An Act Regarding Caretakers of Ancient Burying Grounds and Access to Ancient Burying Grounds
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1176
Committee: State and Local Government
Sponsors: MIRAMANT, McCREIGHT, BELLOWS, JACKSON, LAWRENCE, BERRY, BRYANT, DOUDERA, EVANGELOS
Amends: 13 MRSA §1101, 13 MRSA §1101-B

Legislative Document
No. 1176
S.P. 362
In Senate, March 12, 2019
An Act Regarding Caretakers of Ancient Burying Grounds and 
Access to Ancient Burying Grounds
Reference to the Committee on State and Local Government suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator MIRAMANT of Knox.
Cosponsored by Representative McCREIGHT of Harpswell and
Senators: BELLOWS of Kennebec, President JACKSON of Aroostook, LAWRENCE of York, 
Representatives: BERRY of Bowdoinham, BRYANT of Windham, DOUDERA of Camden, 
EVANGELOS of Friendship.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  13 MRSA §1101, as amended by PL 2013, c. 524, §1, is further amended 
to read:
§1101.  Maintenance and repairs; municipality
1.  Grave sites of veterans in ancient burying grounds.  In any ancient burying 
ground, as referenced in Title 30-A, section 5723, the municipality in which that burying 
ground is located, in collaboration with veterans' organizations, cemetery associations, 
civic and fraternal organizations, descendants of veterans buried in the ancient burying 
ground and other interested persons, shall keep in good condition all graves, headstones, 
monuments and markers designating the burial place of Revolutionary soldiers and 
sailors and veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States.  To the best of its ability 
given the location and accessibility of the ancient burying ground, the municipality, in 
collaboration with veterans' organizations, cemetery associations, civic and fraternal 
organizations, descendants of veterans buried in the ancient burying ground and other 
interested persons, shall keep the grass, weeds and brush suitably cut and trimmed on 
those graves from May 1st to September 30th of each year.  A municipality may 
designate a caretaker to whom it delegates for a specified period of time the 
municipality's responsibilities regarding an ancient burying ground.  If a municipality is 
unable to care for veterans' burial places in an ancient burying ground or does not 
designate a caretaker, descendants of veterans buried in the ancient burying ground may 
designate a caretaker to whom is delegated for a specified period of time the 
municipality's responsibilities regarding the ancient burying ground.  The caretaker's 
name and contact information must be registered with the municipality.
1-A.  Grave sites of individuals who are not designated as veterans in ancient 
burying grounds.  To the best of its ability given the location and accessibility of the 
ancient burying ground, the municipality in which an ancient burying ground is located 
may, in collaboration with veterans' organizations, cemetery associations, civic and 
fraternal organizations, descendants of individuals buried in the ancient burying ground 
and other interested persons, keep the grass, weeds and brush suitably cut and trimmed 
from May 1st to September 30th of each year on all graves, headstones, monuments and 
markers in the ancient burying ground not designating the burial place of Revolutionary 
soldiers and sailors and veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States. A 
municipality may designate a caretaker to whom it delegates for a specified period of 
time the municipality's functions regarding an ancient burying ground.  If a municipality 
is unable to care for an ancient burying ground or does not designate a caretaker, 
descendants of individuals buried in the ancient burying ground may designate a 
caretaker to whom is delegated for a specified period of time the municipality's functions 
regarding the ancient burying ground.  The caretaker may, at the direction and expense of 
the descendants, provide care and maintenance of the headstones, monuments and 
markers in the ancient burying ground.  The caretaker's name and contact information 
must be registered with the municipality.
2.  Grave sites of veterans in public burying grounds.  A municipality, cemetery 
corporation or cemetery association owning and operating a public burying ground shall, 
in collaboration with veterans' organizations, cemetery associations, civic and fraternal 
organizations and other interested persons, keep the grave, headstone, monument or 
marker designating the burial place of any veteran of the Armed Forces of the United 
States in that public burying ground in good condition and repair from May 1st to 
September 30th of each year.
A municipality in which a public burying ground is located may, in collaboration with 
veterans' organizations, cemetery associations, civic and fraternal organizations, 
descendants of individuals buried in the public burying ground and other interested 
persons, adopt standards of good condition and repair to which grave sites of veterans of 
the Armed Forces of the United States must be kept. The standards at a minimum must 
detail how to maintain the grave, grass and headstones.
If a municipality does not adopt standards, the municipality, cemetery corporation or 
cemetery association shall apply the following standards of good condition and repair:
D.  Ensure that grass is suitably cut and trimmed;
E.  Keep a flat grave marker free of grass and debris; and
F.  Keep the burial place free of fallen trees, branches, vines and weeds.
Sec. 2.  13 MRSA §1101-B, as amended by PL 2013, c. 421, §2 and c. 524, §3, is 
further amended to read:
§1101-B.  Ancient burying grounds
1.  Access to ancient burying grounds.  The owner of an ancient burying ground or 
a person who owns a parcel of land that contains an ancient burying ground shall provide 
a municipality or its the caretaker designated pursuant to section 1101 access necessary to 
perform the duties pursuant to section 1101 and Title 30-A, section 2901.  A municipality 
or the caretaker designated pursuant to section 1101 may access an ancient burying 
ground surrounded by privately owned land annually or as often as determined necessary 
by the municipality or the designated caretaker to provide care and maintenance of the 
headstones, monuments and markers so as to protect and preserve the ancient burying 
ground.  Any unreasonable denial to provide of access may result in the owner being held 
responsible for any fines, court costs and attorney's fees incurred by municipalities in 
legally obtaining access or for failing to meet the requirements of section 1101.
2.  Maintenance by landowner.  A person who owns a parcel of land that contains 
an ancient burying ground and chooses to deny access to the municipality or its the 
caretaker designated pursuant to section 1101 shall assume the duties as described in 
section 1101 and Title 30-A, section 2901, subsection 1.  Maintenance of an ancient 
burying ground by the owner or a person who owns a parcel of land that contains an 
ancient burying ground exempts the municipality from performing the duties as described 
in section 1101.
A municipality or its the caretaker designated pursuant to section 1101 to carry out the 
municipality's functions regarding an ancient burying ground must have access to any 
ancient burying ground within the municipality in order to determine if the ancient 
burying ground is being maintained in good condition and repair.  If an ancient burying 
ground or a veteran's grave within an ancient burying ground is not maintained in good 
condition and repair, the municipality may take over the care or appoint a caretaker to 
whom it delegates the municipality's functions regarding an ancient burying ground.  If a 
municipality is unable to care for an ancient burying ground or does not appoint a 
caretaker, descendants of individuals buried in the ancient burying ground may appoint a 
caretaker to whom is delegated the municipality's functions regarding an ancient burying 
ground.  The caretaker's name and contact information must be registered with the 
municipality.
SUMMARY
This bill allows a descendant of an individual or a veteran buried in an ancient or 
public burying ground to appoint a caretaker to maintain the burying ground when the 
municipality is unable to care for the burying ground or to appoint a caretaker.