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Regular Session, 2013 ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 111
BY SENATOR DORSEY-COLOMB
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To urge and request the Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of the Attorney General,
and Louisiana Cemetery Board to take all appropriate action and work in conjunction
as necessary to provide information identifying persons interred in Gilbert Memorial
Park.
WHEREAS, Gilbert Memorial Park is a cemetery located on Greenwell Springs
Road in Baton Rouge that served the North Baton Rouge community since the early
twentieth century under the Baranco family through the 1980s; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana law requires the keeping of interment records and accurate
maps of interments for all operating cemeteries in the state under R.S. 8:662 and 314; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Cemetery Board and the attorney general have undertaken
an investigation of Gilbert Memorial Park from 2007 through 2012 which has identified
incomplete interment records for the cemetery from at least 1990 through the present; and
WHEREAS, the investigation led directly to the removal of Mr. Lymus Washington
as the operator of Gilbert Memorial Park by injunction in 2012 and the institution of a
receivership for the cemetery by court order under the direction of People Achieving
Community Empowerment, Inc., in 2013, to administer, manage, and oversee all affairs of
the cemetery; and
WHEREAS, the lack of records kept by Mr. Washington during his tenure as the
operator of Gilbert Memorial Park has left many descendants with no information regarding
the final resting place of their loved ones; and
WHEREAS, the final resting places of anyone interred in Louisiana is required,
under R.S. 40:52 and La. Admin Code. tit. 48, pt. V, §12311, to be recorded on a burial
transit permit which is lodged and filed with the Vital Records Registry of the Office of
Public Health of the Department of Health and Hospitals; and
WHEREAS, many Louisiana death certificates, under R.S. 40:49 and La. Admin SCR NO. 111 ENROLLED
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Code. tit. 48, pt. V, §12307, issued by the Vital Records Registry of the Office of Public
Health of the Department of Health and Hospitals indicate the final resting place of the
deceased; and
WHEREAS, a compilation of such documents which indicate that Gilbert Memorial
Park is the final resting place of individuals will provide some measure of closure to many
descendants of those buried in that cemetery; and
WHEREAS, a compilation of such information will assist the receiver and any
subsequent operator of Gilbert Memorial Park in reconstructing the records of the cemetery;
and
WHEREAS, for these reasons it is necessary and appropriate that the Department of
Health and Hospitals, Office of the Attorney General, and Louisiana Cemetery Board take
all appropriate actions and work in conjunction as necessary to provide information
identifying persons interred in Gilbert Memorial Park.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Department of Health and Hospitals to assist the attorney general, the
board, and any subsequent owner of the cemetery in compiling information appropriate and
necessary in reconstructing the records of the cemetery.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health and Hospitals shall
also transmit information as appropriate to the Office of the Attorney General for the
purpose of determining whether further action by the attorney general is warranted regarding
Gilbert Memorial Park.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health and Hospitals, Office
of the Attorney General, Louisiana Cemetery Board, and the state-appointed receiver
managing Gilbert Memorial Park shall work in conjunction to determine the most
appropriate and readily available means, including public service announcements and other
communications, to make information available to families and loved ones regarding persons
determined to be interred in Gilbert Memorial Park.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in order to facilitate and ensure maximum
community involvement and public participation in such communications, the department,
Cemetery Board, and attorney general shall consult on a regular basis and seek the advice SCR NO. 111 ENROLLED
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of a board, to be known as the Lillian Jackson Memorial Board, composed of the following
persons who shall serve without compensation or reimbursement for expenses:
(1) A member of the Senate who represents the area which encompasses Gilbert
Memorial Park, or his designee.
(2) A member of the House of Representatives who represents the area which
encompasses Gilbert Memorial Park, or his designee.
(3) The East Baton Rouge Parish mayor-president, or his designee.
(4) A member of the East Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council who represents the area
which encompasses Gilbert Memorial Park, or his designee.
(5) One member of the clergy appointed by a majority vote of the board members
provided in (1) through (4) herein.
(6) One family member of a loved one buried in Gilbert Memorial Park appointed
by a majority vote of the board members provided in (1) through (4) herein.
(7) One at-large member to be elected by a majority vote of the board members
provided in (1) through (6) from a list of individuals nominated by the board members
provided in (1) through (4) herein.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health and Hospitals, Office
of the Attorney General, Louisiana Cemetery Board, and the state-appointed receiver
managing Gilbert Memorial Park are hereby urged and requested, in consultation with the
Lillian Jackson Memorial Board, to take all appropriate action on behalf of the state to
recognize, honor, and commemorate those interred in Gilbert Memorial Park, including the
acceptance of donations from any source in the form of money, materials, labor, and
maintenance for the purpose of erecting a commemorative marker in Gilbert Memorial Park.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals, the attorney general, and the director
of the Louisiana Cemetery Board.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES