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Cusseta‑Chattahoochee County adopts ordinance to regulate public cemeteries
Summary
The county commission unanimously adopted Ordinance No. 2025‑1 to regulate the Harmony Public Cemetery, assigning the County Manager as superintendent, tightening recordkeeping and marker rules, and authorizing fines for violations.
The Commission of the Unified Government of Cusseta‑Chattahoochee County adopted Ordinance No. 2025‑1 on Oct. 7, 2025, formally adding a chapter to the county code to regulate public cemeteries.
The ordinance, approved unanimously, names the County Manager as the superintendent of county cemeteries, requires the county to maintain records of ownership and interments, and establishes that lot sales convey only the right of interment rather than title to land. It requires burial permits under Georgia law and sets scheduling and contractor requirements for excavation and disinterment. The ordinance also authorizes county review and regulation of markers and monuments and requires temporary markers be replaced with permanent markers within 12 months of interment.
The measure specifies that fees for lots and interment services will be set by county resolution and reviewed annually, grants the county authority to remove decorations deemed unsafe or in violation, and creates a penalty provision of up to $500 per offense with each day of a continuing violation treated as a separate offense. The ordinance takes effect immediately upon adoption unless stated otherwise in the text.
The project was moved and seconded on the record (motion by Commissioner Damon Hoyte; second by Commissioner Gerald Douglas) and carried by a unanimous vote of commissioners present.
The adopted ordinance includes standard severability language and explicitly preserves provisions of Article II of Chapter 20 concerning public conduct in parks. The ordinance language and associated zoning changes were included in the meeting packet and appear in the minutes as “Exhibit A.”
What happens next: the ordinance is now part of the county code and enforcement authority is delegated to the County Manager and Code Enforcement Department; fees and implementation details will be set by subsequent county resolution.
