PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 1285 PRINTER'S NO. 2033
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, NOYE AND RICHARDSON,
APRIL 11, 1989
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, JUNE 13, 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
1 a historic burial place.
2 "HISTORIC BURIAL PLACE." A TRACT OF LAND THAT HAS BEEN IN <--
3 EXISTENCE AS A BURIAL GROUND FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS WHEREIN
4 THERE HAVE BEEN NO BURIALS FOR AT LEAST 50 YEARS AND WHEREIN
5 THERE WILL BE NO FUTURE BURIALS.
6 Section 3. Restriction on alienation and use of historic burial
7 places.
8 No municipality shall alienate OR CONDEMN THROUGH EMINENT <--
9 DOMAIN PROCEEDINGS a historic burial place or appropriate a
10 historic burial place to any use other than that of a burial
11 ground. No portion of any such burial place shall be taken for
12 public use without the approval of the General Assembly. If any
13 historic burial place is appropriated for any other use and the
14 bodies buried in the historic burial place or the monuments,
15 gravestones or other memorials are removed, the burial ground
16 authority shall preserve a record of the removal indicating the
17 date of the removal and the site or place to which the removal
18 was made.
19 Section 4. Restrictions on removal of tombs, monuments, etc.
20 (a) General rule.--No fence, tomb, monument or gravestone or
21 fragment thereof within a historic burial place shall be
22 destroyed. No fence, tomb, monument or gravestone or fragment
23 thereof within any historic burial place shall be removed except
24 in accordance with the provisions of this section.
25 (b) Procedure or lawful removal.--A gravestone or other
26 memorial for the dead may be removed for the purpose of repair
27 or replacement, reproduction or preservation and display in an
28 accredited museum with:
29 (1) the consent of the owner of the historic burial lot
30 in which the gravestone or memorial is placed or the consent
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1 of a lineal descendant of the deceased or, if such owner or
2 lineal descendant is unknown, the consent of the burial
3 ground authority; and
4 (2) an order of the court of common pleas of the county
5 in which the historic burial place is located.
6 (c) Court order for removal.--Upon written application of
7 the consenting owner, lineal descendant or burial ground
8 authority, the court of common pleas may, after a hearing, with
9 notice of the hearing having been given to interested parties
10 and otherwise as the court deems appropriate, order the removal
11 of the gravestone or memorial if it finds that the removal is
12 necessary or desirable for the protection and preservation of
13 the gravestone or memorial.
14 Section 5. Offenses.
15 (a) Destruction of tombs, monuments, gravestones, etc.--A
16 person who, without authorization of the owner of a historic
17 burial lot or a lineal descendant of the deceased or of the
18 historic burial ground authority, commits a misdemeanor of the
19 second degree if:
20 (1) he intentionally destroys, mutilates, defaces or
21 removes any tomb, monument, gravestone or other structure or
22 any portion or fragment thereof, placed or designed as a
23 memorial for the dead, or any fence, railing, curb or other
24 enclosure for the burial of the dead in a historic burial
25 place; or
26 (2) he wantonly or maliciously disturbs the contents of
27 any tomb or grave in a historic burial place.
28 (b) Unlawful possession of monuments, gravestones or certain
29 other structures.--A person commits a misdemeanor of the second
30 degree if he possesses or sells, offers for sale or attempts to
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1 sell or transfers or disposes of any monument, gravestone or
2 other structure or any portion or fragment thereof, placed or
3 designed for a memorial of the dead, knowing that it has been
4 unlawfully removed from a historic burial place.
5 Section 6. Effective date.
6 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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