| |
Public Act 103-0421 Public Act 0421 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
Public Act 103-0421 | HB1571 Enrolled | LRB103 27276 LNS 53647 b |
|
| AN ACT concerning civil law.
| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| represented in the General Assembly:
| Section 1. References to Act. This Act may be referred to | as the Michael Bauer Memorial Act. | Section 5. The Cemetery Oversight Act is amended by | changing Sections 10-23 and 20-5 as follows: | (225 ILCS 411/10-23) | (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027)
| Sec. 10-23. Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics. | Licensed cemetery authorities and their licensed cemetery | managers and customer service employees, and cemetery | authorities maintaining a partial exemption and their cemetery | managers and customer service employees shall: | (a) refrain from committing any action that may | violate Section 25-10 of this Act; | (b) be aware of applicable federal and State laws and | regulations, adhere to those laws and regulations, and be | able to explain them to families in an understandable | manner; | (c) treat all human remains with proper care and | dignity, honoring known religious, ethnic, and personal |
| beliefs; | (d) protect all confidential information; | (e) carry out all aspects of service in a competent | and respectful manner; | (f) fulfill all written and verbal agreements and | contracts; | (g) provide honest, factual, and complete information | regarding all aspects of the services offered and | provided; | (h) not engage in advertising that is false, | misleading, or otherwise prohibited by law; | (i) not discriminate against any person because of | race, creed, marital status, sex, national origin, sexual | orientation, or color, except a religious cemetery may | restrict its services to those of the same religious faith | or creed. A cemetery authority operating any cemetery may | designate parts of cemeteries or burial grounds for the | specific use of persons whose religious code requires | isolation; | (j) to have clear and specific cemetery rules and | regulations, subject to other applicable law, including | this Act, and to apply them equally to all consumers and | individuals families served; | (k) report all violations of this Act and this Section | to the Department.
| (Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12 .) |
| (225 ILCS 411/20-5) | (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027)
| Sec. 20-5. Maintenance and records. | (a) A cemetery authority shall provide reasonable | maintenance of the cemetery property and of all lots, graves, | crypts, and columbariums in the cemetery based on the type and | size of the cemetery, topographic limitations, and contractual | commitments with consumers. Subject to the provisions of this | subsection (a), reasonable maintenance includes: | (1) the laying of seed, sod, or other suitable ground | cover as soon as practical following an interment given | the weather conditions, climate, and season and the | interment's proximity to ongoing burial activity; | (2) the cutting of lawn throughout the cemetery at | reasonable intervals to prevent an overgrowth of grass and | weeds given the weather conditions, climate, and season; | (3) the trimming of shrubs to prevent excessive | overgrowth; | (4) the trimming of trees to remove dead limbs; | (5) maintaining, repairing, or removing, if necessary, | drains, water lines, roads, buildings, fences, and other | structures; and | (6) keeping the cemetery premises free of trash and | debris. | In determining whether a cemetery authority provides |
| reasonable maintenance of the cemetery property, the | Department shall consider: | (1) the cemetery authority's contractual obligations | for care and maintenance; | (2) the size of the cemetery; | (3) the extent and use of the cemetery authority's | financial resources; | (4) the standard of maintenance of one or more | similarly situated cemeteries; in determining whether a | cemetery is similarly situated, the Department shall | consider the cemetery's size, location, topography, and | financial resources, and whether the cemetery is a | fraternal cemetery, a religious cemetery, a public | cemetery, a cemetery owned and operated by a cemetery | association, or a licensed cemetery. | Reasonable maintenance by the cemetery authority shall not
| preclude the exercise of lawful rights by the owner of an
| interment, inurnment, or entombment right, or by the | decedent's
immediate family or other heirs, in accordance with | reasonable
rules and regulations of the cemetery or other | agreement of the
cemetery authority.
| In the case of a cemetery dedicated as a nature preserve | under the Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act, reasonable | maintenance by the cemetery authority shall be in accordance | with the rules and master plan governing the dedicated nature | preserve. |
| A cemetery authority accused of violating the reasonable | maintenance standard set forth in this Section shall have a | reasonable opportunity to cure the violation. The cemetery | authority shall have 10 business days after receipt of notice | to cure the violation. If a cemetery authority cannot cure the | violation within 10 business days, then the cemetery authority | may request a time extension in order to cure the violation. | The request for an extension shall be made in writing to the | Department and must be postmarked within 10 business days | after receipt of the notice of the alleged violation. The | request shall outline all reasons for the extension and an | estimated date by which the cure will be accomplished. | Acceptable reasons include, without limitation, delays caused | by weather conditions, season or climate, equipment failures, | or acquisitions of materials or supplies being addressed by | the authority in a timely manner, and unexpected temporary | absences of personnel. The Department may approve or deny the | extension. If the extension is denied, then the cemetery | authority must cure the violation within 10 business days | after the date of receipt of the Department's extension | denial. If the extension is granted, then the cemetery | authority must cure the violation within the extended period | of time. A cemetery authority that does not cure the violation | within the appropriate period of time shall be subject to | discipline in accordance with Article 25 of this Act. | (b) A cemetery authority, before commencing cemetery |
| operations or within 6 months after the effective date of this | Act, shall cause an overall map of its cemetery property, | delineating all lots or plots, blocks, sections, avenues, | walks, alleys, and paths and their respective designations, to | be filed at its on-site office, or if it does not maintain an | on-site office, at its principal place of business. The | cemetery authority shall update its map and index described in | subsection (b-5) within a reasonable time after any expansion | or alteration of the cemetery property. A cemetery manager's | certificate acknowledging, accepting, and adopting the map | shall also be included with the map. The Department may order | that the cemetery authority obtain a cemetery plat and that it | be filed at its on-site office, or if it does not maintain an | on-site office, at its principal place of business if (1) a | human body that should have been interred, entombed, or | inurned at the cemetery after the effective date of this | amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly is missing, | displaced, or dismembered and (2) the cemetery map contains | serious discrepancies. | In exercising this discretion, the Department shall | consider whether the cemetery authority would experience an | undue hardship as a result of obtaining the plat. The cemetery | plat, as with all plats prepared under this Act, shall comply | with the Illinois Professional Land Surveyor Act of 1989 and | shall delineate, describe, and set forth all lots or plots, | blocks, sections, avenues, walks, alleys, and paths and their |
| respective designations. A cemetery manager's certificate | acknowledging, accepting, and adopting the plat shall also be | included with the plat. | (b-5) A cemetery authority shall maintain an index that | associates the identity of deceased persons interred, | entombed, or inurned after the effective date of this Act with | their respective place of interment, entombment, or inurnment. | (c) The cemetery authority shall open the cemetery map or | plat to public inspection. The cemetery authority shall make | available a copy of the overall cemetery map or plat upon | written request and shall, if practical, provide a copy of a | segment of the cemetery plat where interment rights are | located upon the payment of reasonable photocopy fees. Any | unsold lots, plots, or parts thereof, in which there are not | human remains, may be resurveyed and altered in shape or size | and properly designated on the cemetery map or plat. However, | sold lots, plots, or parts thereof in which there are human | remains may not be renumbered or renamed. Nothing contained in | this subsection, however, shall prevent the cemetery authority | from enlarging an interment right by selling to its owner the | excess space next to the interment right and permitting | interments therein, provided reasonable access to the | interment right and to adjoining interment rights is not | thereby eliminated. | (d) A cemetery authority shall keep a record of every | interment, entombment, and inurnment completed after the |
| effective date of this Act. The record shall include the | deceased's name, age, date of burial, and the specific | location of the interred, entombed, or inurned human remains. | The specific location shall correspond to the map or plat | maintained in accordance with subsection (b) of this Section. | (e) (Blank). | (f) A cemetery authority shall make publicly available for | inspection and, upon reasonable request and the payment of a | reasonable copying fee, provide a copy of its rules and | regulations through continuous publication on an Internet | website or social media page, with a reference to and notice of | the rules and regulations for services in relation to the | cemetery. A cemetery authority that does not operate or | maintain a website or social media page shall provide an | electronic or paper copy of its rules and regulations upon | request of any person within 5 days of the person's request. A | cemetery authority may charge a reasonable copying fee for a | paper copy of the cemetery authority's rules and regulations . | A cemetery authority shall make available for viewing and | provide a copy of its current prices of interment, inurnment, | or entombment rights , or disinterment services . | (g) A cemetery authority shall provide access to the | cemetery under the cemetery authority's reasonable rules and | regulations. | (h) A cemetery authority shall be responsible for the | proper opening and closing of all graves, crypts, or niches |
| for human remains in any cemetery property it owns. | (i) A licensed cemetery authority shall keep in this State | and use in its business such records as will enable the | Department to determine whether such licensee or trustee is | complying with the provisions of this Act and with the rules, | regulations, and directions made by the Department under this | Act. The licensed cemetery authority shall keep the records in | electronic or written format at the location identified in the | license issued by the Department or as otherwise agreed by the | Department in writing. The books, accounts, and records shall | be accessible for review upon demand of the Department.
| (Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12 .) | Section 15. The Disposition of Remains Act is amended by | changing Section 50 as follows: | (755 ILCS 65/50) | Sec. 50. Disputes. | (a) Any dispute among any of the persons listed in Section | 5 concerning their right to control the disposition, including | cremation, of a decedent's remains shall be resolved by a | court of competent jurisdiction within 30 days of the dispute | being filed with the court. A cemetery organization or funeral | establishment shall not be liable for refusing to accept the | decedent's remains, or to inter or otherwise dispose of the | decedent's remains, until it receives a court order or other |
| suitable confirmation that the dispute has been resolved or | settled.
| (b) Any dispute over a disinterment shall be resolved by a | circuit court with all reasonable promptness by the court. If | the court finds that a party to a disinterment dispute has | acted in bad faith, the court may, in its sole discretion, | award costs, including reasonable attorney's fees, against the | person it finds has acted in bad faith. | (Source: P.A. 101-381, eff. 1-1-20 .) | Section 20. The Cemetery Protection Act is amended by | changing Section 2 as follows:
| (765 ILCS 835/2) (from Ch. 21, par. 16)
| Sec. 2. (a) The cemetery authority is hereby
authorized to | make by-laws or rules and regulations for the government | thereof, including and to make rules
regarding the driving of | cars, motorcycles, carriages, processions, teams, and the | speed
thereof, the use of avenues, lots, walks, ponds, water | courses, vaults,
buildings, or other places within such | cemetery, the operations and good management in such cemetery, | the protection of visitors, the protection of employees, and | for the maintenance of
good order and quiet in such cemetery, | so long as all such rules and regulations shall to be subject | to the
rights of interment, entombment, or inurnment right | owners, or others, owning any interest in such cemetery; and
|
| all persons found guilty of a violation of such rules shall be | guilty of a
petty offense and shall be punished by a fine of | not less than $100, nor more
than $500 for each offense. No | judge shall be disqualified from hearing any
cause that may be | brought before him or her under the provisions of this Act, nor
| shall any person be disqualified from acting as a juror in such | cause, by
reason of any interest or ownership they or either of | them may have in the
interment, entombment, or inurnment | rights of such cemetery. | (b) The rules and regulations, as referenced in subsection | (a), shall be made publicly available through continuous | publication on an Internet website or social media page that | the cemetery authority maintains, operates, or uses. Each | contract that a cemetery authority presents to a consumer | shall contain a reference to and notice of the Internet | website or social media page that it maintains, operates, or | uses to make available its rules and regulations as referenced | in subsection (a). | (c) If a cemetery authority does not maintain, operate, or | use an Internet website or social media page, the cemetery | authority must provide a consumer with either an email or | paper copy of the rules and regulations, as referenced in | subsection (a), at the execution of a contract or within 5 | business days of request thereof. A cemetery authority may | charge a reasonable copying fee in exchange for a paper copy of | the cemetery authority's rules and regulations. Each contract |
| that a cemetery authority presents to a consumer shall contain | a reference to and notice of such rules and regulations set | forth together with information about where the consumer can | access or obtain a copy of the rules and regulations.
| (Source: P.A. 94-44, eff. 6-17-05.)
|
Effective Date: 1/1/2024
|
|
|