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| | HB4934 Engrossed | | LRB103 35553 RLC 65625 b |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning State government.
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| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, |
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | | Section 5. The Cemetery Protection Act is amended by |
| 5 | | changing Sections .01 and 1 and by adding Section 17 as |
| 6 | | follows:
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| 7 | | (765 ILCS 835/.01) (from Ch. 21, par. 14.01) |
| 8 | | Sec. .01. For the purposes of this Act, the term: |
| 9 | | "Cemetery authority" means an individual or legal entity |
| 10 | | that owns or controls cemetery lands or property. |
| 11 | | "Community mausoleum" means a mausoleum owned and operated |
| 12 | | by a cemetery authority that contains multiple entombment |
| 13 | | rights sold to the public. |
| 14 | | "Veteran" means a person who has served as a member of the |
| 15 | | armed forces of the United States, the Illinois National |
| 16 | | Guard, or a reserve component of the armed forces of the United |
| 17 | | States and has been buried in a grave that is more than 100 |
| 18 | | years old. |
| 19 | | "Veterans' organization" means an organization comprised |
| 20 | | of members of which substantially all are individuals who are |
| 21 | | veterans or spouses, widows, or widowers of veterans, the |
| 22 | | primary purpose of which is to promote the welfare of its |
| 23 | | members and to provide assistance to the general public in |
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| 1 | | such a way as to confer a public benefit. |
| 2 | | (Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12.)
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| 3 | | (765 ILCS 835/1) (from Ch. 21, par. 15) |
| 4 | | Sec. 1. (a) Any person who acts without proper legal |
| 5 | | authority and who willfully and knowingly destroys or damages |
| 6 | | the remains of a deceased human being or who desecrates human |
| 7 | | remains is guilty of a Class 3 felony. |
| 8 | | (a-5) Any person who acts without proper legal authority |
| 9 | | and who willfully and knowingly removes any portion of the |
| 10 | | remains of a deceased human being from a burial ground where |
| 11 | | skeletal remains are buried or from a grave, crypt, vault, |
| 12 | | mausoleum, or other repository of human remains is guilty of a |
| 13 | | Class 4 felony. |
| 14 | | (b) Any person who acts without proper legal authority and |
| 15 | | who willfully and knowingly: |
| 16 | | (1) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a burial |
| 17 | | ground where skeletal remains are buried or a grave, |
| 18 | | crypt, vault, mausoleum, or other repository of human |
| 19 | | remains; |
| 20 | | (2) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a park or |
| 21 | | other area clearly designated to preserve and perpetuate |
| 22 | | the memory of a deceased person or group of persons; |
| 23 | | (3) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates plants, |
| 24 | | trees, shrubs, or flowers located upon or around a |
| 25 | | repository for human remains or within a human graveyard |
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| 1 | | or cemetery; or |
| 2 | | (4) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a fence, |
| 3 | | rail, curb, or other structure of a similar nature |
| 4 | | intended for the protection or for the ornamentation of |
| 5 | | any tomb, monument, gravestone, or other structure of like |
| 6 | | character; |
| 7 | | is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor if the amount of the damage |
| 8 | | is less than $500, a Class 4 felony if the amount of the damage |
| 9 | | is at least $500 and less than $10,000, a Class 3 felony if the |
| 10 | | amount of the damage is at least $10,000 and less than |
| 11 | | $100,000, or a Class 2 felony if the damage is $100,000 or more |
| 12 | | and shall provide restitution to the cemetery authority or |
| 13 | | property owner for the amount of any damage caused. |
| 14 | | (b-5) Any person who acts without proper legal authority |
| 15 | | and who willfully and knowingly defaces, vandalizes, injures, |
| 16 | | or removes a gravestone or other memorial, monument, or marker |
| 17 | | commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether |
| 18 | | located within or outside of a recognized cemetery, memorial |
| 19 | | park, or battlefield is guilty of a Class 4 felony for damaging |
| 20 | | at least one but no more than 4 gravestones, a Class 3 felony |
| 21 | | for damaging at least 5 but no more than 10 gravestones, or a |
| 22 | | Class 2 felony for damaging more than 10 gravestones and shall |
| 23 | | provide restitution to the cemetery authority or property |
| 24 | | owner for the amount of any damage caused. |
| 25 | | (b-7) Any person who acts without proper legal authority |
| 26 | | and who willfully and knowingly removes with the intent to |
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| 1 | | resell a gravestone or other memorial, monument, or marker |
| 2 | | commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether |
| 3 | | located within or outside a recognized cemetery, memorial |
| 4 | | park, or battlefield, is guilty of a Class 2 felony. |
| 5 | | (c) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the |
| 6 | | removal or unavoidable breakage or injury by a cemetery |
| 7 | | authority of anything placed in or upon any portion of its |
| 8 | | cemetery in violation of any of the rules and regulations of |
| 9 | | the cemetery authority, nor to the removal of anything placed |
| 10 | | in the cemetery by or with the consent of the cemetery |
| 11 | | authority that in the judgment of the cemetery authority has |
| 12 | | become wrecked, unsightly, or dilapidated, nor to the removal, |
| 13 | | replacement, or installation of a gravestone or other |
| 14 | | memorial, monument, or marker commemorating a veteran pursuant |
| 15 | | to Section 17 of this Act. |
| 16 | | (d) If an unemancipated minor is found guilty of violating |
| 17 | | any of the provisions of subsection (b) of this Section and is |
| 18 | | unable to provide restitution to the cemetery authority or |
| 19 | | property owner, the parents or legal guardians of that minor |
| 20 | | shall provide restitution to the cemetery authority or |
| 21 | | property owner for the amount of any damage caused, up to the |
| 22 | | total amount allowed under the Parental Responsibility Law. |
| 23 | | (d-5) Any person who commits any of the following: |
| 24 | | (1) any unauthorized, non-related third party or |
| 25 | | person who enters any sheds, crematories, or employee |
| 26 | | areas; |
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| 1 | | (2) any non-cemetery personnel who solicits cemetery |
| 2 | | mourners or funeral directors on the grounds or in the |
| 3 | | offices or chapels of a cemetery before, during, or after |
| 4 | | a burial; |
| 5 | | (3) any person who harasses or threatens any employee |
| 6 | | of a cemetery on cemetery grounds; or |
| 7 | | (4) any unauthorized person who removes, destroys, or |
| 8 | | disturbs any cemetery devices or property placed for |
| 9 | | safety of visitors and cemetery employees; |
| 10 | | is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and of |
| 11 | | a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense. |
| 12 | | (e) Any person who shall hunt, shoot or discharge any gun, |
| 13 | | pistol or other missile, within the limits of any cemetery, or |
| 14 | | shall cause any shot or missile to be discharged into or over |
| 15 | | any portion thereof, or shall violate any of the rules made and |
| 16 | | established by the board of directors of such cemetery, for |
| 17 | | the protection or government thereof, is guilty of a Class C |
| 18 | | misdemeanor. |
| 19 | | (f) Any person who knowingly enters or knowingly remains |
| 20 | | upon the premises of a public or private cemetery without |
| 21 | | authorization during hours that the cemetery is posted as |
| 22 | | closed to the public is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. |
| 23 | | (g) All fines when recovered, shall be paid over by the |
| 24 | | court or officer receiving the same to the cemetery authority |
| 25 | | and be applied, as far as possible in repairing the injury, if |
| 26 | | any, caused by such offense. Provided, nothing contained in |
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| 1 | | this Act shall deprive such cemetery authority or the owner of |
| 2 | | any interment, entombment, or inurnment right or monument from |
| 3 | | maintaining an action for the recovery of damages caused by |
| 4 | | any injury caused by a violation of the provisions of this Act, |
| 5 | | or of the rules established by the board of directors of such |
| 6 | | cemetery authority. Nothing in this Section shall be construed |
| 7 | | to prohibit the discharge of firearms loaded with blank |
| 8 | | ammunition as part of any funeral, any memorial observance or |
| 9 | | any other patriotic or military ceremony. |
| 10 | | (Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 96-863, eff. 3-1-10.)
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| 11 | | (765 ILCS 835/17 new) |
| 12 | | Sec. 17. Memorialization of veteran remains. |
| 13 | | (a) If a veterans' organization has identified human |
| 14 | | remains of a veteran that are more than 100 years old and |
| 15 | | wishes to have a marker placed to designate the grave as that |
| 16 | | of a veteran, a cemetery authority may allow memorialization |
| 17 | | without permission of the decedent's heirs under this Section. |
| 18 | | The marker may be for a previously unmarked grave or serve as a |
| 19 | | replacement of or repair to an existing damaged marker. All |
| 20 | | costs for memorialization under this Section, including the |
| 21 | | marker, its installation, and any removal of or repair to a |
| 22 | | previous marker that is damaged, shall be entirely borne by |
| 23 | | the veterans' organization. In no event shall the human |
| 24 | | remains be disturbed. |
| 25 | | (b) The memorialization and its installation, and any |