HB4934enr 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    "Not-for-profit corporation" means a corporation as
15defined in the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986.
16    "Veteran" means a person who has served as a member of the
17armed forces of the United States, the Illinois National
18Guard, or a reserve component of the armed forces of the United
19States and has been buried in a grave that is more than 100
20years old.
21    "Veterans' organization" means an organization comprised
22of members of which substantially all are individuals who are
23veterans or spouses, widows, or widowers of veterans, the

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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1    (b-7) Any person who acts without proper legal authority
2and who willfully and knowingly removes with the intent to
3resell a gravestone or other memorial, monument, or marker
4commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether
5located within or outside a recognized cemetery, memorial
6park, or battlefield, is guilty of a Class 2 felony.
7    (c) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the
8removal or unavoidable breakage or injury by a cemetery
9authority of anything placed in or upon any portion of its
10cemetery in violation of any of the rules and regulations of
11the cemetery authority, nor to the removal of anything placed
12in the cemetery by or with the consent of the cemetery
13authority that in the judgment of the cemetery authority has
14become wrecked, unsightly, or dilapidated, nor to the removal,
15replacement, or installation of a gravestone or other
16memorial, monument, or marker commemorating a veteran pursuant
17to Section 17 of this Act.
18    (d) If an unemancipated minor is found guilty of violating
19any of the provisions of subsection (b) of this Section and is
20unable to provide restitution to the cemetery authority or
21property owner, the parents or legal guardians of that minor
22shall provide restitution to the cemetery authority or
23property owner for the amount of any damage caused, up to the
24total amount allowed under the Parental Responsibility Law.
25    (d-5) Any person who commits any of the following:
26        (1) any unauthorized, non-related third party or

 

 

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1    person who enters any sheds, crematories, or employee
2    areas;
3        (2) any non-cemetery personnel who solicits cemetery
4    mourners or funeral directors on the grounds or in the
5    offices or chapels of a cemetery before, during, or after
6    a burial;
7        (3) any person who harasses or threatens any employee
8    of a cemetery on cemetery grounds; or
9        (4) any unauthorized person who removes, destroys, or
10    disturbs any cemetery devices or property placed for
11    safety of visitors and cemetery employees;
12is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and of
13a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense.
14    (e) Any person who shall hunt, shoot or discharge any gun,
15pistol or other missile, within the limits of any cemetery, or
16shall cause any shot or missile to be discharged into or over
17any portion thereof, or shall violate any of the rules made and
18established by the board of directors of such cemetery, for
19the protection or government thereof, is guilty of a Class C
20misdemeanor.
21    (f) Any person who knowingly enters or knowingly remains
22upon the premises of a public or private cemetery without
23authorization during hours that the cemetery is posted as
24closed to the public is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
25    (g) All fines when recovered, shall be paid over by the
26court or officer receiving the same to the cemetery authority

 

 

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1and be applied, as far as possible in repairing the injury, if
2any, caused by such offense. Provided, nothing contained in
3this Act shall deprive such cemetery authority or the owner of
4any interment, entombment, or inurnment right or monument from
5maintaining an action for the recovery of damages caused by
6any injury caused by a violation of the provisions of this Act,
7or of the rules established by the board of directors of such
8cemetery authority. Nothing in this Section shall be construed
9to prohibit the discharge of firearms loaded with blank
10ammunition as part of any funeral, any memorial observance or
11any other patriotic or military ceremony.
12(Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 96-863, eff. 3-1-10.)
 
13    (765 ILCS 835/17 new)
14    Sec. 17. Memorialization of veteran remains.
15    (a) If a veterans' organization or not-for-profit
16corporation has identified human remains of a veteran that are
17more than 100 years old and wishes to have a marker placed to
18designate the grave as that of a veteran, a cemetery authority
19may allow memorialization without permission of the decedent's
20heirs under this Section. The marker may be for a previously
21unmarked grave or serve as a replacement of or repair to an
22existing damaged marker. All costs for memorialization under
23this Section, including the marker, its installation, and any
24removal of or repair to a previous marker that is damaged,
25shall be entirely borne by the veterans' organization. In no

 

 

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1event shall the human remains be disturbed.
2    (b) The memorialization and its installation, and any
3removal of or repair to a damaged marker, may only take place
4with the permission of the involved cemetery authority and in
5compliance with the rules and regulations and any collective
6bargaining agreement of the involved cemetery.
7    (c) Before any memorialization under this Section may take
8place, the veterans' organization must first make a good faith
9effort to contact the decedent's next of kin, and if there is
10no response within 120 days, the process may proceed. The
11veterans' organization shall provide the cemetery authority
12with a notarized statement detailing its efforts to identify
13and contact the next of kin and the lack of response thereto,
14which statement may be made a part of the cemetery records.
15    (d) If any heir of a decedent later objects to a
16memorialization made under this Section, the sole remedy shall
17be the removal of the involved marker at the expense of the
18involved veterans' organization. If the veterans' organization
19no longer exists or is without funds, removal shall be at the
20expense of the heir. In no event shall there be monetary
21damages, or any other equitable relief or penalties, against
22the cemetery authority, cemetery, or veterans' association.