65 ILCS 5/11-49-1
2021 Illinois Compiled Statutes|Chapter 65 - MUNICIPALITIES|65 ILCS 5/ - Illinois Municipal Code.|Article 11 - Corporate Powers and Functions

 (from Ch. 24, par. 11-49-1)Sec. 11-49-1.     Cemeteries; permitted activities.(a) The corporate authorities of each municipality may establish  and regulate cemeteries within or without the municipal limits; may acquire  lands therefor, by purchase or otherwise; may cause cemeteries to be  removed; and may prohibit their establishment within one mile of the  municipal limits.(b) The corporate authorities also may enter into contracts to purchase  existing cemeteries, or lands for cemetery purposes, on deferred  installments to be paid solely from the proceeds of sale of cemetery lots.  Every such contract shall empower the purchasing municipality, in its own  name, to execute and deliver deeds to purchasers of cemetery lots for  burial purposes.(c) The corporate authorities of each municipality  that  has within its territory an abandoned cemetery may enter  the cemetery grounds and cause the grounds to be cleared  and made orderly. Provided, in no event shall the corporate  authorities of a municipality enter an abandoned cemetery  under this subsection if the owner of the property or the  legally responsible cemetery authority provides written  notification to the corporate authorities, prior to the  corporate authorities' entry (1) demonstrating the  ownership or authority to control or manage the cemetery  and (2) declining the corporate authority authorization to enter the property.  In  making a cemetery orderly under this Section, the corporate  authorities of a municipality may take necessary measures  to correct dangerous conditions that exist in regard to  markers, memorials, or other cemetery artifacts but may not  permanently remove those items from their location on the  cemetery grounds.   If an abandoned cemetery is dedicated as an Illinois nature  preserve under the Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act,  any actions to cause the grounds to be cleared and kept  orderly shall be consistent with the rules and master plan  governing the dedicated nature preserve.(d) In this Section:"Abandoned cemetery" means an area of land containing  more than 6 places of interment for which, after diligent  search, no owner of the land or currently functioning  cemetery authority objects to entry sought pursuant to this Section, and (1)  at which no  interments have taken place in at least 3 years; or (2)  for which there has been inadequate maintenance for at least 6 months."Diligent search" includes, but is not limited to,  publication of a notice in a newspaper of local  circulation not more than 45 but at least 30 days prior to  entry and cleanup of cemetery grounds by the corporate  authorities of a municipality. The notice shall provide (1)  notice of the corporate authorities' intended entry and  cleanup of the cemetery; (2) the name, if known, and  geographic location of the cemetery; (3) the right of the  cemetery authority or owner of the property to deny entry  to the corporate authorities upon written notice to  those authorities; and (4) the date or dates of the  intended cleanup."Inadequate maintenance" includes, but is not limited  to, the failure to cut the lawn throughout a cemetery to  prevent an overgrowth of grass and weeds; the failure to  trim shrubs to prevent excessive overgrowth; the failure to  trim trees so as to remove dead limbs; the failure to keep  in repair the drains, water lines, roads, buildings,  fences, and other structures of the cemetery premises; or  the failure to keep the cemetery premises free of trash and  debris.    (Source: P.A. 92-419, eff. 1-1-02.)