House Bill 199

AN ACT TO REQUIRE ANY CEMETERY THAT PROVIDES BURIAL LOTS FOR COMPENSATION TO MAKE CERTAIN FILINGS WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE; TO AUTHORIZE THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A BURIAL LOT FILING SYSTEM; TO REQUIRE THE SYSTEM TO INCLUDE THE SUBMISSION OF A MAP OF BURIAL LOTS WITH DESIGNATIONS INDICATING THOSE LOTS THAT CONTAIN HUMAN REMAINS; TO REQUIRE THE COUNTY BOARDS OF SUPERVISORS AND CHANCERY CLERKS TO ASSIST THE SECRETARY OF STATE IN LOCATING CEMETERIES THAT SELL BURIAL LOTS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE COUNTIES; TO PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION OF THIS SECTION; TO AMEND SECTION 97-29-25, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE A CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR THE DIGGING UP THE REMAINS OF ANY HUMAN BEING FOR THE PURPOSE OF RESELLING THE BURIAL LOT IN WHICH THE REMAINS ARE LOCATED; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) Any person, partnership, corporation or other organization organized or engaging in business under the laws of the State of Mississippi, whether for profit or not-for-profit, or wherever organized and doing business in the State of Mississippi, of owning, maintaining or operating a cemetery and providing for compensation burial lots or other interment space therein for the remains of human beings, shall be subject to the provisions of this section.

(2) The Secretary of State shall develop and implement a burial lot filing system under which all cemeteries subject to this section shall provide certain information to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State may promulgate any rules and regulations necessary for the development and implementation of the burial lot filing system. The information to be provided in the filing shall include, but shall not be limited to, a map indicating the location of any burial lots, spaces, mausoleum crypts or columbarium niches, with designations indicating those burial lots, spaces, mausoleum crypts or columbarium niches that contain the remains of any human being. The Secretary of State may require those maps to be filed with the Secretary of State in any intervals as the Secretary of State may establish by rule or regulation, which shall not be less frequently than once a year. The Secretary of State's examiners are authorized access to inspect cemetery sites subject to or potentially subject to this section to determine and enforce compliance with this section.

(3) To assist with the development of the burial lot filing system, the board of supervisors of each county, in conjunction with the chancery clerk of the county, shall provide the Secretary of State with a list of all cemeteries that provide burial lots for compensation situated in their respective counties no later than October 31, 2010.

(4) The Secretary of State may impose, following notice and an opportunity for a hearing conducted in a manner consistent with due process of law, monetary penalties not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per occurrence for any violation of this section or any rule, regulation or order issued under this section by the Secretary of State.

SECTION 2. Section 97-29-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

97-29-25. (1) (a) Every person who shall knowingly and willfully dig up, except as otherwise provided by law, obliterate, or in any way desecrate any cemetery where human dead are interred, or cause through word, deed or action the same to happen, shall upon conviction be imprisoned for not more than one (1) year in the county jail or fined not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or both, in the discretion of the court. In addition to any penalties that the court is otherwise authorized to impose the court may, in its discretion, order such restitution as it deems appropriate.

(b) In construing this subsection (1), a cemetery shall mean any plot of ground (i) on which are grave markers of stone, wood, metal or any other material recognizable as marking graves, or (ii) the boundaries of which are defined by a recorded plat, a fence line or corner markers, or trees, or are defined in any other discernible manner.

(2) (a) Every person who shall knowingly and willfully dig up, except as otherwise provided by law, or in any way desecrate any corpse or remains of any human being, or cause through word, deed or action the same to happen, shall upon conviction be guilty of a felony and shall be imprisoned for not more than three (3) years or fined not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or both, in the discretion of the court.

(b) The prohibitions of this subsection (2) shall not apply to the good faith harvesting of any organ for transplant or to any good faith use of a cadaver or body part for medical or scientific education or research.

(3) Every person who digs up the remains of any human being for the purpose of reselling the burial lot in which the remains are located shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a felony and shall be imprisoned for not more than six (6) years or fined not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both, in the discretion of the court.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.