I tried sending the following Georgia Code section to the INPCRP group a
couple of nights ago but it never showed up in the e-mail. Maybe it was too
large, so I've broken it up into two parts.
This statute was found at
http://www.ganet.org/services/ocode/ocgsearch.htm. I'd like the opinion of
the group as to whether we should forward something similar to our state
legislators as a template for protective legislation. I've only given it a
cursory reading, but it's the best I've seen lately and it sure looks like
it might hit the mark.
Lois
P.S. The Jeffersonville Township Trustee today informed us that he is going
to get our "parking lot" cemetery surveyed. Hip, hip, hooray! No other
promises made, but it's a good start! Also, the descendants are banding
together and trying to raise the money for a title examination and a lawyer.
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Can a Indiana property owner get away with PAVING over a cemetery
and turning it into a parking lot? See:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/5881/halemcbridecem.html
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Clark County, Indiana Cemeteries Page:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/5881
Next CCCPC Meeting: Saturday, 8-1-98, Sellersburg Library, 2 PM
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36-72-1 G
*** CODE SECTION *** 08/08/97
36-72-1.
(a) The care accorded the remains of deceased persons reflects
respect and regard for human dignity as well as cultural, spiritual,
and religious values. The General Assembly declares that human
remains and burial objects are not property to be owned by the
person or entity which owns the land or water where the human
remains and burial objects are interred or discovered, but human
remains and burial objects are a part of the finite, irreplaceable,
and nonrenewable cultural heritage of the people of Georgia which
should be protected.
(b) It is the intent of the General Assembly that the provisions of
this chapter be construed to require respectful treatment of human
remains in accord with the equal and innate dignity of every human
being and consistent with the identifiable ethnic, cultural, and
religious affiliation of the deceased individual as indicated by the
method of burial or other historical evidence or reliable
information.
36-72-2 G
*** CODE SECTION *** 08/08/97
36-72-2.
As used in this chapter, the term:
(1) "Abandoned cemetery" means a cemetery which shows signs of
neglect including, without limitation, the unchecked growth of
vegetation, repeated and unchecked acts of vandalism, or the
disintegration of grave markers or boundaries and for which no
person can be found who is legally responsible and financially
capable of the upkeep of such cemetery.
(2) "Archeologist" means any person who is:
(A) A member of or meets the criteria for membership in the
Society of Professional Archaeologists and can demonstrate
experience in the excavation and interpretation of human graves;
or
(B) Employed on July 1, 1991, by the state or by any county or
municipal governing authority as an archeologist.
(3) "Burial ground" means an area dedicated to and used for
interment of human remains. The term shall include privately
owned burial plots, individually and collectively, once human
remains have been buried therein. The fact that the area was used
for burial purposes shall be evidence that it was set aside for
burial purposes.
(4) "Burial object" means any item reasonably believed to have
been intentionally placed with the human remains at the time of
burial or interment or any memorial, tombstone, grave marker, or
shrine which may have been added subsequent to interment. Such
term also means any inscribed or uninscribed marker, coping,
curbing, enclosure, fencing, pavement, shelter, wall, stoneware,
pottery, or other grave object erected or deposited incident to or
subsequent to interment.
(5) "Cemetery" or "cemeteries" means any land or structure in
this
state dedicated to and used, or intended to be used, for interment
of human remains. It may be either a burial park for earth
interments or a mausoleum for vault or crypt interments or a
combination of one or more thereof.
(6) "Descendant" means a person or group of persons related to a
deceased human by blood or adoption in accordance with Title 19.
(7) "Genealogist" means a person who traces or studies the descent
of persons or families and prepares a probative record of such
descent.
(8) "Human remains" means the bodies of deceased human beings in
any stage of decomposition, including cremated remains.
(9) "Preserve and protect" means to keep safe from destruction,
peril, or other adversity and may include the placement of signs,
markers, fencing, or other such appropriate features so as to
identify the site as a cemetery or burial ground and may also
include the cleaning, maintenance, and upkeep of the site so as to
aid in its preservation and protection.
36-72-3 G
*** CODE SECTION *** 08/08/97
36-72-3.
Counties, anywhere within the county boundaries, and municipalities,
anywhere within the municipal boundaries, are authorized, jointly
and severally, to preserve and protect any abandoned cemetery or any
burial ground which the county or municipality determines has been
abandoned or is not being maintained by the person who is legally
responsible for its upkeep, whether or not that person is
financially capable of doing so, to expend public money in
connection therewith, to provide for reimbursement of such funds by
billing any legally responsible person or levying upon any of his
property as authorized by local ordinance, and to exercise the power
of eminent domain to acquire any interest in land necessary for that
purpose.
Georgia Code 36-72-4 G
*** CODE SECTION *** 08/08/97
36-72-4.
No known cemetery, burial ground, human remains, or burial object
shall be knowingly disturbed by the owner or occupier of the land on
which the cemetery or burial ground is located for the purposes of
developing or changing the use of any part of such land unless a
permit is first obtained from the governing authority of the
municipal corporation or county wherein the cemetery or burial
ground is located, which shall have authority to permit such
activity except as provided in Code Section 36-72-14.
36-72-5 G
*** CODE SECTION *** 08/08/97
36-72-5.
Application for a permit shall include, at a minimum, the following
information:
(1) Evidence of ownership of the land on which the cemetery or
burial ground is located in the form of a legal opinion based upon
a title search;
(2) A report prepared by an archeologist stating the number of
graves believed to be present and their locations as can be
determined from the use of minimally invasive investigation
techniques, including remote sensing methods and the use of metal
probes, which activities shall not require a permit;
(3) A survey prepared by or under the direction of a registered
surveyor showing the location and boundaries of the cemetery or
burial ground based on an archeologist's report;
(4) A plan prepared by a genealogist for identifying and notifying
the descendants of those buried or believed to be buried in such
cemetery. If those buried or believed to be buried are of
aboriginal or American Indian descent, the genealogist, in
preparing the notification plan, shall consult with the Council on
American Indian Concerns created pursuant to Code Section
44-12-280 and shall include in the notification plan not only any
known descendants of those presumed buried but also any American
Indian tribes as defined in paragraph (2) of Code Section
44-12-260 that are culturally affiliated; and
(5) A proposal for mitigation or avoidance of the effects of the
planned activity on the cemetery or burial ground. If the
proposal includes relocation of any human remains or burial
objects, the proposal shall specify the method of disinterment,
the location and method of disposition of the remains, the
approximate cost of the process, and the approximate number of
graves affected.