By Allen                                              H.B. No. 2114
         77R11088 YDB-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to interment of a victim and an individual convicted of
 1-3     the murder of the victim in the same cemetery; providing a civil
 1-4     penalty.
 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-6           SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 711, Health and Safety Code,
 1-7     is amended by adding Section 711.012 to read as follows:
 1-8           Sec. 711.012.  LIMITATIONS ON BURIALS; DAMAGES. (a)  An
 1-9     individual, corporation, partnership, firm, trust, or association
1-10     that operates or owns a cemetery may not inter the remains of an
1-11     individual who may have murdered another person if:
1-12                 (1)  the murder victim is interred in that cemetery;
1-13     and
1-14                 (2)  the family of the victim gives a written notice to
1-15     the cemetery requesting the individual not be interred in that
1-16     cemetery if:
1-17                       (A)  the individual was convicted of murder under
1-18     Section 19.02 or 19.03, Penal Code, or under a similar statute of
1-19     another state;
1-20                       (B)  the individual was identified by a police or
1-21     autopsy report as the murderer; or
1-22                       (C)  the family of the victim alleges the family
1-23     has reason to believe the victim was murdered by the individual.
1-24           (b)  For purposes of this section, "family" includes any
 2-1     person listed in Sections 711.002(a)(1)-(5).
 2-2           (c)  An individual, corporation, partnership, firm, trust, or
 2-3     association that violates Subsection (a)  is liable to the family
 2-4     for:
 2-5                 (1)  any actual damages incurred;
 2-6                 (2)  punitive damages not to exceed $100,000; and
 2-7                 (3)  reasonable attorney's fees and court costs
 2-8     incurred in an effort to enforce compliance with Subsection (a).
 2-9           (d)  The family of an individual who is refused interment
2-10     under this section may contest in court an allegation of murder by
2-11     the victim's family under Subsection (a)(2)(C).
2-12           (e)  Damages under Subsection (c) or a civil penalty under
2-13     Section 712.0441 may not be assessed if the individual,
2-14     corporation, partnership, firm, trust, or association that operates
2-15     the cemetery proves by a preponderance of the evidence that:
2-16                 (1)  the cemetery is the only cemetery serving the
2-17     municipality or county in which the victim and murderer lived; and
2-18                 (2)  the bodies of the victim and murderer were placed
2-19     as far apart as possible in, or in different parts of, the
2-20     cemetery.
2-21           SECTION 2. Section 712.0441(a), Health and Safety Code, is
2-22     amended to read as follows:
2-23           (a)  A corporation shall be subject to a civil penalty upon
2-24     the occurrence of any of the following violations:
2-25                 (1)  the corporation does not make a deposit in its
2-26     fund as required by Section 712.028;
2-27                 (2)  the corporation does not file a statement of funds
 3-1     as required by Section 712.041; [or]
 3-2                 (3)  the corporation does not pay the filing fee as
 3-3     required by Section 712.042; or
 3-4                 (4)  the corporation violates Section 711.012.
 3-5           SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.