From: Lois Mauk <LawOfficeInformationSystem(a)WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
To: INROOTS-L(a)LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU <INROOTS-L(a)LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU>
Date: Wednesday, January 13, 1999 10:03 PM
Subject: [INROOTS] Rep. Cleo Duncan's House Bill 1422
Run, do not walk, to your nearest telephone or computer!
Write, telephone or e-mail Indiana State Rep. Cleo Duncan (R) today
at:
E-mail: R67(a)ai.org
Telephone: (800) 382-9841 (State House)
(317) 232-9600 or (317) 232-9700
Mail: Rep. Cleo Duncan
District 67
Indiana House of Representatives
200 W. Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2786
She has tendered a GENUINELY EXCITING bill to the House of
Representatives'
Committee on Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development.
It was
read for the first time on January 12, 1999 and referred to that
Standing
Committee.
HB 1422 is summarized on the Indiana Access website as:
"Cemetery preservation. REQUIRES the board of
commissioners of a county to appoint a county
cemetery commission. CHANGES CONTROL of cemeteries
from the township trustee to the county legislative
body. Makes conforming amendments." [Emphasis
added.]
The full text of the bill is available at:
http://www.state.in.us/cgi-bin/legislative/bills/commList.perl
From there, click on:
Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development
From there, click on:
HB 1422 Cemetery preservation.
I can't include the full text of the proposed amendments to the
statutes to
this message because I can't put in the overstrikes and bolded
text
used on
the State's site to reflect additions and deletions into a plain
text
e-mail.
The major changes Rep. Duncan is proposing include:
[1] Changing "were established before 1850" to "were established at
least
fifty (50) years before the current year".
[2] Changing "may" to "SHALL" in the sentence: "The board of
commissioners
of a county SHALL appoint a county cemetery commission consisting of
five
(5) residents of the county."
[3] Changing "township trustee" to "county legislative body" in the
following section of IC 23-14-68-2:
Sec. 2. The county legislative body {not the Trustee} shall
locate and
maintain all the cemeteries described in section 1(a) of this chapter
that
are within the county {not the Township}. However, a cemetery
association
claiming assistance under this chapter shall furnish a verified
statement of
assets and liabilities to the county legislative body {not the
Trustee}.
[4] SECTION 4. IC 23-14-68-4 WOULD BE AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS:
Sec. 4. (a) The county legislative body {not the township}
shall
appropriate enough money to provide for the care, repair, and
maintenance of
each cemetery described in section 1(a) of this chapter that is
located
within the county {not the township}. Funds shall be appropriated
under this
subsection in the same manner as other county {not the township}
appropriations.
(b) The county legislative body {not the township} may levy a
county
{not township} cemetery tax to create a fund for maintenance of
cemeteries
under this chapter. If a fund has not been provided for maintenance
of
cemeteries under this chapter, part of the county general fund {not
the
township fund} may be used.
[5] SECTION 8. IC 23-14-69-3 WOULD BE AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS:
Sec. 3. A county legislative body {not the trustee} shall care
for and
maintain each cemetery to which this chapter applies that is located
in the
county {not the township}, keeping the cemeteries in a respectable
condition by:
(1) destroying detrimental plants (as defined in IC
15-3-4-1 ),
noxious weeds, and rank vegetation; and
(2) removing all unsightly accumulations and debris.
[6] This addition would be made to SECTION 15 of IC 23-14-69-8:
(a) Title to cemetery property owned by a township on June 1,
1999, is
transferred to the county in which the township is located on July 1,
1999.
After June 30, 1999, a reference to a township as owner in a title to
cemetery property must be construed as a reference to the county in
which
the township is located.
(b) This Section expires July 1, 2002.
Contact Rep. Duncan today to let her know you support her pioneering
efforts
on behalf of Indiana's abandoned, neglected and abused
cemeteries.
Lois
Dr J A Ballard <john.ballard(a)anu.edu.au>
Graduate School, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia
Tel +61 2 6249 5487 Fax +61 2 6249 4829