I received a nice reply from Sue, about legilative efforts in other parts
of the country and asked her if I could share them with inpcrp-l, to which
she said yes.
Her message follows.
Cheryl Ann Munson
******
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 20:45:38 EST
From: Sue Silver <ssilver1951(a)juno.com>
Subject: Re: [INPCRP-L] HB 1184, cemetery preservation
Cheryl,
Washington State has a program on the statutes that allows non-profit
organizations formed to care for old cemeteries to be assigned
trusteeship (rescindable, of course). The corporations raise money and
provide manpower to preserve and restore the grounds.
In California, our statutes began in 1854, and "declared" any place where
six or more bodies were buried a "public grave-yard." In 1872, the
legislature passed the first codified statutes (22 yrs of laws) and this
concept of "public grave-yard" was addressed up front. Basically, the
Code Commission which formulated the codification(s) opened "Cemeteries
and Sepulture" with Section 3105 of the Political Code. It said: "The
title to land used as a PUBLIC cemetery or grave yard...IS VESTED in the
inhabitants of the city, town or village..."
Now you'd think that was pretty straightforward, wouldn't you? Well,
there we were at the end of the 20th century, nearly 130 years after the
Code Commission presented the codified statutes stating they
"substantially embodied..." the then present laws, and El Dorado County
Counsel tells us "No, you're wrong." We forced an Attorney General
Opinion and that resulted in "A public cemetery not under the management
and control of a city or benevolent association is the responsibility of
the county in which it is located."
WOW! We thought the AG agreed with us. But wait, County Counsel says,
"No, the AG confirmed what WE say." So it's all back to square one and
planning a Writ of Mandamus lawsuit - when we get the money.
In the meantime, I drafted a bill which probably won't be introduced this
session. As regards "historic cemeteries," it provided that no privately
owned land within which an historic cemetery exists may be resold before
the County Surveyor performs a survey, assigns a separate parcel number
and the landowner is offered a one time property tax credit in lieu of
payment to deed the cemetery to the county.
The other mechanism the counties have for "taking" care of an old
cemetery is to establish it as a legal Pioneer Memorial Cemetery. The
Board of Supervisors declare the cemetery abandoned and closed to future
interments. The publish notice and take hearing and provided no protest
is made, they make arrangements to "take" the cemetery - for the benefit
of the public health and welfare (supposedly). Thereafter, the county is
legally responsible for maintenance. You guessed it - not too much of
this going on in California. But it is a mechanism.
We have also introduced legislation to create a California Historic
Cemetery Commission. It is set to have seven commissioners and we are
hoping to block licensed cemetery professionals from serving since three
of the largest "death conglomerates" are already riding roughshod over
our old cemeteries.
This is a national tragedy and no one who is a real American should be
proud of what is happening out there. It is an abomination that should
all have us hanging our heads in shame. Who said POLTERGEIST couldn't
happen?
More unfortunately, it also seems to be a worldwide problem. Probably
like so many today's social ills, this is just a reflection of how far
we've come walking backwards....
Best regards for all you are trying to do. Check Florida also. Last
year they failed to pass legislation, but they were going to go back and
try. It also dealt with all those little abandoned places on the "back
forty."
Sue Silver
Hi Sue: I'm answering from my office.
Thank you for your note. It seems that most of our problem cemeteries
are
in rural areas, often in the middle of someones farm or pastures or
timberland, and most people do not want to give public access across
their
land for a variety of reasons.
Do you know what states have such a public trust transfer?
I had an idea that Indiana should give willing landowners a carrot of
having cemeteries on their property classified for preservation, much
like
we have classified forests on private land for preservation. The
classified forest program provides a lower tax, and thus an incentive
for
landowners. Surely our cemeteries deserve the same as our trees.
Will appreciate any info on better laws in other states.
Cheryl