By Hunter                                             H.B. No. 3694
         76R9284 T                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to abandoned burial plots.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 714.003, Health and Safety Code is
 1-5     amended to read as follows:
 1-6           Section 714.003.  ABANDONED PLOTS [LOTS] IN PRIVATE
 1-7     CEMETERIES.
 1-8           (a)  The ownership or right of sepulture in an unoccupied
 1-9     plot [lot or a part of a lot] for which adequate perpetual care has
1-10     not been provided in a private cemetery operated by a nonprofit
1-11     organization reverts to the cemetery on a finding by a court of
1-12     competent jurisdiction that the plot [lot or part of the lot] is
1-13     abandoned.  A cemetery may convey title to any plot [a lot or part
1-14     of a lot] that has reverted to the cemetery.
1-15           (b)  A plot [lot] is presumed to be abandoned if for 10
1-16     consecutive years an owner or an owner's successor in interest does
1-17     not:
1-18                 (1)  maintain the plot [lot] in a condition consistent
1-19     with other plots [lots] in the cemetery; or
1-20                 (2)  pay any assessments for maintenance charged by the
1-21     cemetery.
1-22           (c)  An owner or an owner's successors in interest may rebut
1-23     the presumption of abandonment by:
1-24                 (1)  delivering to the governing body or by filing with
 2-1     the court written notice claiming ownership of or right of
 2-2     sepulture in the plot [lot]; and
 2-3                 (2)  paying the cemetery for any past due maintenance
 2-4     charges on the plot [lot] plus interest at the maximum legal rate.
 2-5           (d)  A notice for rebuttal of a presumption must be given by
 2-6     delivery in person or by prepaid United States mail, properly
 2-7     addressed.  If the notice is mailed, delivery is effective on the
 2-8     date the envelope containing the notice is postmarked.
 2-9           (e)  The governing body may petition a court of competent
2-10     jurisdiction for an order declaring that a plot [lot or a part of a
2-11     lot] is abandoned if, not later than the 91st day and not earlier
2-12     than the 120th day before the date the petition is filed, the
2-13     governing body gives written notice of its claim of the plot, to
2-14     the [lot] owner or, if the owner is deceased or his address is
2-15     unknown, to the owner's known successors in interest.  The notice
2-16     must be delivered in person or by prepaid United States mail, sent
2-17     to the last known address of the owner or the owner's successors in
2-18     interest.
2-19           (f)  If after reasonable effort the governing body cannot
2-20     locate or ascertain the identity of an owner or an owner's
2-21     successors in interest, the governing body must give the notice
2-22     required by this section by publishing it once each week for four
2-23     consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the
2-24     county in which the cemetery is located.
2-25           (g)  After deducting reasonable expenses related to the
2-26     reacquisition and sale of an abandoned plot [cemetery lot]
2-27     including restoration, expenses of the sale, costs and legal fees,
 3-1     a cemetery shall deposit the balance of the funds from the sale of
 3-2     the plot [lot] into an account to be used [solely] for the
 3-3     [perpetual] care of the cemetery.
 3-4           (h)  This section prevails over Sections 711.035, 711.036,
 3-5     711.038, 711.039, and 711.040 to the extent of any conflict.
 3-6           (i)  In this section:
 3-7                 (1)  "Governing body" means the person in a nonprofit
 3-8     organization responsible for conducting a cemetery business.
 3-9                 (2)  "Nonprofit organization" means an organization
3-10     described by Section 501(c)[(3)](13), Internal Revenue Code of
3-11     1986.  [26 U.S.C.  Section 501(c)(3)).]
3-12                 (3)  "Private cemetery" means a cemetery that is not
3-13     owned or operated by the United States, this state, or a political
3-14     subdivision of this state, but is owned and operated by a nonprofit
3-15     organization.
3-16                 (4)  "Plot" means a grave space or grave spaces, as
3-17     dedicated for, or designated by, the cemetery, in which there has
3-18     been no prior interment of human remains.
3-19           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
3-20     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-21     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-22     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-23     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-24     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-25     passage, and it is so enacted.