HB4934ham001 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Stephanie A. Kifowit

Filed: 3/22/2024

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4934

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4934 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
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

 

 

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1States and has been buried in a grave that is more than 100
2years old.
3    "Veterans' organization" means an organization comprised
4of members of which substantially all are individuals who are
5veterans or spouses, widows, or widowers of veterans, the
6primary purpose of which is to promote the welfare of its
7members and to provide assistance to the general public in
8such a way as to confer a public benefit.
9(Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12.)
 
10    (765 ILCS 835/1)  (from Ch. 21, par. 15)
11    Sec. 1. (a) Any person who acts without proper legal
12authority and who willfully and knowingly destroys or damages
13the remains of a deceased human being or who desecrates human
14remains is guilty of a Class 3 felony.
15    (a-5) Any person who acts without proper legal authority
16and who willfully and knowingly removes any portion of the
17remains of a deceased human being from a burial ground where
18skeletal remains are buried or from a grave, crypt, vault,
19mausoleum, or other repository of human remains is guilty of a
20Class 4 felony.
21    (b) Any person who acts without proper legal authority and
22who willfully and knowingly:
23        (1) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a burial
24    ground where skeletal remains are buried or a grave,
25    crypt, vault, mausoleum, or other repository of human

 

 

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1    remains;
2        (2) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a park or
3    other area clearly designated to preserve and perpetuate
4    the memory of a deceased person or group of persons;
5        (3) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates plants,
6    trees, shrubs, or flowers located upon or around a
7    repository for human remains or within a human graveyard
8    or cemetery; or
9        (4) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a fence,
10    rail, curb, or other structure of a similar nature
11    intended for the protection or for the ornamentation of
12    any tomb, monument, gravestone, or other structure of like
13    character;
14is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor if the amount of the damage
15is less than $500, a Class 4 felony if the amount of the damage
16is at least $500 and less than $10,000, a Class 3 felony if the
17amount of the damage is at least $10,000 and less than
18$100,000, or a Class 2 felony if the damage is $100,000 or more
19and shall provide restitution to the cemetery authority or
20property owner for the amount of any damage caused.
21    (b-5) Any person who acts without proper legal authority
22and who willfully and knowingly defaces, vandalizes, injures,
23or removes a gravestone or other memorial, monument, or marker
24commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether
25located within or outside of a recognized cemetery, memorial
26park, or battlefield is guilty of a Class 4 felony for damaging

 

 

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1at least one but no more than 4 gravestones, a Class 3 felony
2for damaging at least 5 but no more than 10 gravestones, or a
3Class 2 felony for damaging more than 10 gravestones and shall
4provide restitution to the cemetery authority or property
5owner for the amount of any damage caused.
6    (b-7) Any person who acts without proper legal authority
7and who willfully and knowingly removes with the intent to
8resell a gravestone or other memorial, monument, or marker
9commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether
10located within or outside a recognized cemetery, memorial
11park, or battlefield, is guilty of a Class 2 felony.
12    (c) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the
13removal or unavoidable breakage or injury by a cemetery
14authority of anything placed in or upon any portion of its
15cemetery in violation of any of the rules and regulations of
16the cemetery authority, nor to the removal of anything placed
17in the cemetery by or with the consent of the cemetery
18authority that in the judgment of the cemetery authority has
19become wrecked, unsightly, or dilapidated, nor to the removal,
20replacement, or installation of a gravestone or other
21memorial, monument, or marker commemorating a veteran pursuant
22to Section 17 of this Act.
23    (d) If an unemancipated minor is found guilty of violating
24any of the provisions of subsection (b) of this Section and is
25unable to provide restitution to the cemetery authority or
26property owner, the parents or legal guardians of that minor

 

 

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1shall provide restitution to the cemetery authority or
2property owner for the amount of any damage caused, up to the
3total amount allowed under the Parental Responsibility Law.
4    (d-5) Any person who commits any of the following:
5        (1) any unauthorized, non-related third party or
6    person who enters any sheds, crematories, or employee
7    areas;
8        (2) any non-cemetery personnel who solicits cemetery
9    mourners or funeral directors on the grounds or in the
10    offices or chapels of a cemetery before, during, or after
11    a burial;
12        (3) any person who harasses or threatens any employee
13    of a cemetery on cemetery grounds; or
14        (4) any unauthorized person who removes, destroys, or
15    disturbs any cemetery devices or property placed for
16    safety of visitors and cemetery employees;
17is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and of
18a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense.
19    (e) Any person who shall hunt, shoot or discharge any gun,
20pistol or other missile, within the limits of any cemetery, or
21shall cause any shot or missile to be discharged into or over
22any portion thereof, or shall violate any of the rules made and
23established by the board of directors of such cemetery, for
24the protection or government thereof, is guilty of a Class C
25misdemeanor.
26    (f) Any person who knowingly enters or knowingly remains

 

 

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1upon the premises of a public or private cemetery without
2authorization during hours that the cemetery is posted as
3closed to the public is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
4    (g) All fines when recovered, shall be paid over by the
5court or officer receiving the same to the cemetery authority
6and be applied, as far as possible in repairing the injury, if
7any, caused by such offense. Provided, nothing contained in
8this Act shall deprive such cemetery authority or the owner of
9any interment, entombment, or inurnment right or monument from
10maintaining an action for the recovery of damages caused by
11any injury caused by a violation of the provisions of this Act,
12or of the rules established by the board of directors of such
13cemetery authority. Nothing in this Section shall be construed
14to prohibit the discharge of firearms loaded with blank
15ammunition as part of any funeral, any memorial observance or
16any other patriotic or military ceremony.
17(Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 96-863, eff. 3-1-10.)
 
18    (765 ILCS 835/17 new)
19    Sec. 17. Memorialization of veteran remains.
20    (a) If a veterans' organization has identified human
21remains of a veteran that are more than 100 years old and
22wishes to have a marker placed to designate the grave as that
23of a veteran, a cemetery authority may allow memorialization
24without permission of the decedent's heirs under this Section.
25The marker may be for a previously unmarked grave or serve as a

 

 

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1replacement of or repair to an existing damaged marker. All
2costs for memorialization under this Section, including the
3marker, its installation, and any removal of or repair to a
4previous marker that is damaged, shall be entirely borne by
5the veterans' organization. In no event shall the human
6remains be disturbed.
7    (b) The memorialization and its installation, and any
8removal of or repair to a damaged marker, may only take place
9with the permission of the involved cemetery authority and in
10compliance with the rules and regulations and any collective
11bargaining agreement of the involved cemetery.
12    (c) Before any memorialization under this Section may take
13place, the veterans' organization must first make a good faith
14effort to contact the decedent's next of kin, and if there is
15no response within 120 days, the process may proceed. The
16veterans' organization shall provide the cemetery authority
17with a notarized statement detailing its efforts to identify
18and contact the next of kin and the lack of response thereto,
19which statement may be made a part of the cemetery records.
20    (d) If any heir of a decedent later objects to a
21memorialization made under this Section, the sole remedy shall
22be the removal of the involved marker at the expense of the
23involved veterans' organization. If the veterans' organization
24no longer exists or is without funds, removal shall be at the
25expense of the heir. In no event shall there be monetary
26damages, or any other equitable relief or penalties, against

 

 

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1the cemetery authority, cemetery, or veterans' association.".