2023 Texas Statutes › Health and Safety Code › Title 8 - Death and Disposition of the Body › Subtitle C - Cemeteries and Crematories › Chapter 711 - General Provisions Relating to Cemeteries › Subchapter D. Enforcement › Section 711.052. Criminal Penalties

Sec. 711.052.  CRIMINAL PENALTIES.
(a)  A person who is an individual, firm, association, corporation, or municipality, or an officer, agent, or employee of an individual, firm, association, corporation, or municipality, commits an offense if the person:
(1)  engages in a business for cemetery purposes in this state other than through a corporation organized for that purpose, if a corporation is required by law;
(2)  fails or refuses to keep records of interment as required by Sections 711.003 and 711.004;
(3)  sells, offers to sell, or advertises for sale a plot or the exclusive right of sepulture in a plot for purposes of speculation or investment;
(4)  represents through advertising or printed material that a retail department will be established for the resale of the plots of plot purchasers, that specific improvements will be made in the cemetery, or that specific merchandise or services will be furnished to a plot owner, unless adequate funds or reserves are created by the cemetery organization for the represented purpose;
(5)  makes more than one interment in a plot in a cemetery operated by a cemetery organization other than as provided by Section 711.0395;
(6)  removes remains from a plot in a cemetery operated by a cemetery organization without complying with Section 711.004;
(7)  offers or receives monetary inducement to solicit business for a cemetery broker; or
(8)  fails or refuses to keep records of sales or resales or to collect and remit fees as required by Section 711.0381.
(b)  A cemetery organization or an officer, agent, or employee of the cemetery organization commits an offense if the cemetery organization, officer, agent, or employee offers any inducement, pecuniary or otherwise, to any person or entity for the purpose of securing or attempting to secure business for that cemetery organization.  This subsection does not prohibit the offering or payment by a cemetery organization of any such inducement, pecuniary or otherwise, to an officer, employee, agent, subcontractor, or representative of the cemetery organization.
(c)  A cemetery organization or an officer, agent, or employee of the cemetery organization commits an offense if the cemetery organization, officer, agent, or employee of a cemetery organization offers a free plot in a drawing, in a lottery, or in another manner, unless the offer is for the immediate burial of an indigent person.
(d)  Except as provided by this subsection, an offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.  An offense under Subsection (a)(5) or (6) is a felony of the second degree.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.  Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 14, Sec. 217, eff. Sept. 1, 1991;  Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 634, Sec. 23, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.
Amended by:
Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 123 (S.B. 661), Sec. 6, eff. September 1, 2013.
Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 220 (H.B. 52), Sec. 7, eff. September 1, 2013.
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1236 (S.B. 1296), Sec. 10.001, eff. September 1, 2015.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 20 (S.B. 614), Sec. 41, eff. September 1, 2019.