This section creates the Jefferson County Cemetery Board, sets its membership and duties, lets it adopt rules and enforce them, and limits its work mostly to neglected cemeteries while excluding certain cemeteries.
(a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) BOARD. The Jefferson County Cemetery Board. (2) CEMETERY. Any for-profit cemetery in the county where property is used or intended to be used for the interment of human remains, including, but not limited to, any property containing a grave, lot, crypt, niche, or mausoleum and any gravestone, headstone, or other marker therein. (3) MAINTENANCE. The act of maintaining a cemetery, including, but not limited to, the cutting and trimming of the lawn, shrubs, and trees. (4) NEGLECTED CEMETERY. A cemetery that has become abandoned or neglected in any of the following ways: a. Weeds, briars, bushes, or trees have become overgrown. b. Fences have become broken, decayed, or dilapidated. c. Graves, lots, crypts, niches, mausoleums, and markers and roads, buildings, or other structures in the cemetery have become damaged, broken, dilapidated, or destroyed. (b)(1) The Jefferson County Cemetery Board is created. (2) The board shall consist of seven members. (3)a. Four members of the board shall be appointed by the members of the House of Representatives representing any part of the county, and three members shall be appointed by the members of the Senate representing any part of the county. The members shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority. b. By May 15, 2021, the members of the House of Representatives representing any part of the county shall appoint one of the members of the board to serve as chair. The chair shall serve until March 1, 2023. On March 1, 2023, the members of the Senate representing any part of the county shall appoint one of the members of the board to serve as chair for a two-year term. Thereafter, the appointment of the chair of the board for two-year terms shall alternate between the House members and Senate members. (4)a. The initial board members appointed in accordance with subdivision (3) shall serve the following terms: 1. Two members appointed by a member of the House of Representatives and one member appointed by a member of the Senate shall serve a two-year term. 2. One member appointed by a member of the House of Representatives and one member appointed by a member of the Senate shall serve a three-year term. 3. One member appointed by a member of the House of Representatives and one member appointed by a member of the Senate shall serve a four-year term. b. After the expiration of the initial term of office of each board member, the term of office for all board members shall be four years. (5) The board shall meet quarterly and at times as the board by a majority of its members agree. (6) The board may adopt necessary rules or procedures to conduct its business. (7) Members of the board shall serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred while conducting the business of the board, according to its rules or procedures. (8) Board members shall serve on a volunteer basis, except that they shall be reimbursed for actual expenses that shall be verified and submitted to the Jefferson County Commission. (c) There shall be established within the Jefferson County Budget Division, a Jefferson County Cemetery Account funded by revenue from the pistol permits portion dedicated to the Jefferson County delegation. (d)(1) The board shall be responsible for all of the following duties: a. Supervising the clean up and maintenance of any neglected cemetery under its authority. b. Coordinating with the sheriff to provide inmate labor to perform the maintenance of any neglected cemetery. c. Purchasing office equipment up to five hundred dollars ($500) and other necessary materials to perform the functions of the board. d. Any other business necessary to carry out the purposes of this section. (2) The board may only perform maintenance on a private cemetery if the board finds after a hearing that the condition of the cemetery is a public nuisance. (3) The board may enforce all rules adopted pursuant to this section and may institute any legal proceeding, including the filing of a suit, as necessary to effect compliance with this section. (e)(1) Fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) shall be made available to the board from the pistol permit fees collected by the county and twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) from the pistol permit fees for each year thereafter. (2) No later than June 9, 2023, a one-time payment of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) shall be made available to the board from the pistol permit fees collected by the county. This amount shall be in addition to any monies made available to the board pursuant to subdivision (1). (f) The county commission shall have no authority over the board and the county commission shall have no responsibility over a cemetery in the county, as defined by this section, and no county funds shall be expended as a result of the implications or implementation of this section. (g) Members of the board may not be subject to civil liability arising from the conduct of the affairs of the board except when the act or omission of the member of the board amounts to willful or wanton misconduct, fraud, or negligence. (h) This section shall only apply to cemeteries in existence on May 26, 2017. (i) A cemetery owned by a religious organization, as defined by Section 45-37-150.01, or a private, family-owned cemetery, is exempt from this section.