Senate Bill 2010

AN ACT TO GRANT CERTAIN PERSONS THE AUTHORITY OF REASONABLE INGRESS AND EGRESS TO CEMETERIES LOCATED ON PRIVATE PROPERTY UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) (a) Owners and lessees of private land on which a cemetery, graves, or burial sites are located shall have a duty to allow ingress and egress to the cemetery, graves, or burial sites by any of the following people who have given reasonable notice to the owner of record or to the lessees, or both:

(i) Family members, friends, or descendants of deceased persons buried there;

(ii) Any owner of a cemetery plot of that cemetery, grave, or burial site; and

(iii) Any person engaged in site maintenance or restoration or genealogical, historical, or cultural research as to that cemetery, grave, or burial site.

(b) The right of ingress and egress granted by this section shall be reasonable and limited to the purposes of visiting graves or burial sites, maintaining or restoring the grave site or burial site or cemetery, or conducting genealogical, historical, or cultural research, or, in the case of a plot owner, burying a deceased person in the plot. The owner or lessee of the land has the right to designate reasonable frequency, hours, and duration of the access, and may designate the access route if no traditional access route is obviously visible from a view of the property; the designation must be reasonable for the purposes authorized under this section.

(c) The right of ingress and egress shall not be construed to provide a right to operate motor vehicles on the property for the purpose of accessing a cemetery, grave site or burial site unless there is a road or adequate right-of-way that permits access by a motor vehicle and the owner has given written permission to use the road or right-of-way of necessity. However, for the purposes of moving materials for construction, the owner or lessee shall allow one (1) motor vehicle at a time, and may required reduced vehicle size or plank roadways, or both, over a designated route.

(2) If, after diligent search and inquiry, the owner or owners of the cemetery, grave or burial site cannot be located, not more than four (4) persons authorized under subsection (1) may walk onto the property from a reasonable point of public access directly to the site and remain there no more than one (1) hour; when exercising the authority of this subsection, a person is required to wear the fluorescent color required of hunters during gun season on deer and to give prior notice of the exercise of the rights conferred under this section to the sheriff of the county in which the site is located.

(3) Any person entering onto private land pursuant to this section shall not harass any livestock or person, harm any crop in any way, or damage the private land, cemetery, grave site, or burial site, and shall be liable to the owner or lessee of the property for any damage caused as the result of exercising the right of access. In the absence of gross negligence or willful misconduct, landowners and lessees shall be immune from liability in any civil suit, action, or cause of action arising out of the access granted pursuant to this section and the visitor to the site shall be liable for any injury the visitor sustains while on the property.

(4) A person denied reasonable access under the provisions of this section may bring an action in the chancery or county court where the property is located to enjoin the owner of the property from denying the person reasonable ingress and egress to the cemetery or grave site. In granting relief, the court may set the frequency, hours and duration of access.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.