55 ILCS 70/ Grave and Cemetery Restoration Act.

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COUNTIES
(55 ILCS 70/) Grave and Cemetery Restoration Act.

55 ILCS 70/0.01

(55 ILCS 70/0.01) (from Ch. 21, par. 60.9)

Sec. 0.01.

Short title.

This Act may be cited as the

Grave and Cemetery Restoration Act.

(Source: P.A. 86-1324.)

55 ILCS 70/1

(55 ILCS 70/1) (from Ch. 21, par. 61)

Sec. 1.

Care by county.

(a) The county board of any county may appropriate funds from the
county treasury to be used for the purpose of putting any old, neglected
graves and cemeteries in the county in a cleaner and more respectable
condition.

(b) A county that has within its territory an
abandoned cemetery may
enter the cemetery grounds and cause the grounds to be
cleared and made orderly. Provided, in no event shall a
county enter an abandoned cemetery under this subsection if
the owner of the property or the legally responsible
cemetery authority provides written notification to the
county, prior to the county's entry (1) demonstrating the
ownership or authority to control or manage the cemetery
and (2) declining the county authorization to enter the property. In
making a cemetery orderly under this Section, the county
may take necessary measures to correct dangerous conditions
that exist in regard to markers, memorials, or other
cemetery artifacts but may not permanently remove those
items from their location on the cemetery grounds.
 If an abandoned cemetery is dedicated as an Illinois nature
preserve under the Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act,
any actions to cause the grounds to be cleared and kept
orderly shall be consistent with the rules and master plan
governing the dedicated nature preserve.

(c) For the purposes of this Section:

"Abandoned cemetery" means an area of land containing
more than 6 places of interment
for which, after diligent search, no owner of the land
or currently functioning cemetery authority objects to entry sought pursuant to
this Section,
and (1) at which no interments have taken place in at least
3 years; or (2) for which there has been inadequate
maintenance for at least 6 months.

"Diligent search" includes, but is not limited to,
publication of a notice in a newspaper of local
circulation not more than 45 but at least 30 days prior to
a county's entry and cleanup of cemetery grounds. The
notice shall provide (1) notice of the county's intended
entry and cleanup of the cemetery; (2) the name, if known,
and geographic location of the cemetery; (3) the right of
the cemetery authority or owner of the property to deny
entry to the county upon written notice to the county; and
(4) the date or dates of the intended cleanup.

"Inadequate maintenance" includes, but is not limited
to, the failure to cut the lawn throughout a cemetery to
prevent an overgrowth of grass and weeds; the failure to
trim shrubs to prevent excessive overgrowth; the failure to
trim trees so as to remove dead limbs; the failure to keep
in repair the drains, water lines, roads, buildings,
fences, and other structures of the cemetery premises; or
the failure to keep the cemetery premises free of trash and
debris.

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

55 ILCS 70/2

(55 ILCS 70/2) (from Ch. 21, par. 62)

Sec. 2.

The presiding officer of the county board, with the advice and
consent of the county board may appoint some suitable person to have charge
of such work of restoration, who shall report his activities to the county
board from time to time as it may direct, and shall receive no compensation
for his services.

(Source: P.A. 78-1128.)