PRINTER'S NO. 1285
No. 1125 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY MILLER, BOYES, KOSINSKI, HALUSKA, TRELLO, REBER,
MICOZZIE, GEIST, PRESTON, B. SMITH, PERZEL, DORR, VROON,
SCHULER, NAHILL, JOHNSON, VEON, WOGAN, CORNELL, CAWLEY,
HERMAN, RITTER, E. Z. TAYLOR AND NOYE, APRIL 11, 1989
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, APRIL 11, 1989
AN ACT
1 Providing for the preservation of historic burial places and
2 tombs, monuments and gravestones; and imposing penalties.
3 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
4 hereby enacts as follows:
5 Section 1. Short title.
6 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Historic
7 Burial Places Preservation Act.
8 Section 2. Definitions.
9 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
10 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
11 context clearly indicates otherwise:
12 "Historic burial place." A tract of land within a
13 municipality that has been used or has been in existence as a
14 burial ground for more than 100 years.
15 "Burial ground authority." A municipality, ecclesiastical
16 society, cemetery association or other entity that has charge of
17 a historic burial place.
1 Section 3. Restriction on alienation and use of historic burial
2 places.
3 No municipality shall alienate a historic burial place or
4 appropriate a historic burial place to any use other than that
5 of a burial ground. No portion of any such burial place shall be
6 taken for public use without the approval of the General
7 Assembly. If any historic burial place is appropriated for any
8 other use and the bodies buried in the historic burial place or
9 the monuments, gravestones or other memorials are removed, the
10 burial ground authority shall preserve a record of the removal
11 indicating the date of the removal and the site or place to
12 which the removal was made.
13 Section 4. Restrictions on removal of tombs, monuments, etc.
14 (a) General rule.--No fence, tomb, monument or gravestone or
15 fragment thereof within a historic burial place shall be
16 destroyed. No fence, tomb, monument or gravestone or fragment
17 thereof within any historic burial place shall be removed except
18 in accordance with the provisions of this section.
19 (b) Procedure or lawful removal.--A gravestone or other
20 memorial for the dead may be removed for the purpose of repair
21 or replacement, reproduction or preservation and display in an
22 accredited museum with:
23 (1) the consent of the owner of the historic burial lot
24 in which the gravestone or memorial is placed or the consent
25 of a lineal descendant of the deceased or, if such owner or
26 lineal descendant is unknown, the consent of the burial
27 ground authority; and
28 (2) an order of the court of common pleas of the county
29 in which the historic burial place is located.
30 (c) Court order for removal.--Upon written application of
19890H1125B1285 - 2 -
1 the consenting owner, lineal descendant or burial ground
2 authority, the court of common pleas may, after a hearing, with
3 notice of the hearing having been given to interested parties
4 and otherwise as the court deems appropriate, order the removal
5 of the gravestone or memorial if it finds that the removal is
6 necessary or desirable for the protection and preservation of
7 the gravestone or memorial.
8 Section 5. Offenses.
9 (a) Destruction of tombs, monuments, gravestones, etc.--A
10 person who, without authorization of the owner of a historic
11 burial lot or a lineal descendant of the deceased or of the
12 historic burial ground authority, commits a misdemeanor of the
13 second degree if:
14 (1) he intentionally destroys, mutilates, defaces or
15 removes any tomb, monument, gravestone or other structure or
16 any portion or fragment thereof, placed or designed as a
17 memorial for the dead, or any fence, railing, curb or other
18 enclosure for the burial of the dead in a historic burial
19 place; or
20 (2) he wantonly or maliciously disturbs the contents of
21 any tomb or grave in a historic burial place.
22 (b) Unlawful possession of monuments, gravestones or certain
23 other structures.--A person commits a misdemeanor of the second
24 degree if he possesses or sells, offers for sale or attempts to
25 sell or transfers or disposes of any monument, gravestone or
26 other structure or any portion or fragment thereof, placed or
27 designed for a memorial of the dead, knowing that it has been
28 unlawfully removed from a historic burial place.
29 Section 6. Effective date.
30 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
B13L09CHF/19890H1125B1285 - 3 -