2023 Illinois Compiled Statutes › Chapter 60 - TOWNSHIPS › 60 ILCS 1/ - Township Code. › Article 130 - Township Cemeteries

(60 ILCS 1/Art. 130 heading)
ARTICLE 130.  
		TOWNSHIP
CEMETERIES
(60 ILCS 1/130-5)
Sec. 130-5. 
		Cemeteries; permitted activities.
(a) A township may establish and maintain cemeteries
within and without its territory, may acquire lands for
cemeteries by
condemnation or otherwise, may lay out lots of convenient size for
families, and may sell lots for a family burying ground
or to individuals
for burial purposes. Associations duly incorporated under
the
laws of this State for cemetery purposes shall have the same power and
authority to purchase lands and sell lots for burial purposes as are
conferred upon townships under this Article.
(b) A township 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 a township enter an abandoned cemetery
under this subsection if the owner of the property or the
legally responsible cemetery authority provides written
notification to the township, prior to the township's entry
(1) demonstrating the ownership or authority to control
or manage the cemetery and (2) declining the township authorization to
enter the property. In making a cemetery orderly under this
Section, the township 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.
(c) 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
a township's entry and cleanup of cemetery grounds. The
notice shall provide (1) notice of the township's 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 township upon written notice to the township;
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.)
(60 ILCS 1/130-10)
Sec. 130-10. 
		Cemetery board of managers; appointment; powers; organization.
(a) If a township owns or controls a cemetery lying within or without, or
partly within and partly without, the territory of the township, the township
collector may appoint a board of 3 persons who shall be known as the cemetery
board of managers.  Board members shall hold their office for a period of 2
years or until their successors are appointed.
(b) The cemetery board of managers may receive in trust, from the
proprietors or owners of any lot in the cemetery or any person interested in
the maintenance of a lot, any gift or legacy of money or real, personal, or
mixed property having a value of $50 or more that may be donated to the board
of managers for the use and maintenance of the lot or cemetery. The board of
managers may convert the property into money, invest the money as provided by
motion of the township, and apply the income perpetually for the care of the
cemetery lot or the care and maintenance of the cemetery, as specified in the
gift or bequest and as provided by motion of the township. Every gift or legacy
for any purpose mentioned in this Section made to a cemetery by its name, if
the cemetery has a board of managers appointed under this Section, shall vest
in the board of managers and take effect to all intents and purposes as if made
to that board.  The gift or legacy shall not fail merely because the cemetery
is not incorporated.
(c) The board of managers, as soon as may be convenient after their
appointment, shall meet and organize by selecting one of their number to be
president and another of their number to be clerk of the board.  The board also
shall select a treasurer of the board, who may or may not be one of their
number and who, before entering upon the treasurer's 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 or property
coming into his or her possession as treasurer, conditioned for the faithful
performance of his or her duties and for the faithful accounting for all
property that, by virtue of the office, comes into the treasurer's possession.
The bond shall be in a form and with sureties approved by the township
collector and shall be approved and preserved in the same manner, as near as
may be practicable, as is the bond
of the treasurer of a village.
(Source: P.A. 84-549; 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/130-15)
Sec. 130-15. 
		Treasurer of board of managers. 
		The treasurer of the board of
managers shall have the custody of all money and property received in trust by
the board of managers and shall pay out that money or property only upon the
written order of the board, signed by at least 2 of the board members.  The
treasurer shall keep permanent books of record of all trust funds, all receipts
and disbursements of trust funds, and the purposes of all receipts and
disbursements.  The treasurer  shall annually make a report in writing to the
board of managers, under oath, showing balances, receipts, and disbursements
and 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 collector at the same time that
the treasurer of a village is required by law to make his or her report, to be
approved and preserved in the same manner if found to be correct.
(Source: P.A. 84-549; 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/130-20)
Sec. 130-20. 
		Clerk of board of managers. 
		The clerk of the board of managers
shall keep, in a book provided for that purpose, a permanent record of the
proceedings of the board, signed by the president and attested by the clerk.
The clerk 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 each trust fund was received.  The clerk shall
annually, at the time of transmitting the treasurer's report to the township
collector, make a written report, under oath, to the township collector,
stating substantially the same matter required to be reported by the treasurer
of the board.  The clerk's report, if found to be correct, shall be approved
and preserved by the township collector.
(Source: P.A. 84-549; 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/130-25)
Sec. 130-25. 
		Removal of officers; accounting. 
		The township collector may
remove from office any member of the board of managers or the treasurer for
non-performance of duties or for misappropriation or wrongful use of the funds
or property and may require a just and proper accounting for the use of the
funds or property.
(Source: P.A. 84-549; 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/130-30)
Sec. 130-30. 
		Joint cemeteries. 
		Any 2 or more cities, villages, or townships
may jointly unite in establishing and maintaining cemeteries within and without
the corporate limits or territory of either or any of them, may acquire lands
for those cemeteries in common by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, may lay
out lots of convenient size for families, and may sell lots for family burying
ground or to individuals for burial purposes.
(Source: Laws 1963, p. 824; P.A. 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/130-35)
Sec. 130-35. 
		Corporate trustee. 
		Whenever any money or other property has
been  given or bequeathed to the board of managers of a cemetery owned or
controlled by a township for the purpose of maintaining a lot in the cemetery
or maintaining the cemetery as provided in this Article, the township may
provide for the appointment of a corporation authorized to do trust business as
trustee of the money or property, in place of the treasurer of the board of
managers. The corporate trustee has the same powers, authority, and duties with
regard to the administration of the trust funds as are provided in this Article
for the treasurer of the board of managers, except that it shall not be
required to execute a bond and may charge for its services as trustee amounts
agreed upon from time to time with the township authorities. The corporate
trustee may invest the trust funds in any investment authorized by the laws of
Illinois as proper fiduciary investments. The trustee may retain any property
given or bequeathed to it in trust even though the property may not be a legal
investment under the laws of Illinois.
(Source: P.A. 83-388; 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/130-40)
Sec. 130-40. 
		Minimum amount of gift or legacy. 
		The board of managers may
from time to time establish the minimum amount that will be received by gift or
legacy for the use and maintenance of any lot in the cemetery, subject to
approval by the township collector.
(Source: P.A. 83-388; 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/130-45)
Sec. 130-45. 
		Transfer of funds. 
		When a 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 township cemetery district.
(Source: P.A. 91-181, eff. 1-1-00.)