is located. The court may consult the Texas Historical Commission and the county historical commission in making a decision under this section. The court may also designate or appoint any person, party, court appointed representative, or official the court considers necessary to assist in determining whether the removal is in the public interest. (d) The Texas Historical Commission, with consent of the landowner, may investigate a suspected but unverified cemetery or may delegate the investigation to a qualified person described by Section 711.0105(a). Sec. 711.0105. Method of Removal of Remains (a) The removal of remains authorized under this chapter shall be supervised by a cemetery keeper, a licensed funeral director, a medical examiner, a coroner, or a professional archeologist. (b) The person removing the remains shall make a good faith effort to locate and remove all human remains, any casket or other covering of the remains, and any funerary objects associated with the remains. (c) Remains that have been moved must be reburied unless a court, medical examiner, coroner, other authorized official, or next of kin approves a different disposition of the remains. Sec. 711.011. Filing Record of Unknown or Abandoned Cemetery (a) A person who discovers an unknown or abandoned cemetery shall file notice of the discovery of the cemetery with the county clerk of the county in which the cemetery is located and concurrently mail notice to the landowner on record in the county appraisal district not later than the 10th day after the date of the discovery. The notice must contain a legal description of the land on which the unknown or abandoned cemetery was found and describe the approximate location of the cemetery and the evidence of the cemetery that was discovered. (b) A county clerk may not charge a fee for filing notice under this section. (c) The county clerk shall send a copy of the notice to the Texas Historical Commission and file the notice in the deed records of the county, with an index entry referencing the land on which the cemetery was discovered. Sec. 711.0111. Notice of Unverified Cemetery (a) A person who discovers an unverified cemetery shall file notice and evidence of the discovery with the Texas Historical Commission on a form provided by the Texas Historical Commission, and shall concurrently provide a copy of the notice to the landowner on record in the county appraisal district on whose land the unverified cemetery is located. (b) The landowner described by Subsection (a) may send a response or comments to the Texas Historical Commission concerning the notice not later than the 30th day after the date the notice is filed. (c) The Texas Historical Commission shall evaluate the notice of the unverified cemetery, the evidence submitted with the notice, and the response of the landowner, if any, and shall determine whether there is sufficient evidence of the existence of a cemetery. (d) If the Texas Historical Commission determines sufficient evidence supports the existence of a cemetery, the Texas Historical Commission shall inform the landowner and may file notice of the existence of the cemetery under Section 711.011. (e) If the Texas Historical Commission determines sufficient evidence supports a determination that a cemetery does not exist, the Texas Historical Commission shall notify the landowner on record in the appraisal district of its determination, amend the notice to include the commission’s determination, and ensure any notice filed with a county clerk under Section 711.011 is corrected.
ordinance shall prescribe the information to be included in the application. The governing body by ordinance may authorize the establishment or use of a cemetery located inside the boundaries of the municipality if the municipality determines and states in the ordinance that the establishment or use of the cemetery does not adversely affect public health, safety, and welfare. (l) Subsection (a) does not apply to a cemetery established and operating before September 1, 2023, in a municipality: (1) With a population of not less than 75,000 and not more than 95,000; and (2) In which a state veterans cemetery is located. (m) Not later than September 1, 2024, an organized religious society or sect may file a written application with the governing body of a municipality to establish or use a cemetery within the boundaries of the municipality. The municipality by ordinance shall prescribe the information to be included on the application. The governing body by ordinance may authorize the establishment or use of the cemetery if the municipality determines and states in the ordinance that the establishment or use does not adversely affect public health, safety, and welfare. This subsection applies only to a municipality with a population of 200,000 or more located in a county with a population of less than 300,000 that is adjacent to this state’s international border with Mexico. Sec. 711.009. Authority of Cemetery Keeper (a) The superintendent, sexton, or other person in charge of a cemetery has the same powers, duties, and immunities granted by law to: (1) A police officer in the municipality in which the cemetery is located; or (2) A constable or sheriff of the county in which the cemetery is located if the cemetery is outside a municipality. (b) A person who is granted authority under Subsection (a) shall maintain order and enforce the cemetery organization’s rules, state law, and municipal ordinances in the cemetery over which that person has charge and as near the cemetery as necessary to protect cemetery property. (c) This section applies only to a cemetery located in a municipality with a population of 40,000 or more or in a county with a population of 290,000 or more. Sec. 711.010. Abandoned, Unknown, or Unverified Cemetery (a) The owner of property on which an unknown cemetery is discovered or on which an abandoned cemetery is located may not construct improvements on the property in a manner that would disturb the cemetery until the human remains interred in the cemetery are removed under a written order issued by the state registrar or the state registrar’s designee under Section 711.004(f) and under an order of a district court as provided by this section, except as provided by Section 711.004(f-1). (b) On petition of the owner of the property, a district court of the county in which an unknown cemetery is discovered or an abandoned cemetery is located may order the removal of any dedication for cemetery purposes that affects the property if the court finds that the removal of the dedication is in the public interest. If a court orders the removal of a dedication of a cemetery and all human remains in that cemetery have not previously been removed, the court shall order the removal of the human remains from the cemetery to: (1) A perpetual care cemetery; (2) A municipal or county cemetery; or (3) Any other place on the owner’s property that the district court finds is in the public interest. (c) In addition to any notice required by Section 711.004, notice of a petition filed under Subsection (b) must be given to the Texas Historical Commission and to the county historical commission of the county in which the cemetery
Book Code: FTX1624
Page 57
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