S.B. No. 1630         AN ACT   relating to cemeteries.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 711.001, Health and Safety Code, is   amended to read as follows:          Sec. 711.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:                (1)  "Abandoned cemetery" means a cemetery, regardless   of whether it appears on a map or in deed records, that is not owned   or operated by a cemetery organization, does not have another   person legally responsible for its care, and is not maintained by   any person.                (2) [(1)]  "Burial park" means a tract of land that is   used or intended to be used for interment in graves.                (3) [(1-a)]  "Campus" means the area:                      (A)  within the boundaries of one or more adjacent   tracts, parcels, or lots under common ownership;                      (B)  on which the principal church building and   related structures and facilities of an organized religious society   or sect are located; and                      (C)  that may be subject to one or more easements   for street, utility, or pipeline purposes.                (4) [(2)]  "Cemetery" means a place that is used or   intended to be used for interment, and includes a graveyard, burial   park, mausoleum, or any other area containing one or more graves.                (5) [(2-a)]  "Cemetery element" means a grave,   memorial, crypt, mausoleum, columbarium, or other item that is   associated with the cemetery, including a fence, road, curb, wall,   path, gate, or bench and the lighting and landscaping.                (6) [(2-b)]  "Cemetery broker" means a person who sells   the exclusive right of sepulture for another person.  The term does   not include a person who:                      (A)  is an officer, agent, or employee of the   cemetery organization in which the plot is located and who is exempt   from registration under Subchapter C-1; or                      (B)  originally purchased the exclusive right of   sepulture for personal use.                (7) [(3)]  "Cemetery organization" means:                      (A)  an unincorporated association of plot owners   not operated for profit that is authorized by its articles of   association to conduct a business for cemetery purposes; or                      (B)  a corporation, as defined by Section   712.001(b)(3), that is authorized by its certificate of formation   or its registration to conduct a business for cemetery purposes.                (8) [(4)]  "Cemetery purpose" means a purpose   necessary or incidental to establishing, maintaining, managing,   operating, improving, or conducting a cemetery, interring remains,   or caring for, preserving, and embellishing cemetery property.                (9) [(5)]  "Columbarium" means a durable, fireproof   structure, or a room or other space in a durable, fireproof   structure, containing niches and used or intended to be used to   contain cremated remains.                (10) [(5-a)]  "Cremains receptacle" means a marker,   boulder, bench, pedestal, pillar, or other aboveground vessel that   contains niches for cremated remains.                (11) [(6)]  "Cremated remains" or "cremains" means the   bone fragments remaining after the cremation process, which may   include the residue of any foreign materials that were cremated   with the human remains.                (12) [(7)]  "Cremation" means the irreversible process   of reducing human remains to bone fragments through extreme heat   and evaporation, which may include the processing or the   pulverization of bone fragments.                (13) [(8)]  "Crematory" means a structure containing a   furnace used or intended to be used for the cremation of human   remains.                (14) [(9)]  "Crematory and columbarium" means a   durable, fireproof structure containing both a crematory and   columbarium.                (15) [(10)]  "Crypt" means a chamber in a mausoleum of   sufficient size to inter human remains.                (16) [(11)]  "Directors" means the governing body of a   cemetery organization.                (17) [(12)]  "Entombment" means interment in a crypt.                (18) [(13)]  "Funeral establishment" means a place of   business used in the care and preparation for interment or   transportation of human remains, or any place where one or more   persons, either as sole owner, in copartnership, or through   corporate status, are engaged or represent themselves to be engaged   in the business of embalming or funeral directing.                (19) [(14)]  "Grave" means a space of ground that   contains interred human remains or is in a burial park and that is   used or intended to be used for interment of human remains in the   ground.                (20) [(15)]  "Human remains" means the body of a   decedent.                (21) [(16)]  "Interment" means the permanent   disposition of remains by entombment, burial, or placement in a   niche.                (22) [(17)]  "Interment right" means the right to inter   the remains of one decedent in a plot.                (23) [(18)]  "Inurnment" means the placement of   cremated remains in an urn.                (24) [(19)]  "Lawn crypt" means a subsurface   receptacle installed in multiple units for ground burial of human   remains.                (25) [(20)]  "Mausoleum" means a durable, fireproof   structure used or intended to be used for entombment.                (26) [(20-a)]  "Memorial" means a headstone,   tombstone, gravestone, monument, or other marker denoting a grave.                (27) [(21)]  "Niche" means a space in a columbarium or   cremains receptacle used or intended to be used for the placement of   cremated remains in an urn or other container.                (28) [(22)]  "Nonperpetual care cemetery" means a   cemetery that is not a perpetual care cemetery.                (29) [(23)]  "Perpetual care" or "endowment care"   means the maintenance, repair, and care of all places in the   cemetery.                (30) [(24)]  "Perpetual care cemetery" or "endowment   care cemetery" means a cemetery for the benefit of which a perpetual   care trust fund is established as provided by Chapter 712.                (31) [(25)]  "Plot" means space in a cemetery owned by   an individual or organization that is used or intended to be used   for interment, including a grave or adjoining graves, a crypt or   adjoining crypts, a lawn crypt or adjoining lawn crypts, or a niche   or adjoining niches.                (32) [(26)]  "Plot owner" means a person:                      (A)  in whose name a plot is listed in a cemetery   organization's office as the owner of the exclusive right of   sepulture; or                      (B)  who holds, from a cemetery organization, a   certificate of ownership or other instrument of conveyance of the   exclusive right of sepulture in a particular plot in the   organization's cemetery.                (33) [(27)]  "Prepaid funeral contract" means a   written contract providing for prearranged or prepaid funeral   services or funeral merchandise.                (34) [(28)]  "Remains" means either human remains or   cremated remains.                (35)  "Unidentified grave" means a grave that is not   marked in a manner that provides the identity of the interment.                (36)  "Unknown cemetery" means an abandoned cemetery   evidenced by the presence of marked or unmarked graves that does not   appear on a map or in deed records.                (37)  "Unmarked grave" means the immediate area where   one or more human interments are found that:                      (A)  is not in a recognized and maintained   cemetery;                      (B)  is not owned or operated by a cemetery   organization;                       (C)  is not marked by a tomb, monument,   gravestone, or other structure or thing placed or designated as a   memorial of the dead; or                      (D)  is located on land designated as   agricultural, timber, recreational, park, or scenic land under   Chapter 23, Tax Code.                (38)  "Unverified cemetery" means a location having   some evidence of interment but in which the presence of one or more   unmarked graves has not been verified by a person described by   Section 711.0105(a) or by the Texas Historical Commission.          SECTION 2.  Section 711.004, Health and Safety Code, is   amended by adding Subsection (f-1) to read as follows:          (f-1)  For unmarked graves contained within an abandoned,   unknown, or unverified cemetery, a justice of the peace acting as   coroner or medical examiner under Chapter 49, Code of Criminal   Procedure, or a person described by Section 711.0105(a) may   investigate or remove remains without written order of the state   registrar or the state registrar's designee.          SECTION 3.  The heading to Section 711.010, Health and   Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:          Sec. 711.010.  ABANDONED, UNKNOWN, OR UNVERIFIED   [ABANDONED] CEMETERY.          SECTION 4.  Section 711.010, Health and Safety Code, is   amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection   (d) to read as follows:          (a)  The owner of property on which an unknown cemetery is   discovered or on which an abandoned cemetery is located may not   construct improvements on the property in a manner that would   [further] disturb the cemetery until the human remains interred in   the cemetery are removed under a written order issued by the state   registrar or the state registrar's designee under Section   711.004(f) and under an order of a district court as provided by   this section, except as provided by Section 711.004(f-1).          (b)  On petition of the owner of the property, a district   court of the county in which an unknown cemetery is discovered or an   abandoned cemetery is located may order the removal of any   dedication for cemetery purposes that affects the property if the   court finds that the removal of the dedication is in the public   interest.  If a court orders the removal of a dedication of a   cemetery and all human remains in that cemetery [on the property]   have not previously been removed, the court shall order the removal   of the human remains from the cemetery to a perpetual care cemetery   or a municipal or county cemetery.          (d)  The Texas Historical Commission, with consent of the   landowner, may investigate a suspected but unverified cemetery or   may delegate the investigation to a qualified person described by   Section 711.0105(a).          SECTION 5.  The heading to Section 711.011, Health and   Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:          Sec. 711.011.  FILING RECORD OF UNKNOWN OR ABANDONED    CEMETERY.          SECTION 6.  Section 711.011(a), Health and Safety Code, is   amended to read as follows:          (a)  A person who discovers an unknown or abandoned cemetery   shall file notice of the discovery of the cemetery with the county   clerk of the county in which the cemetery is located and   concurrently mail notice to the landowner on record in the county   appraisal district not later than the 10th day after the date of the   discovery. The notice must contain a legal description of the land   on which the unknown or abandoned cemetery was found and describe   the approximate location of the cemetery and the evidence of the   cemetery that was discovered.          SECTION 7.  Subchapter A, Chapter 711, Health and Safety   Code, is amended by adding Section 711.0111 to read as follows:          Sec. 711.0111.  NOTICE OF UNVERIFIED CEMETERY. (a)  A   person who discovers an unverified cemetery shall file notice and   evidence of the discovery with the Texas Historical Commission on a   form provided by the Texas Historical Commission, and shall   concurrently provide a copy of the notice to the landowner on record   in the county appraisal district on whose land the unverified   cemetery is located.          (b)  The landowner described by Subsection (a) may send a   response or comments to the Texas Historical Commission concerning   the notice not later than the 30th day after the date the notice is   filed.          (c)  The Texas Historical Commission shall evaluate the   notice of the unverified cemetery, the evidence submitted with the   notice, and the response of the landowner, if any, and shall   determine whether there is sufficient evidence of the existence of   a cemetery.          (d)  If the Texas Historical Commission determines   sufficient evidence supports the existence of a cemetery, the Texas   Historical Commission shall inform the landowner and may file   notice of the existence of the cemetery under Section 711.011.          (e)  If the Texas Historical Commission determines   sufficient evidence supports a determination that a cemetery does   not exist, the Texas Historical Commission shall notify the   landowner on record in the appraisal district of its determination,   amend the notice to include the commission's determination, and   ensure any notice filed with a county clerk under Section 711.011 is   corrected.          SECTION 8.  Section 711.041, Health and Safety Code, is   amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:          (d)  This section does not apply to an unverified cemetery.          SECTION 9.  Section 712.0441(f-1), Health and Safety Code,   is amended to read as follows:          (f-1)  The commissioner may issue an order requiring   restitution by a person if, after notice and opportunity for a   hearing held in accordance with the procedures for a contested case   hearing under Chapter 2001, Government Code, the commissioner finds   that the corporation has not ordered memorials, as defined by   Section 711.001 [711.001(20-a)], in compliance with the deadlines   established by rules adopted under this chapter.          SECTION 10.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.             ______________________________ ______________________________      President of the Senate Speaker of the House                 I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1630 passed the Senate on   May 4, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that the   Senate concurred in House amendment on May 16, 2017, by the   following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.       ______________________________   Secretary of the Senate                I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1630 passed the House, with   amendment, on May 11, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 140,   Nays 4, two present not voting.       ______________________________   Chief Clerk of the House            Approved:     ______________________________                Date       ______________________________              Governor