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OHIO TOWNSHIP CEMETERY LAW
Brian M. Zets, Esq.Isaac Wiles Burkholder & Teetor, LLC
Two Miranova Place, Suite 700Columbus, Ohio 43215Phone: 614-221-2121
Fax: [email protected]
What You are Dying to Know
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Legal Issues Surrounding
Cemeteries
A state may regulate the location of cemeteries through the exercise ofits police power by statute directly regulating the location of cemeteries.Laurel Hill Cemetery v. San Francisco, 216 US 358 (1910). Such policepower may be delegated to and exercised by political subdivisions orsubordinate public corporations of the state, including municipalcorporations or health authorities.
HOW TO FUND THE CEMETERY
Levy & Taxes for Expenses (R.C. 517.03)
To defray the expenses of the purchase or appropriation,and the enclosing, care, supervision, repair, and improvingof lands for cemetery purposes, and of maintaining andimproving entombments, including mausoleums,columbariums, and other interment rights, the board oftownship trustees may levy a tax sufficient for thatpurpose.
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HOW TO FUND THE CEMETERY
Levy for Buildings (R.C. 517.19)Where the township owns a burial place within the grounds of a cemeteryassociation, the board of township trustees may levy a tax, not exceeding fivemills on the dollar of the tax duplicate of the township, for the purpose oferecting permanent buildings upon such cemetery grounds.
In anticipation of such tax, the officers of such cemetery association may issueand sell bonds, to bear interest at a rate not to exceed the rate provided in R.C.Section 9.95.
HOW TO FUND THE CEMETERY
Endowment Fund (R.C. 517.15)A board of township trustees may create a permanent cemetery endowment fund for the purpose of maintaining, improving, and beautifyingtownship cemeteries and burial lots in township cemeteries. The fund shall consist of money arising from the following sources:
A. Gifts, devises, or bequests received for the purpose of maintaining, improving, or beautifying township cemeteries;
B. Charges added to the price regularly charged for burial lots for the purpose of maintaining, improving, or beautifying townshipcemeteries;
C. Contributions of money from the township general fund;
D. An individual agreement with the purchaser of a burial lot providing that a part of the purchase price is to be applied to thepurpose of maintaining, improving, or beautifying any burial lot designated and named by the purchaser;
E. Individual gifts, devises, or bequests made for the maintenance, improvement, and beautification of any burial lot designated andnamed by the person making the gift, devise, or bequest.
Upon unanimous consent of the board of trustees, the board may use the principal of the fund if the board is unable to maintain, improve, andbeautify township cemeteries using only the income from the fund.
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HOW TO FUND THE CEMETERY
R.C. 517.08 (Expenditure of Proceeds – Exception) provides:
The proceeds arising from the sale of cemetery lots under R.C. Section 517.07 shall be used inmaintaining, improving, beautifying, and embellishing such grounds, and for maintaining andimproving entombments, including mausoleums, columbariums, and other interment rights,except that upon unanimous consent of the board of township trustees, such proceeds may beused in the purchase or appropriation of additional land for cemetery purposes in accordancewith R.C. Sections 517.01 and 517.13; and the board of township trustees may build andmaintain proper and secure fences around all such cemeteries, to be paid for from the townshipfunds.
HOW TO FUND THE CEMETERY
Additions to Cemetery Grounds (R.C. 517.13)In any township in which there is a cemetery owned or partly owned by such township, if in the opinion of theboard of township trustees, it is desirable to add to the area of such cemetery by the purchase of additional grounds,and if suitable lands cannot be procured by contract on reasonable terms, the board may appropriate lands, notexceeding ten acres, by proceedings in accordance with R.C. Sections 163.01 to 163.22, for the expansion of anexisting cemetery if the township zoning ordinances do not prohibit such use. Lands appropriated for the expansionof a cemetery shall not be appropriated within fifty feet of a dwelling house or other building and shall beconsidered a part of the original cemetery even though separated therefrom by a road or highway.
For such purpose the board may expend funds as provided in R.C. Section 517.08, or the board may levy a tax, notto exceed one-half of one mill, on the taxable property of the township, for a period not to exceed five years, whichtax shall be collected as other taxes, and appropriated for the purchase or appropriation of such additional cemeterygrounds which shall become part of the township cemetery.
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HOW TO MAINTAIN THE CEMETERY
Mowing (R.C. 517.06)The board of township trustees shall have the cemetery laid out in lots, avenues, andpaths, shall number the lots, and shall have a suitable plat of the lots made, which platshall be carefully kept by the township fiscal officer. The board shall make and enforceall needful rules and regulations for the division of the cemetery into lots, for theallotment of lots to families or individuals, and for the care, supervision, andimprovement of the lots. The board also may make and enforce all needful rules andregulations for burial, interment, reinterment, or disinterment. The board shall requirethe grass and weeds in the cemetery to be cut and destroyed at least twice each year.Suitable provision shall be made in the cemetery for persons whose burial is at theexpense of the township.
HOW TO MAINTAIN THE CEMETERY
General Care (R.C. 517.11)The board of township trustees shall provide for the protection and preservation of cemeteries under its jurisdiction,and shall prohibit interments therein when new grounds have been procured for township cemeteries or burialgrounds. Where such old cemeteries are in or near village plats, and the public health is liable to be injured byfurther interments therein, the board shall institute suits to recover possession thereof, remove trespassers therefrom,and may recover damages for injuries thereto or any part thereof, or to any fence or hedge enclosing them, or to anytomb or monument therein.
The board may enclose cemeteries under its jurisdiction with a substantial fence or hedge, and shall keep any suchfence or hedge in good repair. It may re-erect any fallen tombstones, regardless of the cause of the falling, in suchcemeteries. The board, as it considers necessary, may purchase, maintain, and improve entombments, includingmausoleums, columbariums, and other interment rights. The board may levy a tax to meet any costs incurred forthese purposes, not to exceed one-half mill in any one year, upon all the taxable property of the township.
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HOW TO SELL CEMETERY LOTS
R.C. 517.07 provides:
Upon application, the board of township trustees shall sell at a reasonable price the number of lots aspublic wants demand for burial purposes. Purchasers of lots or other interment rights, uponcomplying with the terms of sale, may receive deeds for the lots or rights which the board shall executeand which shall be recorded by the township fiscal officer in a book for that purpose. The expense ofrecording shall be paid by the person receiving the deed. Upon the application of a head of a familyliving in the township, the board shall, without charge, make and deliver to the applicant a deed for asuitable lot or right for the interment of the applicant's family, if, in the opinion of the board and byreason of the circumstances of the family, the payment would be oppressive.
(Rev. 2016)
HOW TO RE-ENTER UNUSED CEMETERY LOTS
R.C. 517.073 provides:
The board of township trustees may reenter a lot for which the terms of sale or deed was executed prior toJuly 24, 1986, or an entombment, including a mausoleum, columbarium, or other interment right for whichthe terms of sale or deed was executed prior to September 29, 2015, if the board determines the lot or rightis unused and adopts a resolution creating a procedure for right of reentry in accordance with this section.The resolution shall state that the board of township trustees has the right of reentry to the cemetery lot orright purchased prior to July 24, 1986, or prior to September 29, 2015. Before reentering a lot or right, theboard shall send a notice by certified mail to the last known owner at the owner's last known address toinform the owner that the owner's interest in the lot or right will cease unless the owner or owner's heirresponds by a specified date. If the owner's address is unknown and cannot be obtained reasonably, it issufficient to publish the notice once in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. To establish reentry,the board shall pass a resolution stating that the owner has not responded by the specified date, and that theboard reclaims its interest in the lot or right.
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HOW TO RE-ENTER UNUSED CEMETERY LOTS
At least ninety days prior to the termination date for use of the cemetery lot, tomb, including amausoleum, or columbarium, the board shall send a notice to the owner to inform the owner that theowner's interest in the lot or right will cease on the termination date unless the owner or owner's heircontracts for renewal by that date. The board shall send the notice by certified mail to the owner ifthe owner is a resident of the township or is a nonresident whose address is known. If the owner'saddress is unknown and cannot reasonably be obtained, it is sufficient to publish the notice once in anewspaper of general circulation in the county.
In order to establish reentry, the board shall pass a resolution stating that because of the lack ofresponse to notice sent by certified mail that provided a termination date, the board reclaims itsinterest in the lot or right.
(Rev. 2016)
HOW TO BURY THE INDIGENTBurial or cremation of body at expense of township or municipal corporation (R.C. 9.15)
Where was the deceased a resident?
When the body of a dead person is found in a township or municipal corporation, and such person was not aninmate of a correctional, benevolent, or charitable institution of this state, and the body is not claimed by anyperson for private interment or cremation at the person's own expense, or delivered for the purpose of medical orsurgical study or dissection in accordance with R.C. Section 1713.34, it shall be disposed of as follows:
A. If the person was a legal resident of the county, the proper officers of the township or municipal corporation in whichthe person's body was found shall cause it to be buried or cremated at the expense of the township or municipalcorporation in which the person had a legal residence at the time of death.
B. If the person had a legal residence in any other county of the state at the time of death, the superintendent of thecounty home of the county in which such body was found shall cause it to be buried or cremated at the expense of thetownship or municipal corporation in which the person had a legal residence at the time of death.
C. If the person was an inmate of a correctional institution of the county or a patient or resident of a benevolentinstitution of the county, the person had no legal residence in the state, or the person's legal residence is unknown, thesuperintendent shall cause the person to be buried or cremated at the expense of the county.
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HOW TO BURY THE INDIGENT
Burial or Cremation?
Such officials shall provide, at the grave of the person or, ifthe person's cremated remains are buried, at the grave of theperson's cremated remains, a metal, stone, or concrete markeron which the person's name and age, if known, and date ofdeath shall be inscribed.
HOW TO BURY THE INDIGENTWho is “indigent”?
**A political subdivision is notrelieved of its duty to bury orcremate a person at its expense whenthe body is claimed by an indigentperson.
A person whose income doesnot exceed one hundred fiftyper cent of the federalpoverty line.
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HOW TO MOVE SOMEONE (DISINTERMENT)
General Rules (R.C. 517.23)The board of township trustees, the trustees or directors of a cemetery association, or the other officers havingcontrol and management of a cemetery or the officer of a municipal corporation who has control and managementof a municipal cemetery shall disinter or grant permission to disinter any remains buried in the cemetery in either ofthe following circumstances:
1. If the surviving spouse of the decedent is eighteen years of age or older, within thirty days after thefiling of an application of the surviving spouse made in accordance with division (A) of R.C. Section517.24 and payment by the applicant of the reasonable costs and expense of disinterment;
2. On order of a probate court issued under division (B) of R.C. Section 517.24 and payment by theperson who applied for the order under that division of the reasonable costs and expense ofdisinterment.
HOW TO MOVE SOMEONE (DISINTERMENT)
Form of Application (R.C. 517.24)A. An application by a surviving spouse for disinterment under R.C.
Section 517.23 shall be in writing and shall state that the applicantis the surviving spouse of the decedent, that the applicant is eighteenyears of age or older and of sound mind, the disease of which thedecedent died, and the place at which the remains shall be reinterred.The application shall be subscribed and verified by oath.
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Form of Application (R.C. 517.24) cont’d:
B.
1. A person who is eighteen years of age or older and of sound mind and who is not thesurviving spouse of the decedent involved may obtain a court order under this division forthe disinterment of the remains of the decedent. Any person who is eighteen years of ageor older and of sound mind, including, but not limited to, the person who assumedfinancial responsibility for the funeral and burial expenses of the decedent, and who wishesto obtain a court order for the disinterment of the remains of the decedent may file anapplication in the probate court of the county in which the decedent is buried requestingthe court to issue an order for the disinterment of the remains of the decedent. Theapplication shall be in writing, subscribed and verified by oath, and include all of thefollowing:
a) If applicable, a statement that the applicant assumed financial responsibility for thefuneral and burial expenses of the decedent;
Form of Application (R.C. 517.24) cont’d:
b) If division (B)(1)(a) of this section is inapplicable relative to the applicant, astatement that the applicant did not assume financial responsibility for the funeraland burial expenses of the decedent;
c) A statement that the applicant is eighteen years of age or older and of sound mind;
d) The relationship of the applicant to the decedent;
e) A statement of the place at which the remains will be reinterred;
f) The name, the relationship to the decedent, and the address of the decedent'ssurviving spouse, of all persons who would have been entitled to inherit from thedecedent under R.C. Chapter 2105 if the decedent had died intestate, and, if thedecedent had a will, of all legatees and devisees named in the decedent's will.
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HOW TO MOVE SOMEONE (DISINTERMENT)
Writ of Mandamus (R.C. 517.25)
If the board of township trustees, the trustees or board of a cemeteryassociation, or the other officers in charge of a cemetery refuse to disinter orgrant permission for disinterment after a surviving spouse makes applicationunder R.C. Sections 517.23 and 517.24, the probate court of the county inwhich the decedent is buried shall issue a writ of mandamus requiring theofficers to disinter the remains or to grant permission for their disinterment.
HOW TO CREATE CEMETERY RULES
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Regulating Hours (R.C. 517.12)
The board of township trustees may make rules specifying the times when cemeteriesunder its control shall be closed to the public. The board shall cause the rules to bepublished once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulationwithin the township or as provided in R.C. Section 7.16, and may post appropriatenotice in the township as considered necessary.
The purposes of such rules shall be to assure a reasonable time of access to thecemeteries in view of the differences in attendance anticipated from past experienceas to each, to exclude attendance at times when no proper purposes could normallybe expected, to permit exceptions to the normal hours of access on reasonable requestwith adequate reason provided, and to facilitate the task of protecting the premisesfrom vandalism, desecration, and other improper usage.
HOW TO CREATE CEMETERY RULES
Platting (R.C. 517.06)
The board of township trustees shall have the cemetery laid out in lots, avenues, and paths, shallnumber the lots, and shall have a suitable plat of the lots made, which plat shall be carefully keptby the township fiscal officer. The board shall make and enforce all needful rules and regulationsfor the division of the cemetery into lots, for the allotment of lots to families or individuals, andfor the care, supervision, and improvement of the lots. The board also may make and enforce allneedful rules and regulations for burial, interment, reinterment, or disinterment. The board shallrequire the grass and weeds in the cemetery to be cut and destroyed at least twice each year.Suitable provision shall be made in the cemetery for persons whose burial is at the expense of thetownship.
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QUESTIONS?
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