MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2025 Regular Session
To: Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency
By: Senator(s) England
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE MISSISSIPPI CEMETERY BOARD WITHIN THE OFFICE OF SECRETARY OF STATE; TO PROVIDE FOR THE COMPOSITION OF THE BOARD AND TO DIRECT THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO PROVIDE ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT FOR ITS OPERATION; TO PRESCRIBE THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE MISSISSIPPI CEMETERY BOARD TO PROTECT THE FINANCIAL INTEREST OF THE PUBLIC BY ENSURING THE PHYSICAL CARE OF CEMETERIES AND THE REGULATION OF THOSE COMPANIES ADVERTISING OR OPERATING PERPETUAL CARE CEMETERIES IN THIS STATE; TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD TO ISSUE REGULATIONS ALLOWING FAMILIES TO CREATE A NONPROFIT ENTITY TO PROVIDE LAWN AND BUILDING MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS AT THEIR CEMETERIES AND COLLECT FUNDS AND DONATIONS THEREFOR; TO BRING FORWARD AND AMEND SECTIONS 41-43-31 THROUGH 41-43-53, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH IS THE MISSISSIPPI "CEMETERY LAW"; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. As used in this act, the term "cemetery" shall mean any land or structure in this state dedicated to and used or intended to be used for interment of human remains, including a burial park for earth interments, a mausoleum or columbarium for vault or crypt interments, or a combination of one or more thereof. This act shall not apply to cemeteries owned and/operated by a religion or a cemetery owned and/or operated by a municipality.
SECTION 2. (1) The Mississippi Cemetery Board is hereby established within the Office of the Secretary of State to consist of seven (7) members selected as follows:
(a) The Secretary of State or his or her designated deputy shall be a voting member of the board and shall serve as chairman;
(b) Six (6) members shall be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate for terms of four (4) years, as follows:
(i) Four (4) of the six (6) members appointed by the Governor shall be owners or operators of a licensed perpetual care cemetery in this state;
(ii) One (1) member shall be appointed by the Governor and shall be a citizen of the State of Mississippi, of good character, and a qualified elector, but this person shall not have any interest in a cemetery or funeral home either within or without the State of Mississippi; and
(iii) One (1) member shall be sixty (60) years of age or older, appointed from the state at large, subject to the confirmation of the Senate, and shall represent the elderly. This member shall not be actively engaged in or retired from any profession or occupation which is regulated by the board.
(2) The Mississippi Cemetery Board shall be located for administrative purposes within the Office of the Secretary of State which shall provide necessary meeting space, clerical and administrative support.
(3) If a matter comes before the board involving a cemetery in which a member has a financial interest, then the member is disqualified from participating in the discussion or vote on the matter.
(4) Vacancies on the board due to death, resignation, or other cause of any appointed member shall be filled by appointment of the Governor for the unexpired portion of the term in the same manner as was required for the initial appointment.
(5) Members shall serve without pay or other compensation for their services except that members may receive expense reimbursement and stipends in accordance with law.
(6) Any action taken by the Mississippi Cemetery Board shall be by the majority vote of the board members who are present at the meeting when the action is taken.
(7) Four (4) members of the board shall constitute a quorum.
(8) The board shall meet subject to call of the chair or upon written demand of any two (2) members.
(9) Any order by the board under this section shall be subject to review by the circuit court of the county in which any part of the cemetery lies, provided that an application for review of the order is made within thirty (30) days of the date of the order.
SECTION 3. (1) The Mississippi Cemetery Board is responsible for protecting the financial interests of the public by ensuring the physical care of cemeteries and the sound financial condition of the trust funds through the regulation of those companies advertising or operating perpetual care cemeteries in the State of Mississippi. The board shall utilize the staff of the Secretary of State to perform the duties of the board, such as conduct examinations, examine annual reports, investigate and issue permits, provide legal services and perform administrative duties.
(2) The Mississippi Cemetery Board shall have the authority to:
(a) Conduct at any time and from time to time such reasonable periodic, special, or other examination of any cemetery or cemetery company, including, but not limited to, an examination of the physical condition or appearance of the cemetery, the financial condition of the company and any trust funds maintained by the company, and such other examinations as the board deems necessary or appropriate in the public interest. The examinations shall be made by members or representatives of the board or by a certified public accountant or registered public accountant;
(b) Issue or amend permits to operate a cemetery in accordance with this act;
(c) Suspend or revoke permits to operate a cemetery when any cemetery fails to comply with this act, rules promulgated pursuant to this act, or any order of the board;
(d) Make rules, regulations, and forms to enforce this act;
(e) Require every cemetery company to observe minimum accounting principles and practices and make and keep such books and records in accordance therewith for such period of time as the board may by rule prescribe;
(f) Subpoena witnesses, books, and records in connection with alleged violations of this act or rules or orders of the board. With the approval of the chair of the board or two (2) board members, the Secretary of State may issue subpoenas;
(g) In case of contumacy or refusal to obey a subpoena issued to any person, the Hinds County Circuit Court, upon application by the board, may issue to the person an order requiring him or her to appear before the board or the person designated by the board. Failure to obey the order of the court may be punished by the court as a contempt of court;
(h) Require additional contributions to the Perpetual Care Maintenance Fund of the cemetery where provided for in this act, including, but not limited to, whenever any cemetery company fails to properly care for and maintain or preserve the cemetery;
(i) Apply to the Hinds County Circuit Court to enjoin any act or practice and to enforce compliance with this act or any rule, regulation, or order pursuant to this act whenever it appears to the board, upon sufficient grounds or evidence satisfactory to the board, that any person has engaged in or is about to engage in any act or practice constituting a violation of any provision of this act or any rule or regulation pursuant to this act;
(j) The court may not require the board to post a bond;
(k) Apply to the circuit court of the county in which the cemetery is located for appointment of a receiver or conservator of the cemetery corporation or its permanent maintenance fund when it appears to the board that a cemetery corporation is insolvent or that the cemetery corporation, its officers, directors, agents, or the trustees of its permanent maintenance fund have violated this act and the rules promulgated under this act or have failed to comply with any board order;
(l) By rule increase the amount of a deposit required by law if the board determines that a greater sum is necessary to assure that the Perpetual Care Maintenance Fund will earn sufficient income to provide for the care and maintenance of the cemetery;
(m) Purchase insolvent, licensed perpetual care cemeteries that have been in court-ordered receivership or conservatorship for at least five (5) years;
(n) Each cemetery company examined in accordance with law shall pay to the Mississippi Cemetery Board a fee for each examination as the board shall prescribe by rule;
(o) Taking application to the Mississippi Cemetery Board for a permit to establish and operate a new cemetery or for the extension of the boundaries of an existing cemetery;
(p) Authorizing family members of cemetery associations to create or contract with a nonprofit entity to college funds or donations to be used for lawn and building maintenance or repairs, not including improvements on new building construction.
(3) Upon submission of an application to the Mississippi Cemetery Board for the issuance of a permit for a new cemetery or for an extension of the boundaries of an existing cemetery, the applicant shall request that the Department of Health investigate the proposed cemetery location or extension to determine if the proposed new or expanded location will be sanitary. In making the investigation, the department shall take into consideration the proximity of the proposed cemetery or extension to human habitation, the nature of the soil, the drainage of the ground, the danger of pollution of springs or streams of water, and any other conditions concerning whether the proposed new or expanded location will be sanitary. After completing the investigation, the department shall promptly submit in writing its approval or disapproval of the proposed new or expanded location from a sanitary standpoint to the board. If the department disapproves the proposed cemetery location or extension, further action on the application shall be suspended until the applicant acquires a location which meets with the approval of the department or until other action, as necessary, is taken.
SECTION 4. Section 41-43-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-43-31 Sections 41-43-31 through 41-43-53 may be cited as the "Cemetery Law."
SECTION 5. Section 41-43-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
41-43-33. 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 wheresoever organized and doing business in the State of Mississippi, of owning, maintaining or operating a cemetery, providing lots or other interment space therein for the remains of human bodies, except such organizations and cemeteries that are affiliated with or owned by churches or religious societies, established fraternal societies, municipalities, other political subdivisions of the State of Mississippi, or family cemeteries or family burial grounds, and community cemeteries that provide burial lots at no charge, or sell burial lots to the public, shall be subject to the provisions of Section 41-43-31 et seq.
From and after July 1, 2009, all new cemeteries must be perpetual care cemeteries unless exempt under the provisions of this section.
From and after July 1, 2025, all perpetual care cemeteries shall be regulated by and comply with all rules and regulations issued by the Mississippi Cemetery Board created under this act.
SECTION 6. Section 41-43-35, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-43-35. All such organizations subject to the provisions of Section 41-43-31 et seq. shall be, for the purposes hereof, designated as "perpetual care cemeteries."
SECTION 7. Section 41-43-37, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
41-43-37. (1) The owner of every cemetery, subject to the provisions of Section 41-43-31 et seq., that is organized, begins or continues to do business in the State of Mississippi after July 1, 2009, shall provide for the creation and establishment of an irrevocable perpetual care trust fund, the principal of which shall permanently remain intact except as hereinafter provided and only the income thereof shall be devoted to the perpetual care of the cemetery. The perpetual care trust fund shall not be subject to the claims of the cemetery's creditors and shall not be used as collateral, pledged, encumbered or placed at risk. This fund shall be created and established as follows:
(a) In respect to a cemetery for earth burials, by the application and payment thereto of an amount equivalent to fifteen percent (15%) of the sale price, or Forty Cents (40¢) per square foot of ground interment rights sold, whichever is greater;
(b) In respect to an above-ground community or public mausoleum, by the application and payment thereto of an amount equivalent to five percent (5%) of the sale price, or Fifty Dollars ($50.00) per crypt sold, whichever is greater;
(c) In respect to the placement of an above-ground, free-standing or private mausoleum, by the application and payment thereof of an amount equivalent to fifteen percent (15%) of the sale price for the ground interment right upon which the private mausoleum is installed and five percent (5%) of the sales price as determined by the customer's invoice for the purchase price of the private mausoleum; and
(d) In respect to a community columbarium, by the application and payment thereto of an amount equivalent to five percent (5%) of the sale price, or Ten Dollars ($10.00) per niche sold, whichever is greater.
For any sale of a lot for an earth burial, mausoleum crypt or columbarium niche in which payment is made by the purchaser on an installment basis over time, the percentage required to be trusted shall be paid into the perpetual care trust fund calculated on each payment.
(2) From the sale price the owner shall pay to the perpetual care fund an amount in proportion to the requirements in subsection (1) of this section, which payment shall be in cash, check, money order or electronic transfer and shall be deposited with the custodian or trustee of the fund not later than the fifth day of the following month from when funds are received.
(3) If the perpetual care trust fund principal is Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) or less, a perpetual care cemetery may maintain certificates of deposit that mature every thirty (30) days issued by an institution whose deposits are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Certificates of deposits held by a cemetery for perpetual care under this subsection shall renew automatically with all earned interest added to principal for each successive renewal. Collections owed to trust from sales under subsection (1) of this section shall be added upon the next maturity date of the certificate rather than the fifth day of the following month as required by subsection (2) of this section. Certificates of deposit meeting the requirements of this subsection shall contain the words, "For Perpetual Care," in the caption of the certificate. Each perpetual care cemetery electing to maintain certificates of deposit under this subsection shall file documentation from the issuer with the Office of the Secretary of State with the submission of the annual report. Once the perpetual care principal from the cemetery's operations exceeds Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00), such funds shall be held in an irrevocable trust managed by a trustee and governed by a trust instrument.
(4) In addition to the provisions of subsections (1) and (2) of this section, any cemetery organized after July 1, 2009, or any mausoleum or columbarium that is built at any location other than upon property owned by an existing cemetery after that date, whether it is by incorporation, association, individually or by any other means, or having its first burial after that date, shall, before disposing of any burial lot or right or making any sale thereof and/or making its first burial, cause to be deposited the sum of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) in cash into an irrevocable perpetual care trust fund as provided in subsection (1) of this section for the maintenance of the cemetery.
(5) Whenever the cemetery has deposited in the perpetual care fund, as required by this section, a sum amounting to Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00), it shall submit proof of that fact to its trustee, and it shall be the duty of the trustee to thereupon pay over to the cemetery the amount of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) so originally deposited by it in the perpetual care fund.
(6) The perpetual care fund shall be permanently set aside in trust to be administered under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State shall have full jurisdiction over the reports and accounting of trustees and the amount of a surety bond required, if any. The trust officer or trustee responsible for the investment of funds shall be affiliated with an established bank, trust company, other financial institution or financial services company. Only the income from the fund shall be used for the care and maintenance of the cemetery for which it was established.
(7) Each geographic location of a cemetery shall constitute a separate and distinct cemetery for the purpose of interpretation and application of this section.
(8) The Mississippi Cemetery Board created under this act, through the Secretary of State shall develop and implement a registration system for perpetual care cemeteries subject to this chapter. The Secretary of State is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations for the development and implementation of a statewide registry and to collect a registration fee not to exceed Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) per year to be paid at the same time as the reports and accountings required by Section 41-43-38 are due.
(9) To assist with the development of a statewide registry of perpetual care cemeteries, the county boards of supervisors in conjunction with the chancery clerks shall provide the Secretary of State with a list of all perpetual care cemeteries and other pertinent information regarding perpetual care cemeteries situated in their respective counties no later than October 31, 2009.
SECTION 8. Section 41-43-38, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
41-43-38. (1) The provisions of this section shall apply to every cemetery that is required to establish and maintain a perpetual care trust fund as provided in Section 41-43-37.
(2) By March 31 of each year, each perpetual care cemetery not exempt by Section 41-43-33 shall file with the Secretary of State the following information:
(a) The name of the cemetery, the date of incorporation, if incorporated, and the location of the cemetery or cemeteries owned;
(b) The amounts of sales of cemetery lots, grave spaces, mausoleum crypts or columbarium niches for which payment has been made in full or deeds of conveyance or perpetual easements issued thereon during the preceding calendar year;
(c) The amounts paid into the perpetual care fund, and the income earned therefrom during the preceding calendar year;
(d) The number of acres embraced within each cemetery and held by the cemetery for cemetery purposes; and
(e) The names and addresses of the owners of the cemetery or the officers and directors of the corporation and any change of control that occurred during the preceding calendar year.
(3) The custodian or trustee of the perpetual care fund of each cemetery shall annually prepare and file with the Secretary of State a detailed accounting and report of the fund on or before March 31 of each year for the preceding calendar year. The accounting and report shall contain a properly itemized description of the securities in which the monies of the perpetual care fund are invested, the fund value, and any changes in the investment portfolio from the prior year's report. The accounting and report shall be at all times available to inspection and copy by any owner of a burial right in the cemetery, or the family, legal representative or next of kin of the owner, at the usual place for transacting the regular business of the cemetery.
For each day that the report and accounting required by subsections (2) and (3) of this section are late, the Secretary of State is authorized to charge a late fee of Ten Dollars ($10.00) per day.
(4) As a condition to the transfer of any perpetual care trust fund monies from one (1) trustee or trust institution to another, the cemetery for which the fund is maintained shall, not less than thirty (30) days before the time when the transfer is to occur, file with the Secretary of State a written notice of intent to transfer accompanied with a letter of intent to receive the trust fund monies from the trustee or trust institution to which the trust fund monies are to be transferred. The fund monies shall be transferred directly from the existing custodian or trustee to the receiving custodian or trustee only after approval has been issued in writing by the Secretary of State or his representative.
(5) Before any sale or transfer of a perpetual care cemetery or a controlling interest therein, an independent audit of the perpetual care trust fund shall be performed at the expense of the seller and/or buyer or transferor and transferee and filed with the Secretary of State. The audit shall be current within thirty (30) days of the proposed sale or transfer. No sale or transfer of any perpetual care cemetery shall occur until approved in writing by the Secretary of State or his representative.
(6) The Secretary of State shall, upon the failure to timely receive any of the records, reports or notices provided for in this section, immediately give notice by certified letter or hand delivery to the last known cemetery owner or owners, or, if incorporated, its officers and directors, at its or their last known address, that those records, reports or notices have not been received. Failure of those persons to file the records, reports or notices within fifteen (15) days after receipt of the certified letter or hand delivery shall, in the absence of clear justification or excuse, constitute a misdemeanor and each owner of the cemetery and, if incorporated, its officers and directors, shall be subject to the penalties provided for in Section 41-43-53.
(7) Whenever it reasonably appears to the Secretary of State, any owner or purchaser, or the family, legal representative or next of kin of any such owner or purchaser, of any lot, plot, grave, crypt, niche or burial space within a perpetual care cemetery, that (a) the cemetery is insolvent or about to become insolvent; or (b) no perpetual care trust fund has been established for the cemetery or, if established, the trust fund does not contain the funds as are required to be contained therein, that party may bring an action in the chancery court in the county in which the cemetery is located. Upon a proper showing, the court shall order a private audit and examination of any perpetual care trust fund of the cemetery and of all the books, records and papers employed in the transaction of the cemetery business.
If the audit and examination show that the cemetery is insolvent or is about to become insolvent, or that a sufficient trust fund is not established or being maintained for the cemetery, the court shall exercise any jurisdiction and make and issue any orders and decrees as may be necessary to correct and enforce compliance with the provisions of Section 41-43-31 et seq. and all such other orders and decrees as shall be just, equitable and in the public interest, including the appointment of receivers to continue or terminate the operation of the business.
(8) All the necessary expenses of any examination or audit performed or court proceedings conducted under the provisions of subsection (7) of this section shall be paid by the cemetery owner or owners or, if incorporated, its officers and directors, and if a sale of any cemetery is ordered by the court, the proceeds of the sale shall first be applied to the costs expended under the provisions of subsection (7) of this section.
(9) Whenever a cemetery subject to the provisions of Section 41-43-31 et seq. becomes the subject of a court order of receivership, the receiver shall determine as soon as practical if the income of the receivership estate is sufficient for the operation of the cemetery including the upkeep and maintenance of cemetery grounds. If the receiver determines that insufficient cash flow or income exists to provide maintenance and upkeep, the receiver shall notify the mayor of the municipality in which the cemetery is located or the president of the board of supervisors for cemeteries located outside of a municipality, by certified mail return receipt requested, that insufficient income exists for the receivership estate. Upon receipt of that notice, the municipality or county shall appoint a cemetery maintenance committee of no more than seven (7) persons who have an interest in the cemetery through ownership of interment or entombment rights, genealogical or historical reasons. The committee may solicit donations and raise funds by any lawful means from private citizens and private sources. The committee may establish a trust fund to supply continuing needs over a long period of time. However, the receiver shall have the authority to determine the maintenance and upkeep to be performed, the frequency of upkeep and the selection of workers or contractors to accomplish maintenance and upkeep. If, at the conclusion of the receivership estate, excess funds are on deposit with the maintenance committee, the receiver is authorized to apply excess funds to any short-term or long-term capital improvement by which the cemetery would benefit.
(10) From and after July 1, 2025, the provisions of this section shall be enforced and administered by the Mississippi Cemetery Board created under this act.
SECTION 9. Section 41-43-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
41-43-39. Any such organization, subject to the provisions of Sections 41-43-31 through 41-43-53, which is organized and engaged in business prior to May 6, 1958, shall be a perpetual care cemetery if:
(1) It shall, by July 5, 1958, have placed the entire principal and all accrued interest in any perpetual care fund then in its possession, or in the possession of trustees designated by it, in trust, to be administered as set forth in Sections 41-43-37 and 41-43-38. Should such perpetual care fund be less than ten percent (10%) of the gross selling price of all burial spaces, crypts or inurnment niches sold, such organization shall have deposited into the perpetual care fund such additional money as may be necessary to cause the fund to be ten percent (10%) of all gross sales prior to May 6, 1958.
(2) It shall, at all times after May 6, 1958, comply with the requirements of a perpetual care cemetery as set forth in Sections 41-43-37 and 41-43-38.
(3) From and after July 1, 2025, the provisions of this section shall be enforced and administered by the Mississippi Cemetery Board created under this act.
SECTION 10. Section 41-43-40, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
41-43-40. Every perpetual care cemetery shall maintain continuously and at all times an up-to-date record of the persons buried in the cemetery or entombed within a mausoleum or columbarium; the date of burial or entombment; a map of the designated lot for burial or entombment as well as a map of lots, burial spaces, mausoleum crypts or columbarium niches that have been sold. The map or plat shall also contain up-to-date designations indicating committed or planned designations of burial lots, crypt, niche or mausoleum spaces for future use. Additionally, 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.
From and after July 1, 2025, the provisions of this section shall be enforced and administered by the Mississippi Cemetery Board created under this act.
SECTION 11. Section 41-43-41, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-43-41. Any nonperpetual care cemetery, after May 6, 1958, may become a perpetual care cemetery by complying with the requirement for a perpetual care cemetery as provided in Section 41-43-31 et seq. From and after July 1, 2009, all cemeteries created shall be perpetual care cemeteries unless exempt under the provisions of Section 41-43-31 et seq.
SECTION 12. Section 41-43-43, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-43-43. All nonperpetual care cemeteries shall have printed at the top of all contracts of sales and deeds the words "this is a nonperpetual care cemetery."
SECTION 13. Section 41-43-45, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-43-45. All lots and grave spaces offered for sale to the public shall be free and clear of liens or encumbrances. On payment of the purchase price, the purchaser shall be delivered a warranty deed or a perpetual easement for interment purposes.
Only the owner of a cemetery, or its agents, may sell or convey lots, plots, or parts thereof.
The purchaser of any lot, plot or part thereof may sell or transfer the same by giving notice thereof to the cemetery authorities or organization. Before acknowledging any transfer as valid, said cemetery authorities or organization may require the transferee to personally appear in the cemetery's principal place of business to accept any deed or transfer rights to the property conveyed, in order that the transfer may be properly enrolled on the books of the cemetery. A memorandum of all transfers shall be made on the books of the cemetery corporation or organization.
SECTION 14. Section 41-43-47, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
41-43-47. The owner of any cemetery may make and enforce reasonable rules and regulations, subject to the approval of the Mississippi Cemetery Board, for the use, care, control, management, restriction and protection of such cemetery.
SECTION 15. Section 41-43-51, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-43-51. The rule against perpetuities shall not be applicable to perpetual care funds provided for in Sections 41-43-31 through 41-43-53.
SECTION 16. Section 41-43-53, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-43-53. (1) Violation of any of the provisions of Sections 41-43-31 through 41-43-53 by any person, partnership, corporation or organization shall be punished by a fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not exceeding one (1) year, or by both.
(2) (a) Any person, partnership, corporation or organization that embezzles or fraudulently or knowingly and willfully misapplies or converts perpetual care trust funds shall, upon conviction, be punished as follows:
(i) If the amount embezzled, misapplied or converted is less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), by a fine of not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) and confinement in the county jail not more than one (1) year; or
(ii) If the amount embezzled, misapplied or converted is One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or more, by imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections for a term of not more than ten (10) years.
(b) Each such violation shall constitute a separate offense.
SECTION 17. Section 41-43-55, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-43-55. The business records of any perpetual care cemetery, whether registered or not, the records of its financial institution, third-party administrator, or the trustee's records related to the perpetual care cemetery shall be available for inspection and examination by the Secretary of State's examiners at all reasonable times, whether those records are located within this state or outside this state. The Secretary of State's examiners are authorized access to inspect cemetery sites subject to or potentially subject to this chapter wherever the same may be located.
SECTION 18. Section 41-43-57, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-43-57. (1) In exceptional circumstances only, a perpetual care owner can make an application to the Secretary of State for an order directing the trustee to release trust principal for the extended care, maintenance or improvements to the perpetual care cemetery for which interest funds are insufficient. Before issuing such an order, the Secretary of State shall satisfy himself that the request is for a major capital expenditure that will advance the perpetual care life of the cemetery without undue risk to the solvency of the perpetual care trust fund. Consistent with this section, this shall be the only instance in which a perpetual care trust corpus may be utilized for cemetery maintenance and improvements. In the consideration of the application, the Secretary of State may require the production of any records deemed necessary and relevant to the cemetery's application for a major capital expenditure.
(2) In addition the authority provided under subsection (1) of this section, subject to the provisions of Section 19-5-105(2) or 21-19-11(7), the board of supervisors of a county or the governing authority of a municipality also may make application to the Secretary of State for an order directing the trustee to release either accrued interest or principal of the trust fund for reimbursement to the county or municipality for the actual costs of cleanup performed by the county or municipality.
SECTION 19. Section 41-43-59, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
41-43-59. (1) A person or
entity that owns a cemetery in which dead human remains are buried or otherwise
interred is authorized to disinter individual remains and either reinter the
remains at another location within the cemetery or deliver the remains to a
carrier for transportation out of the cemetery, all pursuant to written
instructions signed and acknowledged by the next of kin of the deceased person
as defined in subsection (2) of this section. The costs of the disinterment
and reinterment or delivery shall be paid by the next of kin.
(2) For purposes of this section, the term "next of kin" means
the following persons in the priority listed if the person is eighteen (18)
years of age or older, is mentally competent, and is willing to assume
responsibility for the costs of disposition:
(a) The decedent's spouse, if the spouse has not remarried.
(b) The decedent's children.
(c) The decedent's parents.
(d) The decedent's siblings.
(3) If the person or entity that owns the cemetery has received contrary written instructions from members of the same class with the highest priority under subsection (2) of this section regarding the disinterment and reinterment of the individual remains at another location within the cemetery or delivery of the individual remains for transportation out of the cemetery, the person or entity that owns the cemetery shall act in accordance with the written instructions received from the greatest number of members of the class. If that number is equal, the person or entity that owns the cemetery shall act in accordance with the earlier written instructions unless the person(s) providing the later written instructions is granted an order from the chancery court for the county in which the cemetery is located.
(4) A person or entity that owns a cemetery in which dead human remains are buried or otherwise interred is authorized to disinter individual remains and either reinter the remains at another location within the cemetery or deliver the remains to a carrier for transportation out of the cemetery, all pursuant to a final order issued by the chancery court for the county in which the cemetery is located. The court may issue the order, in the court's discretion and upon such notice and hearing as the court deems appropriate, for good cause shown. The costs of the disinterment and reinterment or delivery, and the related court proceedings, shall be paid by the persons or entities so ordered by the court.
(5) A person or entity that owns a cemetery in which dead human remains are buried or otherwise interred is authorized, at the cemetery owner's expense, to disinter individual remains and reinter the remains at another location within the cemetery in order to correct an error made in the original burial or interment of the remains. The cemetery owner shall provide written notice of the disinterment and reinterment to the last known address of the known next of kin of the deceased person as defined in subsection (2) of this section, in the priority listed, by certified mail not later than the fifth day after the date the remains are disinterred and reinterred. The notice shall indicate that the remains were disinterred, the reason for the disinterment and reinterment of the remains, and the location of the reinterred remains.
(6) A person or entity that owns a cemetery or funeral establishment, and its employees, officers and directors, shall not be liable to any person or entity for any claims, causes of action, or damages arising out of or resulting from the original interment and the disinterment and reinterment or delivery of dead human remains made in accordance with this section, except in cases of intentional misconduct or malice.
SECTION 20. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025.