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1     AN ACT concerning cemeteries.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Cemetery Protection Act is amended by
5 changing Sections .01, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5a, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, and
6 14 as follows:
 
7     (765 ILCS 835/.01)  (from Ch. 21, par. 14.01)
8     Sec. .01. For the purposes of this Act, the term:
9     "Cemetery "cemetery authority" is defined as in Section 2
10 of the "Cemetery Care Act", approved July 21, 1947, as now and
11 hereafter amended.
12     "Community mausoleum" means a mausoleum owned and operated
13 by a cemetery authority that contains multiple entombment
14 rights sold to the public.
15 (Source: Laws 1961, p. 2908.)
 
16     (765 ILCS 835/1)  (from Ch. 21, par. 15)
17     Sec. 1. (a) Any person who acts without proper legal
18 authority and who willfully and knowingly destroys or damages
19 the remains of a deceased human being or who desecrates human
20 remains is guilty of a Class 3 felony.
21     (a-5) Any person who acts without proper legal authority
22 and who willfully and knowingly removes any portion of the
23 remains of a deceased human being from a burial ground where
24 skeletal remains are buried or from a grave, crypt, vault,
25 mausoleum, or other repository of human remains is guilty of a
26 Class 4 felony.
27     (b) Any person who acts without proper legal authority and
28 who willfully and knowingly:
29         (1) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a burial
30     ground where skeletal remains are buried or a grave, crypt,
31     vault, mausoleum, or other repository of human remains;

 

 

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1         (2) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a park or
2     other area clearly designated to preserve and perpetuate
3     the memory of a deceased person or group of persons;
4         (3) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates plants,
5     trees, shrubs, or flowers located upon or around a
6     repository for human remains or within a human graveyard or
7     cemetery; or
8         (4) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a fence,
9     rail, curb, or other structure of a similar nature intended
10     for the protection or for the ornamentation of any tomb,
11     monument, gravestone, or other structure of like
12     character;
13 is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor if the amount of the damage
14 is less than $500, a Class 4 felony if the amount of the damage
15 is at least $500 and less than $10,000, a Class 3 felony if the
16 amount of the damage is at least $10,000 and less than
17 $100,000, or a Class 2 felony if the damage is $100,000 or more
18 and shall provide restitution to the cemetery authority or
19 property owner for the amount of any damage caused.
20     (b-5) Any person who acts without proper legal authority
21 and who willfully and knowingly defaces, vandalizes, injures,
22 or removes a gravestone or other memorial, monument, or marker
23 commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether
24 located within or outside of a recognized cemetery, memorial
25 park, or battlefield is guilty of a Class 4 felony for damaging
26 at least one but no more than 4 gravestones, a Class 3 felony
27 for damaging at least 5 but no more than 10 gravestones, or a
28 Class 2 felony for damaging more than 10 gravestones and shall
29 provide restitution to the cemetery authority or property owner
30 for the amount of any damage caused.
31     (b-7) Any person who acts without proper legal authority
32 and who willfully and knowingly removes with the intent to
33 resell a gravestone or other memorial, monument, or marker
34 commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether
35 located within or outside a recognized cemetery, memorial park,
36 or battlefield, is guilty of a Class 2 felony.

 

 

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1     (c) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the
2 removal or unavoidable breakage or injury by a cemetery
3 authority of anything placed in or upon any portion of its
4 cemetery in violation of any of the rules and regulations of
5 the cemetery authority, nor to the removal of anything placed
6 in the cemetery by or with the consent of the cemetery
7 authority that in the judgment of the cemetery authority has
8 become wrecked, unsightly, or dilapidated.
9     (d) If an unemancipated minor is found guilty of violating
10 any of the provisions of subsection (b) of this Section and is
11 unable to provide restitution to the cemetery authority or
12 property owner, the parents or legal guardians of that minor
13 shall provide restitution to the cemetery authority or property
14 owner for the amount of any damage caused, up to the total
15 amount allowed under the Parental Responsibility Law.
16     (e) Any person who shall hunt, shoot or discharge any gun,
17 pistol or other missile, within the limits of any cemetery, or
18 shall cause any shot or missile to be discharged into or over
19 any portion thereof, or shall violate any of the rules made and
20 established by the board of directors of such cemetery, for the
21 protection or government thereof, is guilty of a Class C
22 misdemeanor.
23     (f) Any person who knowingly enters or knowingly remains
24 upon the premises of a public or private cemetery without
25 authorization during hours that the cemetery is posted as
26 closed to the public is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
27     (g) All fines when recovered, shall be paid over by the
28 court or officer receiving the same to the cemetery authority
29 association and be applied, as far as possible in repairing the
30 injury, if any, caused by such offense. Provided, nothing
31 contained in this Act shall deprive such cemetery authority
32 association, or the owner of any interment, entombment, or
33 inurement right lot or monument from maintaining an action for
34 the recovery of damages caused by any injury caused by a
35 violation of the provisions of this Act, or of the rules
36 established by the board of directors of such cemetery

 

 

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1 authority association. Nothing in this Section shall be
2 construed to prohibit the discharge of firearms loaded with
3 blank ammunition as part of any funeral, any memorial
4 observance or any other patriotic or military ceremony.
5 (Source: P.A. 92-419, eff. 1-1-02.)
 
6     (765 ILCS 835/2)  (from Ch. 21, par. 16)
7     Sec. 2. The cemetery authority board of directors of such
8 society or association is hereby authorized to make by-laws or
9 rules and regulations for the government thereof, and to make
10 rules regarding the driving of cars, motorcycles, carriages,
11 processions, teams, and the speed thereof, the use of avenues,
12 lots, walks, ponds, water courses, vaults, buildings, or other
13 places within such cemetery, the operations and good management
14 in such cemetery, the protection of visitors, the protection of
15 employees, and for the maintenance of good order and quiet in
16 such cemetery, all such rules to be subject to the rights of
17 interment, entombment, or inurnment right lot owners, or
18 others, owning any interest in such cemetery; and all persons
19 found guilty of a violation of such rules shall be guilty of a
20 petty offense and shall be punished by a fine of not less than
21 $100 $5, nor more than $500 $100 for each offense. No judge
22 shall be disqualified from hearing any cause that may be
23 brought before him under the provisions of this Act, nor shall
24 any person be disqualified from acting as a juror in such
25 cause, by reason of any interest or ownership they or either of
26 them may have in the interment, entombment, or inurnment rights
27 lots of such cemetery.
28 (Source: P.A. 78-255.)
 
29     (765 ILCS 835/3)  (from Ch. 21, par. 17)
30     Sec. 3. The cemetery authority directors of any cemetery
31 society, or cemetery association, may appoint policemen to
32 protect such cemetery and preserve order therein, and such
33 policemen shall have the same power in respect to any offenses
34 committed in such cemetery, or any violation of this act, that

 

 

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1 city marshals or policemen in cities have in respect to
2 maintaining order in such cities or arresting for offenses
3 committed therein.
4 (Source: Laws 1885, p. 57.)
 
5     (765 ILCS 835/4)  (from Ch. 21, par. 18)
6     Sec. 4. The cemetery authority board of directors of such
7 cemetery society, or cemetery association, or the trustees of
8 any public graveyard, may set apart such portion as they see
9 fit of the moneys received from the sale of the interment,
10 entombment, or inurnment rights lots, in such cemetery or
11 graveyard, which sums shall be kept separate from all other
12 assets as an especial trust fund, and they shall keep the same
13 invested in safe interest or income paying securities, for the
14 purpose of keeping said cemetery or graveyard, and the
15 interment, entombment, or inurnment rights lots therein,
16 permanently in good order and repair, and the interest or
17 income derived from such trust fund shall be applied only to
18 that purpose, and shall not be diverted from such use.
19 (Source: Laws 1909, p. 101.)
 
20     (765 ILCS 835/5)  (from Ch. 21, par. 19)
21     Sec. 5. It shall be the duty of the board of directors of
22 such cemetery society, or cemetery authority association, or
23 trustees of a public graveyard to receive by gift or bequest,
24 real or personal property, or the income or avails of property
25 which shall be conveyed in trust for the improvement,
26 maintenance, repair, preservation and ornamentation of such
27 interment, entombment, or inurnment rights lot or lots, vault
28 or vaults, tomb or tombs, or other such structures in the
29 cemetery or graveyard of which such board or trustees have
30 control, as may be designated by the terms of such gift or
31 bequest, and in accordance with such reasonable rules and
32 regulations therefor, as shall be made by such board of
33 directors or trustees, and such board of directors or trustees
34 shall keep such trust funds invested in safe interest or income

 

 

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1 bearing securities, the income from which shall be used for the
2 purpose aforesaid.
3 (Source: Laws 1909, p. 101.)
 
4     (765 ILCS 835/5a)  (from Ch. 21, par. 19a)
5     Sec. 5a. The cemetery authority directors or managing
6 officers of any cemetery society or cemetery association may
7 invest the funds received under Section 4 or 5 in notes secured
8 by a first mortgage or trust deed upon improved or income
9 producing real estate situated in this State and not exceeding
10 one-half the value thereof at the time the investment is made
11 by the directors. Whenever any cemetery society or cemetery
12 authority association acquires property as a result of the
13 foreclosure of such mortgage, or in any other manner, the
14 directors or managing officers of such society or authority
15 association have the power to sell and convey the land
16 received.
17 (Source: P.A. 80-660.)
 
18     (765 ILCS 835/8)  (from Ch. 21, par. 21.1)
19     Sec. 8. Where the cemetery is a privately operated
20 cemetery, as defined in Section 2 of the Cemetery Care Act,
21 enacted by the Sixty-fifth General Assembly or where the
22 interment, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn
23 crypt section, or inurnment rights in a community columbarium
24 lot or lots, vault or vaults, tomb or tombs, or other such
25 structures in the cemetery or graveyard are in a privately
26 operated cemetery, as defined in Section 2 of that Act, then
27 such board of directors or managing officers of such cemetery,
28 society or cemetery authority association, or the trustees of
29 any public graveyard or the cemetery society or cemetery
30 association, shall also comply with the provisions of the
31 Cemetery Care Act, enacted by the Sixty-fifth General Assembly.
32 (Source: Laws 1947, p. 356.)
 
33     (765 ILCS 835/9)  (from Ch. 21, par. 21.2)

 

 

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1     Sec. 9. When there is no memorial, monument, or marker
2 installed on a cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a
3 community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment rights
4 in a community columbarium lot; no interment in a cemetery
5 interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or
6 lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community
7 columbarium lot; no transfer or assignment of a cemetery
8 interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or
9 lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community
10 columbarium lot on the cemetery authority records; no contact
11 by an owner recorded in the cemetery authority records;
12 publication has been made in a local newspaper of general
13 circulation in the county in which the interment, entombment,
14 or inurnment rights are located and no response was received;
15 and 50 60 years have passed since the cemetery interment right,
16 entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt
17 section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium lot was
18 sold, there is a presumption that the cemetery interment right,
19 entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt
20 section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium lot has
21 been abandoned, unless a specific agreement has been entered
22 into designating said rights to be inviolate. Alternatively,
23 where there is an obligation to pay a cemetery authority,
24 annually or periodically, maintenance or care charges on a
25 cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community
26 mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a
27 community columbarium lot, or part thereof, and the owner of or
28 claimant to a right or easement for burial in such cemetery
29 interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or
30 lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community
31 columbarium lot, or part thereof, has failed to pay the
32 required annual or periodic maintenance or care charges for a
33 period of 30 years or more, such continuous failure to do so
34 creates and establishes a presumption that the cemetery
35 interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or
36 lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community

 

 

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1 columbarium lot, or part thereof, has been abandoned.
2     Upon a court's determination of abandonment, the ownership
3 of a right or easement for burial in a cemetery interment
4 right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt
5 section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium lot, or
6 part thereof, shall be subject to sale in the manner
7 hereinafter provided.
8 (Source: P.A. 92-419, eff. 1-1-02.)
 
9     (765 ILCS 835/10)  (from Ch. 21, par. 21.3)
10     Sec. 10. A cemetery authority may file in the office of the
11 clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the cemetery
12 is located a verified petition praying for the entry of an
13 order adjudging a cemetery interment right, entombment rights
14 in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment
15 right in a community columbarium lot, or part thereof, to have
16 been abandoned. The petition shall describe the cemetery
17 interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or
18 lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community
19 columbarium lot, or part thereof, alleged to have been
20 abandoned, shall allege ownership by the petitioner of the
21 cemetery, and, if known, the name of the owner of the right or
22 easement for burial in such cemetery interment right,
23 entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt
24 section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium lot, or
25 part thereof, as is alleged to have been abandoned, or, if the
26 owner thereof is known to the petitioner to be deceased, then
27 the names, if known to petitioner, of such claimants thereto as
28 are the heirs-at-law and next-of-kin or the specific legatees
29 under the will of the owner of the right or easement for burial
30 in such interment right, entombment rights in a community
31 mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a
32 community columbarium lot, or part thereof, and such other
33 facts as the petitioner may have with respect to ownership of
34 the right or easement for burial in such cemetery interment
35 right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt

 

 

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1 section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium lot, or
2 part thereof.
3     The petition shall also allege the facts with respect to
4 the abandonment of the cemetery interment right, entombment
5 rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or
6 inurnment right in a community columbarium lot or facts about
7 the obligation of the owner to pay annual or periodic
8 maintenance or care charges on such cemetery interment right,
9 entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt
10 section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium, lot, or
11 part thereof, the amount of such charges as are due and unpaid,
12 and shall also allege the continuous failure by the owner or
13 claimant to pay such charges for a period of 30 consecutive
14 years or more.
15     Irrespective of diversity of ownership of the right or
16 easement for burial therein, a cemetery authority may include
17 in one petition as many cemetery interment rights, entombment
18 rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or
19 inurnment rights in a community columbarium lots, or parts
20 thereof, as are alleged to have been abandoned.
21 (Source: P.A. 92-419, eff. 1-1-02.)
 
22     (765 ILCS 835/12)  (from Ch. 21, par. 21.5)
23     Sec. 12. In the event the owner, the claimant, or the
24 heirs-at-law and next-of-kin or the specific legatees under the
25 will of either the owner or claimant submits proof of ownership
26 to the court or appears and answers the petition, the
27 presumption of abandonment shall no longer exist and the court
28 shall set the matter for hearing upon the petition and such
29 answers thereto as may be filed.
30     In the event the defendant or defendants fails to appear
31 and answer the petition, or in the event that upon the hearing
32 the court determines from the evidence presented that there has
33 been an abandonment of the cemetery interment right, entombment
34 rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or
35 inurnment right in a community columbarium lot for 50 60 years

 

 

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1 or a continuous failure to pay the annual or periodic
2 maintenance or care charges on such interment right, entombment
3 rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or
4 inurnment right in a community columbarium lot, or part
5 thereof, for a period of 30 years or more preceding the filing
6 of the petition, then, in either such event, an order shall be
7 entered adjudicating such interment right, entombment rights
8 in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment
9 right in a community columbarium lot, or part thereof, to have
10 been abandoned and adjudging the right or easement for burial
11 therein to be subject to sale by the cemetery authority at the
12 expiration of one year from the date of the entry of such
13 order. Upon entry of an order adjudicating abandonment of a
14 cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community
15 mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a
16 community columbarium, lot, or part thereof, the court shall
17 fix such sum as is deemed a reasonable fee for the services of
18 petitioner's attorney.
19 (Source: P.A. 92-419, eff. 1-1-02.)
 
20     (765 ILCS 835/13)  (from Ch. 21, par. 21.6)
21     Sec. 13. In the event that, at any time within one year
22 after adjudication of abandonment, the owner or claimant of a
23 interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or
24 lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community
25 columbarium lot, or part thereof, which has been adjudged
26 abandoned, shall contact the court or the cemetery authority
27 and pay all maintenance or care charges that are due and
28 unpaid, shall reimburse the cemetery authority for the costs of
29 suit and necessary expenses incurred in the proceeding with
30 respect to such interment right, entombment rights in a
31 community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right
32 in a community columbarium lot, or part thereof, and shall
33 contract for its future care and maintenance, then such lot, or
34 part thereof, shall not be sold as herein provided and, upon
35 petition of the owner or claimant, the order or judgment

 

 

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1 adjudging the same to have been abandoned shall be vacated as
2 to such interment right, entombment rights in a community
3 mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a
4 community columbarium lot, or part thereof.
5 (Source: P.A. 92-419, eff. 1-1-02.)
 
6     (765 ILCS 835/14)  (from Ch. 21, par. 21.7)
7     Sec. 14. After the expiration of one year from the date of
8 entry of an order adjudging a interment right, entombment
9 rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or
10 inurnment right in a community columbarium lot, or part
11 thereof, to have been abandoned, a cemetery authority shall
12 have the right to do so and may sell such interment right,
13 entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt
14 section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium lot, or
15 part thereof, at public sale and grant an easement therein for
16 burial purposes to the purchaser at such sale, subject to the
17 interment of any human remains theretofore placed therein and
18 the right to maintain memorials placed thereon. A cemetery
19 authority may bid at and purchase such interment right,
20 entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt
21 section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium lot, or
22 part thereof, at such sale.
23     Notice of the time and place of any sale held pursuant to
24 an order adjudicating abandonment of a cemetery interment
25 right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt
26 section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium , or
27 part thereof, shall be published once in a newspaper of general
28 circulation in the county in which the cemetery is located,
29 such publication to be not less than 30 days prior to the date
30 of sale.
31     The proceeds derived from any sale shall be used to
32 reimburse the petitioner for the costs of suit and necessary
33 expenses, including attorney's fees, incurred by petitioner in
34 the proceeding, and the balance, if any, shall be deposited
35 into the cemetery authority's care fund or, if there is no care

 

 

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1 fund, used by the cemetery authority for the care of its
2 cemetery and for no other purpose.
3 (Source: P.A. 92-419, eff. 1-1-02.)
 
4     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
5 becoming law.