The following is a letter in regards to legistation now in front of the
State about the preservation of Pioneer Cemeteries in Indian. Please
read!!!!! We must take this to the end!!!!!!!
Connie Brubaker
Wells Co IN
Resent-Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 21:04:11 -0800 (PST)
From: "Lois Mauk"
<lawofficeinformationsystem(a)worldnet.att.net>
Old-To: "INPCRP" <INPCRP-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Date: Sat, 13 Feb 1999 00:13:02 -0500
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3
Subject: [INPCRP-L] My Worst Fears Have Been Confirmed
Resent-Message-ID: <"PvrirD.A.RBB.IfQx2"(a)bl-14.rootsweb.com>
To: INPCRP-L(a)rootsweb.com
Resent-From: INPCRP-L(a)rootsweb.com
Reply-To: INPCRP-L(a)rootsweb.com
X-Mailing-List: <INPCRP-L(a)rootsweb.com> archive/latest/592
X-Loop: INPCRP-L(a)rootsweb.com
Precedence: list
Resent-Sender: INPCRP-L-request(a)rootsweb.com
X-UIDL: c6cb2eb6963f37d308fb78f8f714db9c
I talked with someone this afternoon who confirmed my worst fears about the
legislation pending before the 1999 General Assembly. It seems our esteemed
Legislators think we are idiots!
Admittedly, they are establishing some good standards for those situations
where moving a grave or graves is the lesser of two evils -- allow the site
to be abandoned, neglected, abused and obliterated OR move it. In such a
situation, I can begrudingly accept the second option. Many of us are of
the opinion that a grave should NEVER be moved, rather it should be
preserved where it sits. Naturally that is ALWAYS preferable, without
question, but I don't know if it is possible in this day and age.
HOWEVER, something I have not said much about out loud is the fact that the
proposed legislation (specifically the much-touted HB 1522 ["Cemetery
preservation"]) STILL GIVES ANYONE INVOLVED IN ANY FORM OF AGRICULTURE OR
SURFACE COAL MINING EXEMPTION FROM THESE REQUIREMENTS!!!!
That was my impression based on my repeated readings of the statutes, but I
did not trust my own judgment. Apparently I was correct.
I want to know by what right the State deems it "appropriate" for ANYONE to
plow, cultivate, pasture, graze or blacktop a cemetery.
They are giving us a bunch of lipservice, telling us privately how outraged
they are that these abominations are happening on a regular basis and,
almost in the same breath, winking at the big-money farming and mining
lobbies, as if to say, "We'll give them a little something and they'll shut
up. Don't worry! You'll still have the RIGHT to destroy cemeteries if they
are a nuisance for you."
I distinctly remember, either at the Senate hearings on 1/27/99 or the
abbreviated House hearing on 2/8/99, one of the bill sponsors standing at
the podium rattling off the list of affected entities and saying something
to the effect of, "I can't imagine any individual or entity not covered
under this bill."
Quote from HB 1522:
"SECTION 2. IC 35-43-1-2.1 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA
CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS
[EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 1999]: Sec. 2.1. (a) This section
does not apply to a person who acts in a proper and
acceptable manner as authorized by IC 14-21 or IC 23-14."
The same exemption is in HB 1588 (the mirror of SB 280).
Indiana Code 14-21 is the DIVISION OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND ARCHEOLOGY
statute. It states at Chapter 1, Sec. 24. (a):
(a) As used in this section, "agricultural purpose" includes
farming, dairying, pasturage, agriculture, horticulture,
floriculture, viticulture, ornamental horticulture,
olericulture, pomiculture, animal husbandry, and poultry
husbandry.
NOTE FROM LOIS: "Pasturage" is using land to graze
horses, cows, etc. "Horticulture" is the cultivation of
gardens or orchards. "Floriculture" is the cultivation of
flowering plants. "Viticulture" is the cultivation of the
vine; grape growing. "Olericulture" is the cultivation of
vegetables and herbs. "Pomiculture" is the cultivation
of fruit.
(b) Sections 25, 26, 28, and 29 of this chapter do not apply
to the following:
(1) Surface coal mining regulated under IC 14-34.
(2) Cemeteries and human remains subject to IC 23-14.
(3) Disturbing the earth for an agricultural purpose.
(4) Collecting any object other than human remains that
is visible in whole or in part on the surface of the ground,
regardless of the time the object was made or shaped.
As I read this, it means that if I am involved in any form of agriculture or
surface coal mining and I have a piece of property in the State of Indiana
with a cemetery on it, I have the "RIGHT" as a property owner to destroy all
visible evidence of said burial site through either active or passive means.
By "active", I mean bulldozing it, plowing it, etc. By "passive", I
mean
running cattle, horses or pigs in it; turning it into a feed lot or pig sty.
By either means, the all evidence of the cemetery is quickly and
irretrievably destroyed. The impediment to development (meaning the
graveyard) is then "gone" and the property is now "ripe for
development".
Viola!
Think through this scenario:
I own a piece of property. There is an old cemetery on it. I plant a
philodendron in the middle of the cemetery and call it "ornamental
horticulture" or I bury a grape and call it a vineyard or I turn cattle lose
in it and call it pasturage. By the clear and simple language of the
existing statute AS WELL AS the proposed legislation, the cemetery is
DESTROYED.
But, as 8-year-old Ashley explained to us, "It's okay. The property owner
was paying taxes on the property."
GIVE ME A BREAK! Just how stupid do they think we are?!
Then, let us consider the exemption from HB 1522 by the reference to IC
23-14. That is the "Cemetery statutes", which includes the "Care of
Cemeteries by Townships" and "Care of Cemeteries by Counties" provisions.
(A) In its last session, the General Assembly added the infamous sentence
to IC 23-14-68 ("Care of Cemeteries by Township"):
"This chapter does not apply to a cemetery located on
land on which property taxes are assessed and paid
under IC 6-1.1-4."
Translation: The Township Trustee cannot lift a FINGER or spend a DIME if
the cemetery is on PRIVATE PROPERTY.
(B) The County Cemeteries Commissions are, by and large, a huge JOKE on
the citizens of Indiana. I admit there are a FEW notable exceptions, but
you can count those on the fingers on one hand! We have 92 counties. The
rest of the counties either do not HAVE County Cemetery Commissions or the
County Councils have flatly refused to fund them. (I do not mean to
belittle the efforts of ANY of the County Cemetery Commissions. My point
simply is that the Counties,
by and large, refuse to FUND them. Again, they created the statute to
appease the public, but the statute carries no weight.)
I just called my boss and told him, "I'm sorry, Bill. I know I've missed
two days of work in the last three weeks on this thing, but I have no
choice. I HAVE TO GO BACK TO INDIANAPOLIS AGAIN ON MONDAY!"
I'm sorry, but I am just LIVID about this. I thought for sure that I just
misunderstood this language. I thought for sure we could trust the
Legislators when they talked to the press about what an abomination this
situation had become. I thought for sure we could trust them when they
reacted so favorably to little Ashley's speech. I guess I was wrong!
I'll see you in Indianapolis at the State Capitol at 4:00 P.M. on Monday,
February 15, at the House Chambers on the Third Floor. I'll be the one with
steam coming out of her ears and fire out of her eyes.
Lois
==== INPCRP Mailing List ====
Quote from William Gladstone (1809-1897), three-time Prime Minister of England
and Victorian contemporary of Benjamin Disraeli:
"Show me the manner in which a nation or community
cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical
exactness the tender mercies of its people, their
respect for the laws of the land, and their loyalty
to high ideals."