, or advertise or assume to act as such, or use any title implying that the firm, association, or corporation is engaged in such business, unless licensed by the Department.

(b) No cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery licensed under this Act shall employ any person unless that person is licensed by the Department as a cemetery manager or cemetery employee.

Section 45. Cemetery licensing requirements.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person or business to engage in, advertise, or hold itself out to be a cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery in this State after January 1, 2013, unless such person or business is licensed by the Department. This cemetery license must be renewed every 4 years.

(b) In order to obtain a cemetery license, a person or business must submit an application to the Department, on a form provided by the Department containing the information prescribed, along with the application fee.

(c) A person or business applying for a cemetery license must have a designated licensed cemetery manager employed at the business location and the designated licensed cemetery manager shall be identified on the cemetery license application.

(d) A person or business applying for a cemetery license must show proof of having liability and property damage insurance in such amounts and under such circumstances as may be determined by the Department.

(e) A person or business applying for a cemetery license must show proof of having workers' compensation insurance covering its employees or be approved as a self-insurer of workers' compensation in accordance with the laws of this State.

(f) A person or business so licensed shall have a separate cemetery license for each business location within the State.

(g) When an individual proposes to do business in her or his own name, a cemetery license, when granted, shall be issued only to that individual.

(h) If the applicant requesting licensure to engage in business as a privately operated cemetery is a business organization, such as a partnership, corporation, business trust, or other legal entity, the application shall state the name of the partnership and its partners, the name of the corporation and its officers and directors, the name of the business trust and its trustees, or the name of such other legal entity and its members and shall furnish evidence of statutory compliance if a fictitious name is used. The application shall also show that the business entity employs a licensed cemetery manager. The cemetery license, when issued upon application of a business organization, shall be in the name of the business organization and the name of the licensed cemetery manager designated shall be noted thereon.

Section 50. Designated licensed cemetery manager requirements.

(a) A designated licensed cemetery manager must be a current Illinois licensed cemetery manager.

(b) At least one member of every firm, association, or partnership and at least one corporate officer of every corporation engaged in the business of a privately operated cemetery must be a licensed cemetery manager.

(c) A designated licensed cemetery manager must be employed by the licensee at a business location with a valid cemetery license.

(d) A designated licensed cemetery manager must perform his or her normal duties at a business location with a valid cemetery license.

(e) A designated licensed cemetery manager may be the designated licensed cemetery manager for only one business location and only one business entity.

(f) A designated licensed cemetery manager must be directly involved in supervision of the cemetery operation. The designated licensed cemetery manager does not, however, have to be at the site of the privately operated cemetery at all times.

Section 55. Change of a designated licensed cemetery manager. When a cemetery licensee is without a designated licensed cemetery manager, the cemetery licensee shall notify the Department in writing within 30 days and shall employ a designated licensed cemetery manager no later than 180 days from the time the position of designated licensed cemetery manager becomes vacant. Failing to fill the vacant position shall cause the cemetery license of the person or of the business organization to expire without further operation of law.

Section 60. Cemetery Licensing Commission.

(a) There is hereby created the Cemetery Licensing Commission, which shall consist of 7 members appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. All members must be residents of the State and must have resided in the State for at least 5 years immediately preceding the date of appointment. Five members of the Commission must be licensees under this Act, except that, initially, these members must meet the qualifications for licensure and must obtain a license within 6 months after the rules to administer this Act are adopted by the Department. Two members of the Commission shall not be licensed as a cemetery manager or cemetery employee, or be an owner or shareholder of a cemetery at the time of appointment.

(b) Commission members shall serve for terms of 5 years, except that, initially, 4 members shall serve for 5 years and 3 members shall serve for 3 years. Each member shall serve until his or her successor is appointed and qualified. All vacancies shall be filled in like manner for the unexpired term. The Governor shall remove from the Commission any member whose license has become void or has been revoked or suspended and may remove any member of the Commission for neglect of duty, misconduct, or incompetence.

(c) The presence of two-thirds of the full Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Action shall be taken only upon the majority vote of a quorum, except regarding disciplinary actions, which shall require a unanimous vote of a quorum.

(d) Any member of the Commission, any attorney providing advice to the Commission, any person acting as a consultant to the Commission, and any witness testifying in a proceeding authorized under this Act, excluding the party making the complaint, shall be immune from liability in any civil action brought against him or her for acts occurring while acting in his or her capacity as a Commission member, attorney, consultant, or witness, respectively, if such individual was acting in good faith within the scope of his or her respective capacity, made a reasonable effort to obtain the facts of the matter as to which he or she acted, and acted in the reasonable belief that the action taken by him or her was warranted by the facts.

Section 65. Powers and duties of the Department. The Department shall exercise the powers and duties prescribed by the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois for the administration of licensure Acts and shall exercise other powers and duties necessary for effectuating the purposes of this Act.

Section 70. Powers and duties of the Commission. The Commission may perform each of the following:

(1) Elect annually from among its members a chairperson and prescribe the duties of such office.

(2) Assist the Department in the following matters:

(A) enforcing the rules of professional conduct as stated under this Act;

(B) developing appropriate administrative enforcement procedures for violations of the rules of professional conduct;

(C) providing forms and receiving applications for licensure;

(D) creating examinations to be given to applicants;

(E) issuing licenses and renewals as provided under this Act;

(F) imposing disciplinary actions in the manner prescribed under this Act; and

(G) determining the criteria to be included in the State examination and administering or causing to be administered the State examination.

Section 75. Examination.

(a) Every person who makes application for initial licensure as a cemetery manager shall personally take and achieve a passing score on a standardized examination for a cemetery manager license. The standardized examinations must be developed according to the basic principles of professional testing standards utilizing psychometric measurement. The examinations shall be prepared by an independent testing service designated by the Commission using standards set forth by the National Organization for Competency Assurances and shall be approved by the Department.

(b) The Department shall conduct the examinations at such times and places as the Commission shall approve.

(c) An applicant shall be eligible to take an examination only after successfully completing the education requirements set forth in this Act and attaining the minimum age required under this Act.

Section 80. Disciplinary action.

(a) Disciplinary action recommended by the Commission and imposed by the Department may consist of one or more of the following:

(1) The revocation or suspension of a license.

(2) The refusal to renew or reinstate a license.

(3) The placement of the licensee on probation for a reasonable period of time.

(4) The issuance of a reprimand or a censor to the licensee.

(5) The imposition of a reasonable civil penalty.

(b) A cemetery manager licensee or cemetery worker licensee is subject to disciplinary action if the cemetery manager licensee or cemetery worker licensee commits any of the following:

(1) A felony or offense involving moral turpitude or unprofessional conduct.

(2) Any violation of this Act or the provisions of an order of the Department or an agreement with the Department.

(3) Failure to cooperate with the Commission in the investigation of a complaint, including without limitation failure to produce any document, book, or record in the possession or control of the cemetery manager licensee or cemetery worker licensee after the Commission or the Department requests production of such document, book, or record in the course of an investigation of a complaint.

Section 85. Fees and civil penalties.

(a) All fees and civil penalties shall be deposited into the Cemetery Licensing Fund.

(b) A fee, determined by the Department by rule, shall be paid for each application made to the Department, whether the same is an application for examination or reexamination or for issuance, renewal, reactivation, or reinstatement of a license or any other application requiring formal action or consideration by the Department.

(c) All fees shall be paid to the Department or its authorized representative and shall be paid by the applicant in advance of examination dates or of any action by the Department.

(d) Fees imposed under this Act shall not be increased within a given year by more than a percentage that exceeds the percentage increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the Midwest Area for all items published by the U.S. Department of Labor for the 12 months ending on the previous December 31.

(e) All civil penalties imposed under this Act or the rules promulgated under this Act shall be paid to the Department within the time established by the Department or the Commission.

Section 90. Licensure; renewal; reactivation; reinstatement.

(a) All licenses issued under this Act shall expire every 4 years on a date established by the Department, but may be renewed upon the payment of the renewal fee authorized by this Section and, if applicable, satisfactory completion of mandatory continuing education.

(b) Any person may reactivate an expired license within a one-year grace period after the date of its expiration by making written application for reactivation and paying a reactivation fee imposed by the Department.

(c) In the event that a person fails to reactivate his or her license within the one-year grace period specified in this Section, a person may reinstate such license within 4 years after the date of the expiration of the grace period by making written application for reinstatement, paying a reinstatement fee, being eligible for the license and, in the case of a cemetery manager licensee, providing proof to the Department of his or her continued professional competence as a cemetery manager in a manner as required by the Department. Thereafter, a person shall not be reinstated unless he or she fulfills and meets the requirements and conditions required of an applicant applying for the issuance of an original license.

(d) Any person who performs licensed services after the expiration of his or her license shall be practicing in violation of this Act and be subject to any of the sanctions authorized under this Act. The Department may refuse to reactivate or reinstate any expired license for conduct that constitutes a violation of any provision of this Act.

Section 95. Continuing education.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this Section, each person who applies for renewal of his or her license as a cemetery manager must successfully complete continuing education courses approved by the Commission at the rate of 4 credit hours per year or its equivalent or 16 credit hours over a 4-year period. No cemetery manager license may be renewed except upon the successful completion of the required courses or their equivalent as determined by the Department with the recommendation of the Commission.

(b) The continuing education requirement for cemetery manager licensees shall consist of a curriculum established by the Commission. In establishing the curriculum, the Commission shall consider subjects that will educate licensees on recent changes in applicable laws and new laws and refresh the licensee in areas of cemetery operation that the Commission deems appropriate, and any other areas that the Commission deems timely and applicable in order to prevent violations of this Act and to protect the public.

Section 100. Rulemaking conditions. Rulemaking authority to implement this Act is conditioned on the rules being adopted in accordance with all provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act and all rules and procedures of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules; any purported rule not so adopted, for whatever reason, is unauthorized.

Section 900. The Cemetery Care Act is amended by changing Section 2a as follows:

(760 ILCS 100/2a) (from Ch. 21, par. 64.2a)

Sec. 2a. Powers and duties of cemetery authorities; cemetery property maintained by cemetery care funds.

(a) With respect to cemetery property maintained by cemetery care funds, a cemetery authority shall be responsible for the performance of:

(1) the care and maintenance of the cemetery property it owns; and

(2) the opening and closing of all graves, crypts, or niches for human remains in any cemetery property it owns.

(b) A cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery shall make available for inspection, and upon reasonable request provide a copy of, its rules and regulations and its current prices of interment, inurnment, or entombment rights.

(b-1) As of the end of the preceding calendar year, a cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery shall conduct an annual inventory of all lots, plots, grave sites, niches, and crypts located on the cemetery grounds and shall prepare and file in the Office of the Comptroller by a date prescribed by that agency, a written report based on the findings of the inventory and showing: (i) a plat map identifying all lots, plots, grave sites, niches, and crypts on the cemetery grounds as either occupied or sold or available for sale, and showing the zip code for the cemetery grounds; (ii) the square footage of the cemetery grounds; (iii) the number of occupied lots, plots, grave sites, niches, and crypts; (iv) the number of vacant lots, plots, grave sites, niches, and crypts; (v) the number of lots, plots, grave sites, niches, and crypts sold during the preceding calendar year; (vi) the number of vacant lots, plots, grave sites, niches, or crypts available for purchase; (vii) the square footage of cemetery land available for new lots, plots, grave sites, niches, or crypts; and (viii) the square footage and location of any additional land acquired by the cemetery authority since the last annual report.

(b-2) The Office of the Comptroller shall make the reports, including the plat maps of cemeteries, publicly available by means of a searchable database that is accessible through that agency's website no later than 3 years after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly. Upon timely receipt of a cemetery authority's annual inventory report, a certificate of filing shall be issued by the Comptroller and electronically filed in the database for public viewing. Any cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery that fails to file an annual inventory report by the date prescribed by the Comptroller shall be subject to a civil penalty of $100 for each and every day that the cemetery authority remains delinquent in submitting the report. The Office of the Comptroller may at any time order an audit of the cemetery authority with respect to its inventory of vacant and occupied lots, plots, grave sites, niches, and crypts. All civil penalties shall be deposited into the Cemetery Licensing Fund.

(b-3) On and after a date established by rule by the Office of the Comptroller, a cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery shall provide to the Office of the Comptroller an update of its plat map identifying: (i) any lot, plot, grave site, niche, or crypt sold, within 30 days of the sale; (ii) any lot, plot, grave site, niche, or crypt occupied, within 30 days of the entombment, interment, or inurnment; and (iii) the square footage and location of any additional land acquired by the cemetery authority, within 30 days of the acquisition. The Office of the Comptroller shall in a timely manner incorporate and include information provided in updates furnished by cemetery authorities on the plat maps of cemeteries publicly available in the searchable database accessible through the agency's website.

(b-4) The Office of the Comptroller shall have rulemaking authority to implement subsections (b-1), (b-2), and (b-3) provided that the rules are adopted in accordance with all provisions of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act and all rules and procedures of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules; any purported rule not so adopted, for whatever reason, is unauthorized.

(c) A cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery may, from time to time as land in its cemetery may be required for burial purposes, survey and subdivide those lands and make and file in its office a map thereof delineating the lots or plots, avenues, paths, alleys, and walks and their respective designations. The cemetery authority shall open the map to public inspection. The cemetery authority may make available a copy of the overall map upon written request and 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 such map. Nothing contained in this subsection, however, shall prevent the cemetery authority from enlarging an interment right by selling to the owner thereof the excess space next to such interment right and permitting interments therein, provided reasonable access to such interment right and to adjoining interment rights is not thereby eliminated. The Comptroller may waive any or all of the requirements of this subsection (c) for good cause shown.

(d) A cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery shall keep a record of every interment, entombment, and inurnment in the cemetery. The record shall include the deceased's name, age, and date of burial, when these particulars can be conveniently obtained, and the lot, plot, or section where the human remains are interred, entombed, or inurned. The record shall be open to public inspection consistent with State and federal law. The cemetery authority shall make available, consistent with State and federal law, a true copy of the record upon written request and payment of reasonable copy costs.

(e) A cemetery authority owning, operating, controlling, or managing a privately operated cemetery shall provide access to the cemetery under the cemetery authority's reasonable rules and regulations.

(Source: P.A. 92-419, eff. 1-1-02.)

Section 910. The State Finance Act is amended by adding Sections 5.719 and 6z-81 as follows:

(30 ILCS 105/5.719 new)

Sec. 5.719. The Cemetery Licensing Fund.

(30 ILCS 105/6z-81 new)

Sec. 6z-81. Appropriations from the Cemetery Licensing Fund. The Cemetery Licensing Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. All money in the Cemetery Licensing Fund shall be expended only pursuant to appropriation. Amounts in the Fund may be appropriated to the Office of the Comptroller for use in processing cemetery annual reports and report updates under the Cemetery Care Act and in creating and maintaining the searchable database on the website of the Office of the Comptroller of the cemetery annual reports.

Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.