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Senate amends cemetery bill to require certificates of burial rights but drops county‑recording mandate
Summary
Senate Bill 158 was uncircled for debate and amended: sponsors removed a requirement to record burial certificates with county recorders and instead require organizations controlling cemeteries to provide purchasers a certificate of burial rights and adopt operational policies and recordkeeping procedures.
Senator Jenkins brought Senate Bill 158 to the floor and described local incidents motivating the bill, including a family turned away because a newly opened burial area’s lawn had not established. Jenkins said small, volunteer cemetery boards run many private or small municipal cemeteries and that the bill aims to clarify duties and records.
Amendment 1 (02/24/2014) revised the original text by removing a blanket requirement that cemetery deeds and burial certificates be recorded with the county recorder. Jenkins explained the substitute: organizations in control of a cemetery must provide purchasers with a certificate of burial rights and adopt policies for pricing, burial rights, headstone care, flowers and secure record keeping, but the requirement to file each certificate with the county recorder was removed at stakeholders' request to avoid burdens on large organizations.
"So I took all that out ... It simply says ... they shall provide the purchaser of a lot or burial located in cemetery with a certificate of burial rights," Jenkins said, describing the compromise as intended to bring small cemeteries into compliance without overwhelming large municipal systems. The amendment was moved, adopted on voice vote and the sponsor then moved the bill to be read for a third time.
