HB4934eng 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

 


 
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1    AN ACT concerning State government.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Cemetery Protection Act is amended by
5changing Sections .01 and 1 and by adding Section 17 as
6follows:
 
7    (765 ILCS 835/.01)  (from Ch. 21, par. 14.01)
8    Sec. .01. For the purposes of this Act, the term:
9    "Cemetery authority" means an individual or legal entity
10that owns or controls cemetery lands or property.
11    "Community mausoleum" means a mausoleum owned and operated
12by a cemetery authority that contains multiple entombment
13rights sold to the public.
14    "Veteran" means a person who has served as a member of the
15armed forces of the United States, the Illinois National
16Guard, or a reserve component of the armed forces of the United
17States and has been buried in a grave that is more than 100
18years old.
19    "Veterans' organization" means an organization comprised
20of members of which substantially all are individuals who are
21veterans or spouses, widows, or widowers of veterans, the
22primary purpose of which is to promote the welfare of its
23members and to provide assistance to the general public in

 

 

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1such a way as to confer a public benefit.
2(Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12.)
 
3    (765 ILCS 835/1)  (from Ch. 21, par. 15)
4    Sec. 1. (a) Any person who acts without proper legal
5authority and who willfully and knowingly destroys or damages
6the remains of a deceased human being or who desecrates human
7remains is guilty of a Class 3 felony.
8    (a-5) Any person who acts without proper legal authority
9and who willfully and knowingly removes any portion of the
10remains of a deceased human being from a burial ground where
11skeletal remains are buried or from a grave, crypt, vault,
12mausoleum, or other repository of human remains is guilty of a
13Class 4 felony.
14    (b) Any person who acts without proper legal authority and
15who willfully and knowingly:
16        (1) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a burial
17    ground where skeletal remains are buried or a grave,
18    crypt, vault, mausoleum, or other repository of human
19    remains;
20        (2) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a park or
21    other area clearly designated to preserve and perpetuate
22    the memory of a deceased person or group of persons;
23        (3) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates plants,
24    trees, shrubs, or flowers located upon or around a
25    repository for human remains or within a human graveyard

 

 

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

 

 

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1resell a gravestone or other memorial, monument, or marker
2commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether
3located within or outside a recognized cemetery, memorial
4park, or battlefield, is guilty of a Class 2 felony.
5    (c) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the
6removal or unavoidable breakage or injury by a cemetery
7authority of anything placed in or upon any portion of its
8cemetery in violation of any of the rules and regulations of
9the cemetery authority, nor to the removal of anything placed
10in the cemetery by or with the consent of the cemetery
11authority that in the judgment of the cemetery authority has
12become wrecked, unsightly, or dilapidated, nor to the removal,
13replacement, or installation of a gravestone or other
14memorial, monument, or marker commemorating a veteran pursuant
15to Section 17 of this Act.
16    (d) If an unemancipated minor is found guilty of violating
17any of the provisions of subsection (b) of this Section and is
18unable to provide restitution to the cemetery authority or
19property owner, the parents or legal guardians of that minor
20shall provide restitution to the cemetery authority or
21property owner for the amount of any damage caused, up to the
22total amount allowed under the Parental Responsibility Law.
23    (d-5) Any person who commits any of the following:
24        (1) any unauthorized, non-related third party or
25    person who enters any sheds, crematories, or employee
26    areas;

 

 

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1        (2) any non-cemetery personnel who solicits cemetery
2    mourners or funeral directors on the grounds or in the
3    offices or chapels of a cemetery before, during, or after
4    a burial;
5        (3) any person who harasses or threatens any employee
6    of a cemetery on cemetery grounds; or
7        (4) any unauthorized person who removes, destroys, or
8    disturbs any cemetery devices or property placed for
9    safety of visitors and cemetery employees;
10is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and of
11a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense.
12    (e) Any person who shall hunt, shoot or discharge any gun,
13pistol or other missile, within the limits of any cemetery, or
14shall cause any shot or missile to be discharged into or over
15any portion thereof, or shall violate any of the rules made and
16established by the board of directors of such cemetery, for
17the protection or government thereof, is guilty of a Class C
18misdemeanor.
19    (f) Any person who knowingly enters or knowingly remains
20upon the premises of a public or private cemetery without
21authorization during hours that the cemetery is posted as
22closed to the public is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
23    (g) All fines when recovered, shall be paid over by the
24court or officer receiving the same to the cemetery authority
25and be applied, as far as possible in repairing the injury, if
26any, caused by such offense. Provided, nothing contained in

 

 

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1this Act shall deprive such cemetery authority or the owner of
2any interment, entombment, or inurnment right or monument from
3maintaining an action for the recovery of damages caused by
4any injury caused by a violation of the provisions of this Act,
5or of the rules established by the board of directors of such
6cemetery authority. Nothing in this Section shall be construed
7to prohibit the discharge of firearms loaded with blank
8ammunition as part of any funeral, any memorial observance or
9any other patriotic or military ceremony.
10(Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 96-863, eff. 3-1-10.)
 
11    (765 ILCS 835/17 new)
12    Sec. 17. Memorialization of veteran remains.
13    (a) If a veterans' organization has identified human
14remains of a veteran that are more than 100 years old and
15wishes to have a marker placed to designate the grave as that
16of a veteran, a cemetery authority may allow memorialization
17without permission of the decedent's heirs under this Section.
18The marker may be for a previously unmarked grave or serve as a
19replacement of or repair to an existing damaged marker. All
20costs for memorialization under this Section, including the
21marker, its installation, and any removal of or repair to a
22previous marker that is damaged, shall be entirely borne by
23the veterans' organization. In no event shall the human
24remains be disturbed.
25    (b) The memorialization and its installation, and any

 

 

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1removal of or repair to a damaged marker, may only take place
2with the permission of the involved cemetery authority and in
3compliance with the rules and regulations and any collective
4bargaining agreement of the involved cemetery.
5    (c) Before any memorialization under this Section may take
6place, the veterans' organization must first make a good faith
7effort to contact the decedent's next of kin, and if there is
8no response within 120 days, the process may proceed. The
9veterans' organization shall provide the cemetery authority
10with a notarized statement detailing its efforts to identify
11and contact the next of kin and the lack of response thereto,
12which statement may be made a part of the cemetery records.
13    (d) If any heir of a decedent later objects to a
14memorialization made under this Section, the sole remedy shall
15be the removal of the involved marker at the expense of the
16involved veterans' organization. If the veterans' organization
17no longer exists or is without funds, removal shall be at the
18expense of the heir. In no event shall there be monetary
19damages, or any other equitable relief or penalties, against
20the cemetery authority, cemetery, or veterans' association.