reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
18 V.S.A. § 5310
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5310. Plats

§ 5310. Plats|An agency engaged in any business of a cemetery, community mausoleum, or columbarium shall cause to be made a plat of its grounds, showing the part thereof improved or in use and that part held for future cemetery use. The plat of the improved part shall show the land laid out in sections, lots, driveways, walks, and paths, sections to be designated by symbols, and the lots shall be numbered. All additions to such improved areas, and all new cemetery grounds hereafter established, shall be platted in the manner provided above. It is further provided that in case of a community mausoleum or columbarium, every agency shall cause to be made a plat thereof on which shall be set forth the sections, halls, rooms, corridors, elevators, or other subdivisions thereof with their descriptive names and numbers. The agency making such plat shall file the same for record in the office of the town clerk of the town in which the cemetery, community mausoleum, or columbarium is located.
18 V.S.A. § 5311
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5311. Recording of plats

§ 5311. Recording of plats|It shall be the duty of the town clerk to receive and insert or bind in a book provided for that purpose all original plats or photostatic copies thereof, made in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, of such cemetery, community mausoleum, or columbarium, which shall constitute the recording thereof. The fees therefor shall not exceed the cost of the work of such recording, plus $3.00. The making or recording of a cemetery plat by any agency other than those specified in this chapter, or the recording of any cemetery plat which does not conform to and with the provisions of this chapter shall be void and of no effect.
18 V.S.A. § 5312
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5312. Limitation of sales

§ 5312. Limitation of sales|A lot, section, subdivision, crypt, niche, or any part of the cemetery, community mausoleum, or columbarium shall not be sold, contracted for sale, or offered for sale, until and unless a plat shall be made and recorded in accordance with the terms of this chapter.
18 V.S.A. § 5313
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5313. Records; burial records open to public

§ 5313. Records; burial records open to public|An agency engaged in the business of a cemetery, community mausoleum, or columbarium shall provide and maintain a suitable place of deposit for the records and files of such cemetery, community mausoleum, or columbarium, of such character as will safely keep and preserve such records and files from loss and destruction, and it shall make and file proper records in such place. The record of burials, interments, and cremations shall at all reasonable times be open to the public.
18 V.S.A. § 5314
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5314. Sale of property for interment purposes; disposition of receipts

§ 5314. Sale of property for interment purposes; disposition of receipts|After recording the plat as hereinbefore provided, and subject to the further provisions of this chapter relating to the sale of lots, crypts, and niches, the sale of lots, crypts, and niches may be made for the sole purpose of interments under such rules and regulations as may be imposed by the agency owning the cemetery, community mausoleum, or columbarium, and no part of the proceeds from such sales or other income shall ever be divided among its members, but shall be used exclusively for the purposes of the cemetery, community mausoleum, or columbarium, or placed in the perpetual care fund thereof, the income thereof to be so used.
18 V.S.A. § 5315
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5315. Sale of property for other than burial purposes; disposition of proceeds

§ 5315. Sale of property for other than burial purposes; disposition of proceeds|Either before or after the recording of the plat, as hereinbefore provided, whenever it is determined that such lands acquired for cemetery purposes, except those acquired by condemnation proceedings, are unsuitable for burial purposes, such lands may be sold for purposes other than interment and conveyed in fee simple in such manner and upon such terms as may be provided by the agencies owning the same. The proceeds thereof shall be applied to the purchase of other lands or to general cemetery purposes. When such sales are made, the land so sold shall be returned by the agencies to the tax lists for taxation. In the case of land acquired by condemnation proceedings, it shall be disposed of under the law governing the disposal of land acquired by condemnation proceedings.
18 V.S.A. § 5316
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5316. Encumbrance of cemetery property prohibited

§ 5316. Encumbrance of cemetery property prohibited|A public mausoleum, crematorium, columbarium, the land or lot or right of burial shall not be mortgaged, pledged, or in any manner encumbered by the agency owning or controlling the same.
18 V.S.A. § 5317
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5317. Tax exemptions

§ 5317. Tax exemptions|Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, all cemetery lands, buildings, and property, and the proceeds thereof, as defined in this chapter, which have been platted and devoted to or held exclusively for cemetery purposes, including donations or gifts and held in trust or otherwise, and all other funds held for the improvement, maintenance, repair, and ornamentation of such cemetery, together with the income therefrom and all other revenues and income shall be exempt from taxation.
18 V.S.A. § 5318
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5318. Public use of cemetery for other purposes

§ 5318. Public use of cemetery for other purposes|A public highway or railroad shall not be laid through such burial ground without the consent of the town, association, or the General Assembly, and no portion of such burial ground shall be taken for public use without special authority from the General Assembly.
18 V.S.A. § 5320
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5320. Temporary vaults

§ 5320. Temporary vaults|A town may construct and maintain, on land owned by such town, temporary receiving vaults for the temporary disposition of dead bodies, if approved by a majority of voters present and voting at an annual or special town meeting duly warned for that purpose. Such temporary disposition shall be for a period not to exceed one year.
18 V.S.A. § 5321
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5321. Improvement of private burial grounds; duties of officers

§ 5321. Improvement of private burial grounds; duties of officers|When the use and care of a private burial ground has been abandoned and such ground becomes unsightly from any cause, or when headstones or monuments have been displaced, the selectboard or board of cemetery commissioners having charge of the public cemeteries in the town where such burial ground is located, on written request of three legally qualified voters of such town, shall forthwith cause a notice to be published once a week on the same day of the week for three successive weeks in some newspaper circulating therein, calling upon any person interested in such burial ground to cause the same to be put in proper condition within three months from the date of such notice. At the expiration of such time, if such demand is not complied with, the selectboard or board shall proceed then and thereafter as if such ground were a public burial place. (Amended 1989, No. 142 (Adj. Sess.), § 9.)
18 V.S.A. § 5322
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5322. Temporary access to cemeteries

§ 5322. Temporary access to cemeteries|(a) Any person wishing to have a temporary right of entry over private land in order to enter a graveyard enclosure to which there is no public right-of-way may apply in writing to the selectboard or cemetery commissioners, as the case may be, state the reason for such request and the period of time for which such right is to be exercised. The applicant shall also notify in writing an owner or occupier of the land over which the right-of-way is desired. If the selectboard or cemetery commissioners find that the request is reasonable, they shall issue a permit for a temporary right of entry designating the particular place where, and the manner in which, the land may be crossed. The owner or occupier of the land may recommend a place of crossing which, if reasonable, shall be the place designated by the selectboard or cemetery commissioners.(b) An owner or occupier of the land who refuses to comply with a permit issued under subsection (a) of this section may be liable for reasonable costs and attorney's fees expended to enforce the permit. (Added 1989, No. 142 (Adj. Sess.), § 10; amended 1993, No. 128 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)
18 V.S.A. § 5323
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5323. Natural burial grounds; exemptions

§ 5323. Natural burial grounds; exemptions|(a) A natural burial ground shall not be subject to the following provisions of this chapter:  (1) section 5310 of this title with regard to the method of platting so as to allow the use of any nonstandard method of locating human remains that enables demarcation in the town land record of the exact location and identity of each buried body, such as by mapping, surveying, or use of a global positioning system; (2) section 5362 of this title; (3) section 5364 of this title, to the extent that selectboard members or cemetery commissioners need not maintain or repair a fence around a public natural burial ground so long as the perimeter of the natural burial ground is marked in a less obtrusive manner, such as by survey markers; and (4) section 5371, unless the regulations governing a particular natural burial ground require a marker on a person's grave, in which case the selectboard members of the town or the aldermen of a city where the person is buried shall cause to be erected on the person's grave a marker in keeping with the regulations of that natural burial ground.   (b)(1) A person shall not construct improvements on property used as a natural burial ground, except for improvements that serve as a winter storage facility or that are either educational or devotional in nature and maintain the character of the land.  (2) A deed transferring rights in property used as a natural burial ground shall set forth the prohibition in subdivision (1) of this subsection. (Added 2015, No. 24, § 3.)
18 V.S.A. § 5361
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5361. Appropriations and regulations by towns

§ 5361. Appropriations and regulations by towns|A town may vote sums of money necessary for purchasing, holding, and keeping in repair suitable grounds and other conveniences for burying the dead. The selectboard may make necessary regulations concerning public burial grounds and for fencing and keeping the same in proper order.
18 V.S.A. § 5362
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5362. Repair; expense; notice

§ 5362. Repair; expense; notice|(a) When lots or walks in a public burial ground become unsightly with weeds or by an unchecked growth of grass or from any other cause, or when headstones or monuments have become displaced or out of repair, the selectboard or board of cemetery commissioners shall cause such lots and walks to be cleared of weeds and grass, the headstones or monuments to be replaced or repaired, or other disfigurements removed, and may draw orders on the town treasurer for the expenses incurred.(b) When a headstone or monument is to be replaced, the selectboard or board of cemetery commissioners shall notify relatives of the deceased, if known, of the date of the removal and that the relative may claim the removed headstone or monument within 30 days after the date of the notice. (Amended 1993, No. 128 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2015, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 4, 2016.)
18 V.S.A. § 5363
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5363. Penalty

§ 5363. Penalty|A selectboard member, cemetery commissioner, or trustee, who violates a provision of this chapter, or willfully neglects any of the duties imposed by this chapter, for which other penalties are not provided, shall be fined not more than $200.00. (Amended 1989, No. 142 (Adj. Sess.), § 11.)
18 V.S.A. § 5364
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5364. Fences; penalty

§ 5364. Fences; penalty|When the selectboard or cemetery commissioners neglect to keep in repair the fence around a public burial ground, the town may be prosecuted for such neglect and fined not more than $400.00. The fine shall be expended in repairing the fences around such burial grounds under the direction of a commissioner appointed by the court. (Amended 1989, No. 142 (Adj. Sess.), § 12.)
18 V.S.A. § 5365
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5365. Damages for want of fence; liability

§ 5365. Damages for want of fence; liability|When a person or estate is damaged by cattle, horses, sheep, or swine breaking into a public burial ground and injuring a grave, headstone, monument, shrubbery, or flowers, for want of a legal fence around such burial ground, such person or estate may recover of the town double the amount of damages, in a civil action.
18 V.S.A. § 5366
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5366. Not liable until notified

§ 5366. Not liable until notified|A town shall not be charged for not keeping in repair the fence around a burial ground, or be liable for damage done, unless the selectboard, or cemetery commissioners, as the case may be, had notice in writing 20 days previous that the fence was out of repair. (Amended 1989, No. 142 (Adj. Sess.), § 13.)
18 V.S.A. § 5367
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5367. Duties of selectboard

§ 5367. Duties of selectboard|When a town neglects to place one or more of its public burial grounds under the charge of a board of cemetery commissioners, the selectboard shall have power to sell and convey lots in such burial grounds. They shall apply the proceeds of such sales and accept for the town and use legacies, bequests, and gifts for improving and embellishing the grounds.
18 V.S.A. § 5368
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5368. Exceptions

§ 5368. Exceptions|Sections 5361-5367 of this title shall not apply to a burial ground which is subject to other control than that of the selectboard or the board of cemetery commissioners.
18 V.S.A. § 5369
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5369. Removal

§ 5369. Removal|When it is impracticable to preserve a burial ground in proper condition, and the removal of the remains of the dead therein is required, the selectboard, in their discretion, may cause such remains to be removed and interred in a more suitable public burial ground.
18 V.S.A. § 5370
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5370. Notice; headstones

§ 5370. Notice; headstones|When remains of the dead are removed, the selectboard, if necessary, shall cause suitable headstones or monuments to be erected to the memory of the deceased, or to designate the place of interment. Such remains shall not be so removed if there are known kindred of the deceased residing in the State, until after 30 days' notice of the intention so to do. When kindred do not reside in the State, and known kindred reside without the State, then the remains shall not be so removed, until after 60 days' notice to one of such kindred. Such notice shall be given personally or by registered mail.
18 V.S.A. § 5371
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5371. Town or city to furnish headstone

§ 5371. Town or city to furnish headstone|In case of the burial of a person not having known estate, and not having a suitable marker or headstone erected at his or her grave within three years from the date of such burial, the selectboard of the town or the aldermen of a city, as the case may be, wherein such person is buried, shall cause to be erected at such person's grave, at the expense of such town or city, a suitable marker or headstone with the inscription thereon of the name of the deceased and dates of his or her birth and death, if the same are known.
18 V.S.A. § 5372
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5372. Appropriation for cemetery associations

§ 5372. Appropriation for cemetery associations|At a legal meeting of the voters thereof, when an article for such purpose has been duly inserted in the warning for such meeting, a town may appropriate such sums of money as it deems necessary for an incorporated cemetery association owning or in control of a cemetery in such town, for the purposes of such cemetery.
18 V.S.A. § 5373
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5373. Cemetery commissioners

§ 5373. Cemetery commissioners|When a town votes to place its public burial grounds under the charge of cemetery commissioners, it shall elect separately a board of three or five cemetery commissioners, who shall have the care and management of such burial ground and exercise all the powers, rights, and duties with respect to such care and management and all responsibility on the part of the selectboard shall cease.
18 V.S.A. § 5374
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5374. Term

§ 5374. Term|The commissioner first chosen shall hold office five years, the next four years, the next three years, the next two years, and the last one year. When the term of office of each commissioner expires, a successor shall be chosen for five years. Vacancies in the board may be filled by the remaining commissioners until the next annual meeting. However, a town so voting at an annual town meeting may limit the number of the board to three members and the term of office to three years.
18 V.S.A. § 5375
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5375. Laying out and improving grounds; burial without charge

§ 5375. Laying out and improving grounds; burial without charge|The board of cemetery commissioners may set apart such portion of the burial grounds placed under its charge as it deems proper, as a place for the burial of persons without charge therefor, under such regulations as it prescribes. It may lay out the remaining unoccupied portions in suitable lots, with necessary paths, avenues, or other reserved places, and may plant and embellish the same with trees, shrubs, and flowers.
18 V.S.A. § 5376
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5376. Sale of lots; tax exemption

§ 5376. Sale of lots; tax exemption|The board, by one of the commissioners appointed by it for that purpose, in the name of the town, by deed, may grant and convey lots in such burial grounds to be used for the burial of the dead and on which tombs, cenotaphs, and other monuments are to be erected. Such lots shall be exempt from taxation. The deeds thereof shall be recorded in the office of the town clerk of the town wherein such lots lie.
18 V.S.A. § 5377
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5377. Proceeds of sale; expenditure

§ 5377. Proceeds of sale; expenditure|The proceeds of such sale of lots shall be paid into the town treasury and kept separate from other funds of the town and subject to the order of the board. Such proceeds, with the income thereof, shall be devoted to maintaining, improving, and embellishing such burial grounds. If the town so votes, the board may sell lots upon condition that the proceeds therefrom shall be paid into the town treasury in trust and the income thereof be expended in caring for such lots and the structures thereon. The board shall fix the prices for such lots and make regulations in respect to the sale and care thereof.
18 V.S.A. § 5378
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5378. Bylaws and regulations

§ 5378. Bylaws and regulations|The board may make necessary bylaws and regulations in respect to such burial grounds, and interment of the dead not inconsistent with law, and may alter the same. Such bylaws and regulations shall be recorded in the office of the town clerk. A bylaw or regulation shall not be adopted to restrain a person in the free exercise of his or her religious sentiments as to the burial of the dead.
18 V.S.A. § 5379
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5379. Report of cemetery commissioners

§ 5379. Report of cemetery commissioners|The board shall submit annually a written report to the town auditors as to the condition and needs of the burial grounds under its charge and of its doings, including a detailed statement of its receipts and expenditures and of the amount and disposition of the funds in its hands or subject to its control.
18 V.S.A. § 5380
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5380. Auditors

§ 5380. Auditors|The town auditors shall audit such statement, file it in the office of the town clerk, and include the whole or a summary thereof in their annual report.
18 V.S.A. § 5381
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5381. Transfer of care from commissioners to selectboard

§ 5381. Transfer of care from commissioners to selectboard|By vote, a town may take its burial grounds out of the charge of the board of cemetery commissioners and place the same under the charge of the selectboard. When a town so votes, the office of cemetery commissioners shall terminate.
18 V.S.A. § 5382
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5382. Town trust funds- Acceptance of property

§ 5382. Town trust funds- Acceptance of property|A town may take and hold in trust grants, gifts, or bequests of property and apply the same or the income thereof for the care, improvement, or embellishment of its burial grounds or a part thereof, or for the erection, preservation, or removal of a monument, fence, or other structure in or around the same according to the terms of the grant, gift, or bequest.
18 V.S.A. § 5383
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5383. Acceptance of money in trust

§ 5383. Acceptance of money in trust|A town may vote to receive and hold money in trust, the income of which is to be used for the care and improvement of its burial grounds, or of private lots within such burial grounds or elsewhere.
18 V.S.A. § 5385
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5385. Accounts; expenditures

§ 5385. Accounts; expenditures|The town treasurer shall keep a separate account of each such trust fund unless the same is in charge of the trustees of public funds. The income therefrom shall be subject to the order of the selectboard or board of cemetery commissioners as the case may be. Such boards shall expend such income pursuant to the conditions of the trust. When such boards neglect to expend the income pursuant to the conditions of the trust, the town may be indicted for such neglect and upon conviction be fined not more than $100.00.
18 V.S.A. § 5386
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5386. Report

§ 5386. Report|The town treasurer or trustees of public funds shall annually report the condition of such funds to the town.
18 V.S.A. § 5387
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5387. Money received prior to 1895

§ 5387. Money received prior to 1895|Sections 5383-5386 of this title shall not be construed to affect the action of a town in respect to money received in trust for the purpose named by the donor, prior to February 1, 1895.