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Public Act 103-0421


 

Public Act 0421 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
Public Act 103-0421
 
HB1571 EnrolledLRB103 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    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2027)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