H 4095 Session 111 (1995-1996)
H 4095 General Bill, By Tripp
Similar(H 3093)
A Bill to amend Chapter 55, Title 39, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976,
relating to the South Carolina Cemetery Act of 1984, so as to, among other
things, establish the South Carolina Cemetery Board, provide for its powers
and duties, and revise the provisions of the Chapter regarding the
requirements for funeral vaults, cemeteries, and licenses; and to terminate
the programs, functions, and regulations of the South Carolina Cemetery Board
June 30, 2000.
04/12/95 House Introduced and read first time HJ-46
04/12/95 House Referred to Committee on Medical, Military,
Public and Municipal Affairs HJ-47
A BILL
TO AMEND CHAPTER 55, TITLE 39, CODE OF LAWS OF
SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE SOUTH
CAROLINA CEMETERY ACT OF 1984, SO AS TO, AMONG
OTHER THINGS, ESTABLISH THE SOUTH CAROLINA
CEMETERY BOARD, PROVIDE FOR ITS POWERS AND
DUTIES, AND REVISE THE PROVISIONS OF THE CHAPTER
REGARDING THE REQUIREMENTS FOR FUNERAL VAULTS,
CEMETERIES, AND LICENSES; AND TO TERMINATE THE
PROGRAMS, FUNCTIONS, AND REGULATIONS OF THE
SOUTH CAROLINA CEMETERY BOARD JUNE 30, 2000.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
SECTION 1. Chapter 55, Title 39 of the 1976 Code is amended
by striking the chapter and inserting:
"CHAPTER 55
Cemeteries
Section 39-55-15. The provisions of this chapter are known and
may be cited as the `South Carolina Cemetery Act'.
Section 39-55-25. It is found to be necessary in the public
interest that cemeteries, burial grounds, and any agreement or
contract which has for a purpose the furnishing or delivering of any
person, property, or merchandise of any nature in connection with
the final disposition of a dead human body, must be subject to
sufficient regulation by the State to ensure that sound business
practices are followed by all entities subject to the provisions of this
chapter.
Section 39-55-35. As used in this chapter, unless otherwise
stated or unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) `Board' means the South Carolina Cemetery Board,
including its predecessor under South Carolina law.
(2) `Cemetery' means a place used, dedicated, or designated for
cemetery purposes including any one or combination of:
(a) perpetual care cemeteries;
(b) burial parks for earth interment;
(c) mausoleums;
(d) columbariums.
(3) `Cemetery company' means any legal entity that owns or
controls cemetery lands or property and conducts the business of a
cemetery, including all cemeteries owned and operated by cemetery
sales organizations or cemetery management organizations or any
other legal entity.
(4) `Columbarium' means a structure or building substantially
exposed aboveground intended to be used for the interment of the
cremated remains of a deceased person.
(5) `Grave space' means a space of ground in a cemetery
intended to be used for the interment in the ground of the remains
of a deceased person.
(6) `Human remains' or `remains' means the body of a deceased
person and includes the body in any stage of decomposition.
(7) `Mausoleum' means a structure or building substantially
exposed aboveground, intended to be used for the entombment of
the remains of a deceased person.
(8) `Perpetual care' means the maintenance and the reasonable
administration of the cemetery grounds and buildings in keeping
with a properly maintained cemetery. In the event that a cemetery
offers perpetual care for some designated sections of its property
but does not offer perpetual care to other designated sections, the
cemetery must be considered a perpetual care cemetery for the
purposes of this chapter.
(9) `Person' means an individual, corporation, partnership, joint
venture, or association.
(10) `Vault' means a crypt or underground receptacle which is
used for interment in the ground and is designed to encase, seal,
and protect caskets or similar burial devices. For the purposes of
this chapter a vault is a preneed item until delivery to the purchaser
at the selling cemetery.
(11) `Memorial' means a bronze marker set approximately level
with the turf for the purpose of identification, or interchanged to
mean upright markers in garden sections which are plotted and
specified for the use of upright markers. The term `marker' is
herein interchanged with the term `memorial'.
(12) `Merchandise' means items used in connection with grave
space, niches, mausoleum crypts, granite, memorials, vaults,
caskets, and cremation urns; provided, however, merchandise shall
expressly exclude burial clothing, professional services, facilities
used for preparation, viewing, or services, and automotive
equipment and transportation. Items expressly excluded under the
definition of merchandise in this provision shall be governed by
Chapter 7 of Title 32.
(13) `Trust institution' means any state or national bank, state or
federal savings and loan association, or trust company authorized to
act in a fiduciary capacity in this State.
Section 39-55-45. For the purposes of administering the
provisions of this chapter, there is established a South Carolina
Cemetery Board with the power and duty to promulgate regulations
to carry out the provisions of this chapter.
Section 39-55-55. The board consists of seven members. One
appointed member must be a public member who has no financial
interest in and is not involved in the management of a cemetery or
funeral related business, one must be a staff member of the
Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, four members
must be owners or managers of cemeteries in this State who shall
be selected from nominees submitted by the South Carolina
Cemetery Association, and one member must be a monument dealer
in this State who shall be selected from nominees submitted by the
Monument Builders of the Carolinas. Of the seven members, three
of the initial board must be appointed for a term of two years, two
for a term of three years, and two for a term of four years. At the
end of their respective terms, successors must be selected in the
same manner and appointed for terms of four years and until their
successors are appointed and qualify. Nominations for appointment
may be received by the Governor from an individual, a group, or an
association in this State. An appointment to fill a vacancy on the
board is for the balance of the unexpired term in the manner of the
original appointment.
Section 39-55-65. The board shall elect annually a chairman,
vice-chairman, and a secretary-treasurer. Notice of all regular
meetings may be advertised in three newspapers having general
circulation in the State ten or more days in advance of the meetings.
Each member of the board shall receive the usual mileage, per
diem, and subsistence as provided by law for members of state
boards, committees, and commissions. All expenses of the board
must be paid from fees received by the board.
Section 39-55-75. The board must meet at least semiannually
and may hold special meetings at any time and place within the
State at the call of the chairman or upon written request of at least
four members.
Section 39-55-85. The board shall prepare an annual budget and
shall collect the sums of money required for the budget from yearly
fees and any other sources provided for in this chapter. On or
before July first of each year, each licensed cemetery shall pay a
license fee of at least one hundred dollars.
Section 39-55-95. (A) No legal entity may engage in the
business of operating a cemetery company, except as authorized by
this chapter, without first obtaining a license from the board.
(B) A legal entity wishing to establish a cemetery shall file a
written application for authority to do so with the board on forms
prescribed and provided by it.
(C) Upon receipt of the application and a nonrefundable filing
fee of at least four hundred dollars the board shall cause an
investigation to be made to establish the following criteria for
approval of the application:
(1) creation of a legal entity to conduct a cemetery business
and the proposed financial structure;
(2) establishment and maintenance of an irrevocable care and
maintenance trust fund agreement with a trust institution doing
business in this State, with an initial deposit of not less than fifteen
thousand dollars and a bank cashier's or certified check attached for
the amount and payable to the trustee with the trust executed by the
applicant and accepted by the trustee, conditioned only upon the
approval of the application;
(3) presentation of a plat of the land to be used for a
cemetery showing the county or municipality and the names of
roads and access streets or ways;
(4) designation by the legal entity, wishing to establish a
cemetery, of a general manager who must be a person having had
not less than one year's experience in the cemetery business;
(5) presentation of development plans sufficient to ensure the
community that the cemetery will provide adequate cemetery
services and that the property is suitable for use as a cemetery.
(D) The board, after receipt of the investigating report and
within ninety days after receipt of the application, shall grant or
refuse to grant the authority to organize a cemetery.
(E) If the board intends to deny an application, it shall give
written notice to the applicant of its intention to deny. The notice
must state a time and place for a hearing before the board and a
summary statement of the reasons for the proposed denial. The
notice of intent must be mailed by certified mail to the applicant at
the address stated in the application at least fifteen days before the
scheduled hearing date. An appeal from the board's decision is to
be made in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act.
(F) If the board intends to grant the authority it shall give
written notice that the authority to organize a cemetery has been
granted and that a license to operate will be issued upon the
completion of the following:
(1) establishment of the irrevocable care and maintenance
trust fund and receipt by the board of a certificate from the trust
institution certifying receipt of the initial deposit required under this
chapter;
(2) development, ready for burial, of not less than two acres,
certified by inspection of the board or its representative;
(3) presentation of a description, by metes and bounds, of the
acreage tract of the proposed cemetery, with evidence, by title
insurance policy or certificate or certification by an attorney at law,
that the applicant is the owner in fee simple of the tract of land,
which must contain not less than thirty acres. In counties with a
population of less than thirty-five thousand inhabitants according to
the latest official United States census, the tract needs to be only
fifteen acres;
(4) submission to the board for its approval a copy of
regulations defined in this chapter.
Section 39-55-100. (A) Where the excavation can be
accomplished without drilling or the use of equipment other than a
shovel or other `hand tools', funeral vaults must be at least ten
inches below the earth's surface. As used in this section, `funeral
vaults' means caskets, grave liners, or other outer burial containers.
It does not include markers, monuments, or crypts constructed in a
mausoleum or columbarium.
(B) This section does not apply to cemeteries located in the
coastal/lowland areas which are subject to tidal or surface flooding
or have a high-level water table, except that vaults may be placed
level with the ground in coastal/lowland cemeteries where the water
table is at least two feet below ground level and which cemeteries
are not subject to tidal or surface water flooding.
(C) Any person violating the provisions of this section is guilty
of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more
than two hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty
days.
Section 39-55-105. In any case where a person proposes to
purchase or acquire control of an existing cemetery either by
purchasing the outstanding capital stock of any cemetery company
or the interest of the owner and, thereby to change the control of
the cemetery company, the person must make application on a form
prescribed and provided by the board for a license change. The
application shall contain the name and address of the proposed new
owner. The application for a license change must be accompanied
by an initial filing fee of one hundred dollars to cover an
investigation, if required.
Section 39-55-115. (A) In addition to other powers and duties
conferred by this chapter upon the board, it also has the following:
(1) examine the licensee's records and, if the board considers
it advisable, assess applicable fees provided for in this chapter or by
regulation;
(2) to cause an investigation, upon its own initiative or upon
a verified complaint in writing, the actions of a person engaged in
the business or acting in the capacity of a licensee under this
chapter. Based upon the findings of an investigation, a license may
be revoked or suspended by the board for not more than two years
or until compliance with a lawful order imposed in the final order
of suspension, or both, if the licensee in performing or attempting
to perform acts specified in this chapter:
(a) fails to pay the required fees;
(b) fails to make required reports;
(c) fails to remit to the care and maintenance trust fund or
merchandise trust fund the required amounts;
(d) knowingly makes a false statement intended to
influence or persuade;
(e) knowingly and continually makes flagrant
misrepresentations or knowingly condones false promises by its
cemetery agents or salesmen;
(f) wilfully violates this chapter or regulations promulgated
by the board; or
(g) acts in a fraudulent manner, whether of the same or a
different character than specified in this section.
(B) Whenever the board has reason to believe that any person to
whom a license has been issued has become unfit to practice as a
licensed operator of a cemetery or has violated any of the
provisions of this chapter or regulation of the board or, whenever a
written complaint charging the holder of a license with the violation
of any provision of this chapter is filed with the board, the board
shall cause an investigation to be conducted within thirty days. If
after investigation it appears that probable cause exists for a
hearing, a time and place must be set by the board for a hearing to
determine whether or not the license must be suspended or revoked.
No action to suspend, revoke, or cancel any license may be taken
by the board until the licensee has been furnished with a statement
of the charges against him and by whom he is charged and the
names and addresses of all witnesses against him and a notice of the
time and place of the hearing on the charges at least thirty days
prior to the date of the hearing. The notice and statement of charges
must be mailed to the accused at his last known place of residence.
The accused may appear and show cause why his license should not
be suspended or revoked, or other disciplinary action taken. The
accused has the right to be confronted with and to cross-examine
the witnesses against him and he has the right to counsel. A
stenographic record of each proceeding to revoke, suspend, or
otherwise restrict a license must be made at the expense of the
board, and a transcript of the record must be kept in its files.
If the board is satisfied that the licensee is guilty of any offense
charged in the formal accusation provided for in this chapter, it
shall revoke, suspend, reprimand, or otherwise take any other
reasonable action short of revocation or suspension, such as
requiring the licensee to undertake additional professional training
subject to the direction and supervision of the board. The board
may also impose restraint upon the licensee as circumstances
warrant until the licensee demonstrates to the board adequate
professional competence. In all cases where disciplinary action is
taken by the board, written notice of the action must then be mailed
by the secretary of the board to the accused at his last known
address, as provided to the board.
Any final order of the board finding that a licensee is guilty of
any offense charged in a formal accusation becomes public
knowledge except for a final order dismissing the accusation or
determining that a private reprimand is in order. All final orders
which are made public must be mailed to local and state
professional associations, all firms and facilities with which the
respondent is associated, states where the person has a license
known to the board, and to any other source that the board wishes
to furnish this information.
Any decision by the board to revoke, suspend, or otherwise
restrict the license must be by majority vote and is subject to review
by an Administrative Law Judge as provided under Article 5 of
Chapter 23 of Title 1.
(C) All investigations and proceedings undertaken under the
provisions of this chapter must be confidential. Every
communication, whether oral or written, made by or on behalf of
any complainant to the board or its agent or any hearing panel or
member of the panel, pursuant to this chapter, whether by way of
complaint or testimony, is privileged. No action or proceeding, civil
or criminal, shall lie against any person by whom or on whose
behalf the communication has been made, except upon proof that
the communication was made with malice. No part of this chapter
may be construed as prohibiting the respondent or his legal counsel
from exercising the respondent's constitutional right or due process
under the law, nor to prohibit the respondent from normal access
to the charges and evidence filed against him as a part of due
process under the law.
No member of the board, or its committees, special examiners,
agents and employees may be held liable for acts performed in the
course of official duties, except where actual malice is shown. For
the purpose of any investigation or proceeding under the provisions
of this chapter, the board or any person designated by it may
administer oaths and affirmations, subpoena witnesses, take
evidence, and require the production of any documents or records
which the board considers relevant to the inquiry. In the case of
contumacy by, or refusal to obey a subpoena issued to any person
an Administrative Law Judge as provided under Article 5 of
Chapter 23 of Title 1 upon application of the board, may issue an
order requiring the person to appear before the board or the person
designated by it and produce documentary evidence and to give
other evidence concerning the matter under inquiry.
Whenever the board has reason to believe that any person is
violating or intends to violate any provision of this chapter, it may,
in addition to all other remedies, order the person to immediately
desist and refrain from the conduct. The board may apply to an
Administrative Law Judge as provided under Article 5 of Chapter
23 of Title 1 for an injunction restraining the person from the
conduct. An Administrative Law Judge as provided under Article 5
of Chapter 23 of Title 1 may issue a temporary injunction ex parte
and upon notice and full hearing may issue any other order in the
matter it considers proper. No bond may be required of the board
by an Administrative Law Judge as provided under Article 5 of
Chapter 23 of Title 1 as a condition to the issuance of any
injunction or order contemplated by the provisions of this section.
A licensee or funeral home found to be in violation of a
provision of this chapter or failing, omitting, or neglecting to obey,
observe, or comply with a lawful order of the board is subject to a
penalty of not less than twenty-five nor more than five hundred
dollars for each offense. Jurisdiction of actions to recover penalties
must be brought in the name of the State in magistrate's court.
(D) All investigations shall be conducted by the Department of
Labor, Licensing, and Regulation who shall report its findings to
the board. The Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation,
pursuant to Section 40-73-15 shall employ employees as may be
necessary to carry out its investigative responsibilities.
(E) The Administrative Procedures Act applies to proceedings
under this chapter for the revocation or suspension of licenses.
Section 39-55-125. (A) A record must be kept of every lot
owner and every burial in the cemetery showing the date of
purchase, date of burial, name of the person buried and of the lot
owner, and space in which the burial was made. Sales, trust funds,
accounting records, and other records of the licensee must be
available at the licensee's principal place of business at reasonable
times for examination by the chairman or other authorized
representative of the board. In addition, the owner of a perpetual
care cemetery shall have the records of the perpetual care cemetery
examined annually by a licensed public accountant and shall submit
a copy of the report to the board.
(B) A record must be kept of each written complaint received,
action taken, and disposition of complaint. These records must be
available for examination by the chairman or other authorized
representative of the board.
(C)(1)(a) The owner of a cemetery shall adopt and enforce
regulations for the use, care, control, management, restriction, and
protection of the cemetery and its parts and subdivisions, the use of
property within a cemetery, the introduction and care of plants or
shrubs within the grounds, the conduct of persons and prevention of
improper assemblages, and other purposes considered necessary by
the owner of the cemetery for the proper conduct of the business of
the cemetery and the protection of the premises and the principles
on which the cemetery was organized. The owner may amend or
abolish the regulations pursuant to item (4).
(b) The regulations must be printed or typewritten plainly,
posted conspicuously, and maintained subject to inspection at the
usual place for transacting the regular business of the cemetery.
However, no cemetery licensed under this chapter may adopt a
regulation in conflict with this chapter or in derogation of the
contract rights of lot owners.
(2)(a) The owner of a cemetery shall establish reasonable
regulations regarding the type material, design, composition, finish,
specifications, and installation of merchandise to be used in the
cemetery. However, no regulation may be adopted which:
(i) requires the owner or purchaser of a lot to purchase
a monument or marker or the actual installation of a monument or
marker from the cemetery company;
(ii) restricts the right of the owner or purchaser of a lot
to purchase a monument or marker or the actual installation of a
monument from the vendor of his choice;
(iii) charges the owner or purchaser of a lot a fee for
purchasing a monument or marker or the actual installation of a
monument from a vendor or charges a vendor a fee for delivering
or installing the monument;
(iv) discriminates against an owner or a purchaser of a
lot who has purchased a monument or services related to installation
of a monument from a vendor.
(b) Subitem (a) does not prohibit the cemetery from
charging the owner or purchaser of a lot a reasonable fee for
services actually performed by the cemetery relating to the
installation, care, and maintenance of a monument or marker,
including, but not limited to, the survey, recording, and supervision
of the monument or marker, whether or not it is purchased from a
cemetery or an outside vendor.
(c) These regulations must be posted conspicuously and
maintained, subject to inspection, at the usual place for transacting
the regular business of the cemetery. No cemetery owner may
prevent the use of merchandise purchased by a lot owner or his
representative, agent, heirs, or assigns from any source if the
merchandise meets cemetery regulations.
(3) When a cemetery lot is sold the cemetery shall disclose
on the sales contract cemetery services for which there may be a
later charge. When a monument, marker, or memorial is sold by a
cemetery company, the cemetery shall provide on the sales contract
an itemized statement of the fees charged for installation, care, and
maintenance of it. Fees charged for installation, care, and
maintenance of a monument, marker, or memorial must be shown
on the statement as charges separate from its price, and the
statement must disclose the amount of fees to be placed in trust by
the cemetery company. The board shall promulgate regulations to
provide a form for the disclosure of fees and services.
(4) Regulations established, amended, or abolished by a
cemetery pursuant to this subsection must be submitted to the board
for its approval.
Section 39-55-135. No cemetery company is permitted to
establish a perpetual care cemetery or to operate an
already-established perpetual care cemetery without providing for
the future care and maintenance of the cemetery, for which a trust
fund must be established to be known as `the care and maintenance
trust fund of (name of licensee)'. If any perpetual care cemetery
company refuses or otherwise fails to provide or maintain an
adequate care and maintenance trust fund in accordance with the
provisions of this chapter, the board, after reasonable notice, must
proceed to enforce compliance. The trust fund agreement shall
contain the name, location, and address of both the licensee and the
trustee, showing the date of the trust agreement and the deposit in
the trust of the required funds. No person may transfer the corpus
of the care and maintenance trust fund without first obtaining
written consent from the board.
Section 39-55-145. At the time of making a sale or receiving the
initial deposit on the sale of grave space, niche, or mausoleum
crypt, the cemetery company shall deliver to the person to whom
the sale is made, or who makes the deposit, an instrument in
writing which shall specifically state that the net income of the care
and maintenance trust fund must be used solely for the care and
maintenance of the cemetery, for reasonable costs of administering
the care and maintenance and for reasonable costs of administering
the trust fund. This information may be included in the sales
contract.
Section 39-55-155. No cemetery may cause or permit advertising
of a perpetual care fund in connection with the sale or offer for sale
of its property unless the amount deposited in the care and
maintenance trust fund is equal to not less than twenty dollars or a
minimum of ten percent of the sale price, whichever is greater, per
grave space and niche and fifty dollars per mausoleum crypt sold or
five percent of the sales price, whichever is greater. Also, for any
memorial or grave marker for installation in a cemetery wherein
perpetual care is promised or guaranteed, the cemetery shall
transmit to the care and maintenance trust fund an amount equal to
a minimum of eight cents per square inch of the memorial's or the
marker's base. All deposits must be made within sixty days upon
receipt of final payment.
Section 39-55-165. Within ninety days after the end of the
calendar or fiscal year of the cemetery company, the trustee shall
furnish adequate financial reports with respect to the care and
maintenance trust fund on forms prescribed and provided by the
board. The board may require the trustee to make any additional
financial reports the board considers advisable.
Section 39-55-175. The care and maintenance trust fund must be
invested and reinvested by the trustee in the same manner as
provided by law for the investment of other trust funds. The fees
and other expenses of the trust fund must be paid by the trustee
from the net income of the trust fund and may not be paid from the
corpus. To the extent that the net income is not sufficient to pay
the fees and other expenses, they must be paid by the cemetery
company.
Section 39-55-185. (A) A person receiving funds from the sale
of merchandise for use in a cemetery in connection with the burial
or commemoration of a deceased human being when the use of the
merchandise is not requested or required immediately shall deposit
the funds in a merchandise trust fund administered by a trust
institution.
The cemetery company shall maintain a record of each deposit
into the account, identify the name of the purchaser, the amount of
the actual cost to the seller, and the amount of money to be
deposited, and maintain a copy of the contract for the merchandise.
This section does not prohibit the trustee from commingling the
deposits in a trust fund of this kind to manage and invest the funds.
(B) When a memorial, a mausoleum crypt, or other merchandise
is sold in advance of need and not installed until a later date, one
hundred percent of the actual cost to the seller at the time of deposit
must be placed in a trust institution within sixty days after
completion of the contract with interest to accrue and must not be
withdrawn without the consent of the purchaser until the time of
delivery or construction.
(C)(1) The funds must be held in a merchandise trust fund as to
principal and income earned and must remain intact, except that the
cost of the operation of the trust may be deducted from the income
until delivery of the merchandise is made by the cemetery company
or other entity. Upon delivery of the merchandise, the cemetery
company or other entity shall certify these facts to the trustee.
Upon this certification, the amount of money on deposit to the
credit of that particular contract, including principal and income,
must be paid to the cemetery company or other entity. The trustee
may rely upon certifications of this kind and is not liable for this
reliance.
(2) If a cemetery company or other entity which has entered
into a contract for the sale of merchandise cannot or does not
provide within a reasonable time the merchandise that has been paid
for fully and called for by the contract after request in writing to do
so, the purchaser or his heirs, assigns, or authorized representative
may receive the amount paid on the contract and income earned by
the merchandise trust fund for that particular item. Reasonable time
excludes riots, strikes, acts of war, or delays beyond the control of
the cemetery company or other entity.
(D) After payment in full and before delivery of merchandise, a
purchaser may make written demand for a refund of the amount
deposited in the merchandise trust fund to the credit of the
purchaser, and, within thirty days of receipt of the written demand,
the trustee shall refund to the purchaser the amount on deposit to
his credit, less reasonable commission fees and administrative costs,
with interest, dividends, increases, or accretions earned on the fund.
Upon the refund, the cemetery company is relieved from further
liability for this merchandise.
(E) The trustee, annually and within ninety days after the end of
the calendar year, shall file a financial report, signed by a licensed
accountant, of the merchandise trust fund with the board on forms
provided by the board setting forth the principal, investments, and
payments made and the income earned and disbursed. The board
may require the trustee to make additional financial reports the
board considers advisable.
(F) The board may cause the examination of the business of a
cemetery company or other entity writing contracts for the sale of
the property or services described in this section. The written
report of the examination must be filed in the office of the board.
A person or an entity being examined shall produce the records of
the company needed for the examination.
(G) A provision of a contract for the sale of merchandise
described in this section which provides that the purchaser or
beneficiary may waive this section is void.
(H) Cemetery owners shall have a full and complete schedule of
charges for services provided by the cemetery plainly printed or
typewritten, posted conspicuously, and maintained subject to
inspection and copying at the usual place for transacting the regular
business of the cemetery.
(I) A cemetery company or other entity failing to make
required contributions to a care and maintenance trust fund or to a
merchandise trust fund is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction, must be punished as in Section 39-55-265.
(J) If a report is not received within the required time, the
board may levy and collect a penalty of twenty-five dollars a day
for each day of delinquency.
Section 39-55-195. Application for renewal of licenses must be
submitted on or before July first of each year in the case of an
existing cemetery company. Before any sale of cemetery property
may take place in the case of a new cemetery company or in the
case of a change of ownership or control, as provided in Sections
39-55-105 and 39-55-115, an application for a license must be
submitted and a license must have been issued.
Section 39-55-205. No license issued under this chapter is
transferable or assignable and no licensee may develop or operate
any cemetery authorized by this chapter under any name or any
location other than that contained in the license.
Section 39-55-215. (a) Each licensee shall set aside a minimum
of thirty acres of land for use as a cemetery, except as may
otherwise be provided in this chapter, and may not sell, mortgage,
lease, or encumber it.
(b) The fee simple title in any lands owned by the licensee and
dedicated for use by the licensee as a cemetery, which lands are
continuous, adjoining or adjacent to the minimum acreage described
in subsection (a), may be sold, conveyed, or disposed of by the
licensee for use by the new owner for purposes other than as a
cemetery if no bodies have been previously interred and if any
titles, interests, or burial rights which may have been sold or
contracted to be sold in these lands are reconveyed to the licensee
before the consummation of any conveyance.
(c) Any licensee may convey and transfer to a municipality or
county its real and personal property, together with monies
deposited with the trustee, if the municipality or county accepts
responsibility for maintenance and prior written approval of the
board is obtained.
(d) The provisions of subsections (a) and (b) relating to a
requirement for minimum acreage do not apply to those cemeteries
licensed by the board on or before July 1, 1984, which cemeteries
own or control a total of less than the minimum acreage, but these
cemeteries may not dispose of any of the lands.
Section 39-55-225. (a) A cemetery company is required to start
construction of that section of a mausoleum or bank of
belowground crypts in which sales, contracts for sale, reservations
for sales, or agreements for sales are being made within thirty-six
months after the date of the first sale, or refund the money. The
construction of the mausoleum section or bank of belowground
crypts must be completed within five years after the date of the first
sale. Extensions for completion, not to exceed one year, may be
granted by the board for good reasons shown.
(b) After construction has begun on the mausoleum section or
bank of belowground crypts, the cemetery company shall certify the
progress and expenditures to the trustee and is entitled to withdraw
all funds deposited to the trust account.
(c) If the mausoleum section or bank of belowground crypts is
not completed within the time limits set out in this section, the
trustee must contract for and cause the project to be completed and
paid for from the trust funds deposited to the project's account.
Any balance, less costs and expenses, must be paid to the cemetery
company. If not enough funds have been deposited to the escrow
trust fund to complete the project, the cemetery company shall be
liable for any shortage.
(d) In lieu of the payments to the escrow trust fund the
cemetery company may deliver to the board a performance bond in
an amount and by surety companies acceptable to the board.
Section 39-55-235. All cemeteries in this State, except family
burial grounds, shall display a sign at each entrance, containing
letters not less than six inches in height, stating `Perpetual Care' or
`Endowment Care' or `No Perpetual Care' or `No Endowment
Care', depending upon which method of operation the cemetery is
using. Those cemeteries which furnish perpetual care to some
portions and no perpetual care to other portions shall display these
signs on the appropriate sections of the cemetery to which the sign
applies. Portions designated `Perpetual Care' cannot be changed to
`No Perpetual Care' once the designation is made.
Section 39-55-245. Any cemetery company which offers free
burial rights to any person or group of persons must, at the time of
the offer, clearly state all conditions upon which the offer is made.
Cemeteries must be maintained to present a cared for appearance
including, but not limited to, shrubs and trees pruned and trimmed,
flower beds weeded, drives maintained, and lawns mowed when
needed equivalent to once a week during the grass growing season
with ample rainfall.
Section 39-55-255. Cemetery companies may provide by their
bylaws, regulations, contracts, or deeds the designation of parts of
cemeteries for the specific use of persons whose religious code
requires isolation.
Section 39-55-265. Any officer, director, or person occupying a
similar status licensed to operate a cemetery company who fails to
make required contributions to the care and maintenance trust fund
or any other trust fund required to be established and maintained by
this chapter and any other person violating any other provision of
this chapter or order or regulation promulgated under the provisions
of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction,
must be fined not more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned for
not more than two years. Each violation constitutes a separate
offense.
Section 39-55-275. The board has authority to adjust license and
filing fees through regulations promulgated pursuant to the
Administrative Procedures Act and to employ examiners, clerks,
and stenographers and other employees as the administration of this
chapter may require. The board also has authority to appoint and
employ investigators who shall have, in any case in which there is a
reason to believe a violation of this chapter or of any order or
regulation promulgated under the provisions of this chapter has
occurred or is about to occur, the right and power to serve
subpoenas and to swear out and execute search warrants.
Section 39-55-285. The board has the authority to make
regulations pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act and to
issue orders from time to time as the board considers necessary for
the enforcement of this chapter.
Section 39-55-295. The provisions of this chapter do not apply to
governmental cemeteries, church cemeteries, or family burial
grounds, with the exception of the provisions of Sections 39-55-235
and 39-55-265.
Section 39-55-305. Any cemetery company established between
June 30, 1991, and the effective date of this chapter may continue
to operate and must be granted a license by the South Carolina
Cemetery Board, provided the trust fund requirements of this
chapter have been met. Hereafter, such cemetery companies must
be operated in accordance with the provisions of this chapter."
SECTION 2. The programs, functions, and regulations of the
South Carolina Cemetery Board must be terminated as provided in
Chapter 20, Title 1, on June 30, 2000, unless reauthorized
according to law.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the
Governor.
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