An Act To Clarify Who May Authorize Repairs in a Burying Ground
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 0862
Committee Amendment CA_A_S285 (Senate)
Amends: 13 MRSA §1371

MAINE STATE LEGISLATURE 
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Date: ~ J /(~IIS-
STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT 
L.D.862 
(Filing No. s-,;28"5) 
Reproduced and distributed under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate. 
SENATE 
127THLEGISLATURE 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A- "to S.P. 307, L.D. 862, Bill, "An Act To Clarify 
Who May Authorize Repairs in a Burying Ground" 
Amend the bill by shiking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
summaty and inserting the following; 
'Sec. 1. 13 MRSA §1371, as amended by PL 1997, c. 193, §1, is further amended 
to read; 
§1371. Approval for repair, maintenance and removal 
1. Prior authorization or approval for repair, maintenance or removal. Any 
person may repair, maintain or remove, subject to the restrictions of subsection 2 or 3, 
any tomb, monument, gravestone, marker or other structure placed or designed as a 
memorial to the dead, or any portion or fragment of any such memorial, or any fence, 
railing, curb or other enclosure for the burial of the dead, after obtaining.,. written approval 
. of the owner or operator of the cemetelY or burial ground, if an owner or operator exists, 
and one of the following, in the following order of priority. 
A. The person must first seek the authorization of the owner of the burial lot or a 
lineal desoendent descendant of the deceased buried there, if the owner or a lineal 
descendant is reasonable to locate and notifyt-eF~ 
A-I. If an owner or lineal descendant listed in paragraph A cannot reasonably be 
located and notified, the person shall se~k' the authorization of a next of kin, if 
reasonable to locate and notify, of the deceased buried there. 
B. +he If none of the persons listed in paragraph A or A-I can reasonably be located 
and notified, the person shall obtain the written approval of the municipality or, in the 
case of unorganized territolY, the county in which the cemetery or burial ground is 
located. 
2. Conditions on removal for repair, restoration or preservation. Removal of a 
tomb, monument, gravestone, marker or other structure placed or designed as a memorial 
to the dead, or a pOliion or fragment of a memorial, is pemutted only for the purpose of 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
.AS 
'y' .. c5~ 
COlvlMlTTEE AMENDMENT" Pi" to S,P, ~07, L.D, 862 
preservation. 
A tomb, monument, gravestone, marker or other stmcture placed or 
designed as a memorial to the dead, or a portion or fragment of a mcmorial, may not be 
removed from the confines of the cemetery or burial ground, except that a person who has 
obtained authorization or approval described in subsection 1, paragraph-A--Br-B, may 
remove all or a portion of a memorial for a period of no longer than 6 months for the 
purpose of repair, restoration or preservation, but only when repair, restoration or 
preservation can not reasonably be accomplished on the site of the cemetery or burial 
ground. Prior to removal of the memorial, a notice must be submitted to the municipality, 
or to the county in the case of aH unorganized territory, stating the location of the burial 
ground, the identification of the memorial, the a\lthority requesting the removal, thc site 
to which the memorial will be temporarily removed, the proposed date of removal and the 
proposed date of replacement in the burial ground. 
3. p'ermanent removal of memorial. If a tomb, monumenLgravestone, marker or 
other structure placed or designed as a memorial to the dead is in such poor condition that 
it cannot be preserved in its original location, that memorial may be removed by a person 
who has obtained authorization or apj)roval described in sllbsection 1 to another location 
accessible to the public. Prior to removal of the memorial, a notice must be submitted to 
the' municipal{ty, o~ to the c~untY in' th~~as~' of a men~()~ial il~' unorga~ized territory, 
stating the location and identification of the memorial, the authority requesting the 
removal and the site to which the memorial will be moved and providing documentation 
of the reason the memorial cannot be preserved in its original location. 
When possible, a replacement or replica of the removed memorial must be placed in the 
original location along w,ith information as to th~ location of the qrjgin,al metn0ria~. If 
such placement is not possible;, a sign must be placed recording th,e new 10catic)l1 of the 
memorial. 
All costs associated with actions taken pursuant to this section must be paid by the 
person or entity that requests the repair, maintenance or removal of a tomb, monument, 
gravestone, marker or other shucture placed or designed as a memorial to the dead" or 
any portion or fragment of any such memorial, or any fence, railing, curb or other 
enclosure in the burial lot or cemetery. 
The owner, operator or caretaker of a burial lot or a Cel11etelY association that 
authorizes removal of a memorial pursuant to this section is not responsible or liable for 
the location or care of the memorial.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment makes the following changes to the bill. 
1. It establishes an order of persons from whom authorization or approval must be 
sought prior to repairing or removing a memorial. After obtaining approval of the owner 
or operator of the cemetelY or burial ground, if one exists, a person first must seek the 
authorization of the owner of the burial lot or a lineal descendant of the deceased buried 
there; if unable to obtain that authorization, the person ml,Jst seek the authorization of a 
next of kin of the deceased; if unable to obtain that authorization, the person must obtain 
the approval of the municipality or, if the memorial is in unorganized ten-itOlY, the county 
in which the cemetelY or burial ground is located. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A "to S,P, 307, L.D, 862 
2. It requires that all costs associated with repair, maintenance or removal of a 
memorial must be paid by the person or entity requesting the repair, maintenance or 
removal. 
3. It provides that the owner, operator or caretaker of a burial lot or a cemetery 
association that authorizes removal of a memorial is not responsible or liable for the 
location or care of the memorial. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT