2023 Illinois Compiled Statutes › Chapter 60 - TOWNSHIPS › 60 ILCS 1/ - Township Code. › Article 135 - Joint Township Cemeteries

(60 ILCS 1/Art. 135 heading)
ARTICLE 135.  
		JOINT TOWNSHIP CEMETERIES
(60 ILCS 1/135-5)
Sec. 135-5. 
		Joint township cemeteries. 
		Any 2 or more townships or road
districts, within or without the same county, may jointly unite in establishing
and maintaining cemeteries within and without their corporate limits, may
acquire lands for cemeteries in common by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise,
and may lay out lots of convenient size for individuals or families and sell
those lots for burial purposes.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 388; P.A. 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-10)
Sec. 135-10. 
		Joint agreement; referendum; board of managers.
(a) The supervisors of any townships or the highway commissioners of any
road districts desiring to unite to establish and maintain cemeteries under
this Article may provide by agreement for the joint establishment and
maintaining of cemeteries. The agreement shall specify the site of the proposed
cemeteries and the proportionate share of the cost of acquiring and maintaining
the cemeteries that shall be borne by each of the townships or road districts.
(b) The proposition for the joint acquisition and maintenance shall state
the proposed site of the cemeteries and the proportionate share of the cost of
acquisition and maintenance to be borne by the respective townships or road
districts.  The township board shall certify the proposition to the proper
election officials, who shall submit the question to the voters at an election
in accordance with the general election law.
(c) If the proposition is approved by a majority of the voters in each of
the townships or road districts voting upon the proposition, the supervisor of
each township or the commissioners of highways of each road district shall
appoint 3 persons as managers of the cemeteries.  Those persons shall be known
as the board of managers.  They shall be residents of the respective townships
or road districts from which they are appointed and shall hold their office for
a term of 4 years and until their successors are appointed.
(Source: P.A. 81-1489; 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-15)
Sec. 135-15. 
		Vacancies in board of managers. 
		Vacancies in the board of
managers occasioned by death, resignation, removal, or otherwise shall be
reported by the board to the township supervisors or highway commissioners and
shall be filled, in the same manner as original appointments, by the supervisor
of the township or highway commissioner of the road district in which the
deceased, resigned, removed, or retiring member resided.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 388; P.A. 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-20)
Sec. 135-20. Powers of board of managers. The board of managers shall
control and manage the cemeteries jointly acquired by the townships or road
districts. The board of managers may receive in trust from the proprietors or
owners of any lot in the cemeteries, or any person, corporation, association,
or society interested in the maintenance of those cemeteries, any gift or
legacy of money or real, personal, or mixed property that is donated or
bequeathed to the board of managers for the use and maintenance of the lot or
cemeteries. The board of managers may convert the property into money, may
invest the money in securities in which trust funds may be invested under the Illinois Trust Code, and may apply the income perpetually for the care of
the lot or the care and maintenance of the cemeteries as specified in the gift
or legacy or as provided by the board of managers if the gift or legacy does
not specify the manner in which the income is to be expended.
(Source: P.A. 101-48, eff. 1-1-20.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-25)
Sec. 135-25. 
		Vesting of gift or legacy. 
		Every gift or legacy for any of the
purposes set forth in Section 135-20 made to a cemetery by its name, if the
cemetery has a board of managers appointed under this Article, shall vest in
that board and take effect for all purposes as if made to that board and shall
not fail merely because the cemetery is not incorporated.
(Source: P.A. 83-388; 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-30)
Sec. 135-30. 
		Organization of board; treasurer and bond.
(a) The board of managers, as soon as may be convenient after appointment,
shall meet and organize by selecting one of its members to be president and
another of its members to be clerk.
(b) The board shall also select a treasurer, who need not be a member of the
board. The treasurer, before entering upon his duties, shall execute a bond to
the People of the State of Illinois for the use of the board of managers, in a
penal sum not less than double the value of the money and property coming into
his or her hands as treasurer, conditioned for the faithful performance of the
treasurer's duties and for the faithful accounting for all money and property
that, by virtue of the office, comes into the treasurer's hands.  The bond
shall be in a form and with sureties approved by the township supervisors or
the highway commissioners and shall be filed with the township clerk of one of
the townships as determined by the supervisors or with the district clerk of
one of the road districts as determined by the highway commissioners.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 388; P.A. 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-35)
Sec. 135-35. 
		Treasurer as custodian; annual report.
(a) The treasurer shall have custody of all money and property received
in trust by the board of managers and shall pay out the money and property only
upon the written order of the board, signed by at least 4 of its members.  The
treasurer shall keep permanent books of record of all trust funds, all receipts
and disbursements of trust funds, and for what purposes trust funds were
received and disbursed.
(b) The treasurer shall, on or before the first day of July of each year,
make a report in writing to the board of managers, under oath, showing
balances, receipts, and disbursements, including a statement showing the amount
and principal of trust funds on hand and how invested.  The report shall be
audited by the board and, if found correct, shall be transmitted to the
township supervisors or highway commissioners. If the report is approved by the
supervisors or highway commissioners, it shall be filed by them with the same
township or district clerk with whom the treasurer's bond is filed under
Section 135-30.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 388; P.A. 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-40)
Sec. 135-40. 
		Clerk's records; annual report.
(a) The clerk of the board of managers, in a book provided for that purpose,
shall keep a permanent record of the proceedings of the board, signed by the
president and attested by the clerk, and shall also keep a permanent record of
the several trust funds, from what sources the trust funds were received, the
amounts of the trust funds, and for what uses and purposes the trust funds were
received.
(b) The clerk shall annually, on or before the first day of July, make a
report in writing, under oath, to the township supervisors or highway
commissioners as to the same matters required to be reported by the treasurer
of the board of managers under subsection (b) of Section 135-35.  The report,
if found to be correct by the supervisors or highway commissioners, shall be
approved by them and preserved by the board of managers.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 388; P.A. 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-45)
Sec. 135-45. 
		Removal of officers; accounting. 
		The township supervisors or
highway commissioners may remove from office any or all of the members of the
board of managers or the treasurer of the board for nonperformance of duties or
for misappropriation or wrongful use of funds or property held by them as
trustees for the cemeteries.  The supervisors or highway commissioners may
require a just and proper accounting for the use of those funds or property.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 388; P.A. 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-50)
Sec. 135-50. 
		Tax; petition and referendum.
(a) When 50 legal voters of each township or road district present a
petition to the board of managers asking that an annual tax be levied for the
control and maintenance of cemeteries under this Article, the board
shall certify the proposition to the proper election officials, who shall
submit the proposition to the voters at an election in accordance with the
general election law. The proposition shall be in substantially the following
form: "For the levy of a tax to control and maintain cemeteries" or "Against
the levy of a tax to control and maintain cemeteries".
(b) If a majority of all the votes cast in each township or road district
upon the proposition is for a levy of the tax, the board of managers shall
thereafter annually levy a tax, upon all property taxable by the townships or
road districts, of not more than 0.10% of value, as equalized or assessed by
the Department of Revenue, in each township or road district.
(c) The tax shall be collected in the same manner as other general
taxes in the townships and road districts and, when collected, shall be
deposited into a separate fund known as the Cemetery Fund.
(d) The tax shall be in addition to all other taxes that the townships or
road districts are authorized to levy and collect.
(e) The limitations upon tax rates in subsection (b) are subject to the
provisions of the General Revenue Law of Illinois.
(Source: P.A. 81-1489; 81-1509; 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-55)
Sec. 135-55. 
		Ordinances; violation; jurors.
(a) The board of managers may pass ordinances for the government of the
cemeteries, including ordinances relating to the operating and speed of motor
vehicles and the use of lots, walks, ponds, water courses, vaults, buildings,
and other places within the cemeteries, and for the maintenance of good order
and quiet in the cemeteries.  A person found guilty of violating any ordinance
is guilty of a petty offense and shall be fined not less than $5 nor more than
$100.
(b) No person shall be disqualified from acting as a juror in a cause under
subsection (a) because of any interest or ownership he or she may have in the
lots of the cemeteries.
(Source: P.A. 77-2341; 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-60)
Sec. 135-60. 
		Policemen. 
		The board of managers may appoint policemen
to protect the cemeteries and preserve order in the cemeteries.  The policemen
have the same power with respect to any offenses  committed in the cemeteries,
or any violation of Section 135-55, that city marshals or policemen in cities
have with respect to maintaining order in those cities or arresting persons for
offenses committed in those cities.
(Source: Laws 1941, vol. 1, p. 284; P.A. 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-65)
Sec. 135-65. 
		Transfer of funds. 
		When a multi-township
cemetery
district takes over a cemetery or cemetery authority, the care fund of the
cemetery or cemetery authority shall be transferred into the cemetery district
fund of the multi-township cemetery district.
(Source: P.A. 91-181, eff. 1-1-00.)