SB 562-1_ Filed 02/20/2007, 12:06
Adopted 2/20/2007

COMMITTEE REPORT




MADAM PRESIDENT:

    The Senate Committee on Corrections, Criminal, and Civil Matters, to which was referred Senate Bill No. 562, has had the same under consideration and begs leave to report the same back to the Senate with the recommendation that said bill be AMENDED as follows:

SOURCE: Page 1, line 1; (07)AM056201.1. -->     Page 1, between the enacting clause and line 1, begin a new paragraph and insert:
SOURCE: IC 23-14-41-4; (07)AM056201.1. -->     "SECTION 1. IC 23-14-41-4 IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2007]: Sec. 4. (a) In a family burial plot:
        (1) one (1) grave, crypt, or niche may be used for the record owner's interment, entombment, or inurnment;
        (2) after the record owner's interment, entombment, or inurnment, one (1) grave, crypt, or niche may be used for the surviving spouse of the record owner; and
        (3) in the spaces remaining, if any, the parents and children of the deceased record owner, in order of need, may be interred, entombed, or inurned without the consent of any person claiming an interest in the family burial plot.
    (b) If there is no parent or child who survives the deceased record owner, the right of interment, entombment, or inurnment in a family burial plot shall go
        (1) first, in order of need, to the spouse of any child of the deceased record owner; and
        (2) second, in order of need to:
        (A) (1) the heirs at law of the deceased record owner, or the

spouse of the heir if the heir is already interred, entombed, or inurned, as specified by the statutes of descent; or
        (B) (2) the spouse of any heir at law of the deceased record owner.

SOURCE: IC 23-14-41-7; (07)AM056201.2. -->     SECTION 2. IC 23-14-41-7 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2007]: Sec. 7. If a family burial plot has been established under section 3 of this chapter and all the living children and parents of the deceased record owner consent in writing, the status as a family burial plot may be terminated and the remaining lots may be transferred, conveyed, or sold to the cemetery owner or any other person designated in the agreement.
SOURCE: IC 23-14-47-3; (07)AM056201.3. -->     SECTION 3. IC 23-14-47-3 IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2007]: Sec. 3. The fee that a cemetery owner charges for services in connection with the installation or use of commodities in the cemetery shall be the same to all regardless of who furnishes the commodities. However, a cemetery owner may reserve for itself the exclusive right to furnish services in connection with the installation or use of commodities in the cemetery.".
SOURCE: Page 5, line 13; (07)AM056201.5. -->     Page 5, between lines 13 and 14, begin a new paragraph and insert:
SOURCE: IC 23-14-58.5; (07)AM056201.6. -->     "SECTION 6. IC 23-14-58.5 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS A NEW CHAPTER TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2007]:
     Chapter 58.5. Disposition of Abandoned Burial Spaces
    Sec. 1. (a) Subject to this chapter, if a burial space in a cemetery that is subject to IC 23-14-41 or any other Indiana law:
        (1) has remained unused for a period of at least fifty (50) years from the date of sale or last recorded designation or transfer; and
        (2) has no improvements on the burial space, including the placement of a monument, memorial, or other permanent appurtenance;
the person or entity having jurisdiction over the cemetery may terminate the rights and interests of the owner of the burial space.
    (b) After July 1, 2007, a contract for the purchase of a burial space must include notice that the contract is subject to termination as provided in subsection (a).
    Sec. 2. (a) If the person or entity having jurisdiction over the cemetery:
        (1) desires to terminate the rights and interests of the owner of the burial space; and
        (2) determines that the conditions specified in section 1 of this chapter have been met;
the person or entity must send to the owner a notice of the intent to terminate the owner's rights to the burial space.
    (b) The notice required under subsection (a) must be sent by certified mail with return receipt requested to the owner's last known address.
    Sec. 3. (a) An owner who has received a termination notice under section 2 of this chapter may inform the person or entity having jurisdiction over the cemetery of the owner's continued intent to use the burial space. If the person or entity having jurisdiction over the cemetery has been informed of the owner's intent, the person or entity having jurisdiction over the cemetery may not terminate the rights and interests of the owner of the burial space.
    (b) An owner who has received a termination notice under section 2 of this chapter may request the person or entity having jurisdiction over the cemetery to purchase the burial space for the amount originally paid for the burial space.
    Sec. 4. (a) If the person or entity having jurisdiction over the cemetery has not received a response from the owner of the burial space within sixty (60) days after sending the notice required in section 2 of this chapter, the person or entity having jurisdiction over the cemetery shall advertise in a newspaper of general circulation in the county of the owner's last known address seeking the owner's current address.
    (b) If a new address for the owner of the burial space is obtained after the advertising required in subsection (a), the notice requirement under section 2 of this chapter must be repeated.
    (c) If the person or entity having jurisdiction over the cemetery has not received a response regarding the owner of the burial space within sixty (60) days after placing the advertisement required in subsection (a), the owner's rights and interests in the burial space are terminated. After the rights and interests in a burial space are terminated under this chapter, the person or entity having jurisdiction over the cemetery may sell a burial space to a new owner.
    (d) If the owner of a burial space contacts the person or entity having jurisdiction over the cemetery after the owner's rights and interests in the burial space are terminated under this chapter, the owner is entitled to select one (1) of the following remedies:
        (1) The original burial space, if it has not been resold.
        (2) Reimbursement of the amount originally paid for the burial space.
        (3) A comparable burial space in the cemetery.
    Sec. 5. A person who:
        (1) knowingly terminates an owner's rights and interests in a burial space;
        (2) knows or should have known the identity of the owner; and
        (3) fails to give the owner notice as required under this chapter;
commits a Class B misdemeanor.
".
SOURCE: Page 5, line 29; (07)AM056201.5. -->     Page 5, after line 29, begin a new paragraph and insert:
SOURCE: ; (07)AM056201.10. -->     "SECTION 10. [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2007] IC 23-14-58.5-5, as added by this act, applies only to acts committed after June 30, 2007.".
    Renumber all SECTIONS consecutively.
    (Reference is to SB 562 as introduced.)

and when so amended that said bill do pass .

Committee Vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0.

____________________________________

Senator Steele, Chairperson


AM 056201/DI 106    2007