EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
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Underlining indicates amendments to bill.
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*sb0354*
SENATE BILL 354
C2 5lr2034
CF HB 509
By: Senator Salling Senators Salling, Brooks, Kagan, and M. Washington
Introduced and read first time: January 16, 2025
Assigned to: Education, Energy, and the Environment
Committee Report: Favorable with amendments
Senate action: Adopted
Read second time: February 22, 2025
CHAPTER ______
AN ACT concerning 1
Maryland Inventory of Cemeteries and Burial Sites Workgroup – Establishment 2
FOR the purpose of establishing the Maryland Inventory of Cemeteries and Burial Sites 3
Workgroup for the purpose of studying issues related to the establishment and 4
maintenance of a State cemetery inventory system; and generally relating to the 5
Maryland Inventory of Cemeteries and Burial Sites Workgroup. 6
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 7
That: 8
(a) There is a Maryland Inventory of Cemeteries and Burial Sites Workgroup. 9
(b) The Workgroup consists of the following members: 10
(1) the Director of the Maryland Historical Trust, or the Director’s 11
designee; 12
(2) the Executive Director of the Maryland Office of Cemetery Oversight, 13
or the Executive Director’s designee; 14
(3) the Chair of the Maryland Commission on African American History 15
and Culture, or the Chair’s designee; 16
(4) the President of the Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites, 17
Incorporated, or the President’s designee; 18 2 SENATE BILL 354
(5) the Chief of the Office of Cultural Resources in the Maryland 1
Department of Transportation, or the Chief’s designee; 2
(6) the President of Preservation Maryland, or the President’s designee; 3
(7) the Maryland State Archivist, or the Maryland State Archivist’s 4
designee; and 5
(8) the following members, appointed by the Secretary of Labor: 6
(i) a representative of a local government with an existing cemetery 7
inventory program; 8
(ii) up to three representatives from local genealogical and historical 9
organizations that carry out cemetery research and documentation; 10
(iii) a representative of a local descendant community; 11
(iv) a representative of a local cemetery; and 12
(v) a representative of a religious cemetery. 13
(c) The chair of the Workgroup shall be selected by the Workgroup from among 14
its members. 15
(d) The Maryland Historical Trust and the Office of Cemetery Oversight shall 16
provide staff for the Workgroup. 17
(e) A member of the Workgroup: 18
(1) may not receive compensation as a member of the Workgroup; but 19
(2) is entitled to reimbursement for expenses under the Standard State 20
Travel Regulations, as provided in the State budget. 21
(f) The Workgroup shall: 22
(1) identify and review the various definitions of the terms “cemetery”, 23
“burial group”, “burial site”, and any related terms in the Maryland Annotated Code and 24
recommend a single definition for each term; 25
(2) identify and evaluate current cemetery documentation practices used 26
by county governments and municipal cultural resource management and historic 27
preservation programs, nonprofit preservation organizations, and private entities; 28
SENATE BILL 354 3
(3) identify and evaluate cemetery inventory systems implemented in 1
other states to determine best practices for and challenges to designing, implementing, and 2
maintaining a cemetery inventory system in the State; 3
(4) evaluate existing cemetery inventories maintained by county 4
governments, historic preservation programs, and genealogical organizations to determine 5
the best methods for integrating existing information into a State cemetery inventory 6
system; 7
(5) identify and recommend a set of categories for data collection and 8
maintenance and system functions, including a public search function, for a State cemetery 9
inventory system; 10
(6) recommend the appropriate entity to collect data for and maintain a 11
State cemetery inventory system; 12
(7) determine the cost of designing, implementing, and maintaining a State 13
cemetery inventory system and recommend a source of funding to implement a State 14
cemetery inventory system beginning in fiscal year 2027; and 15
(8) evaluate the feasibility and cost of establishing a grant program to 16
provide financial assistance to governmental entities and nonprofit genealogical and 17
historical organizations to expedite identification of cemeteries and recommend the funding 18
amount and source for a grant program beginning in fiscal year 2027. 19
(g) On or before December 1, 2025, the Workgroup shall report its findings and 20
recommendations to the Governor and, in accordance with § 2 –1257 of the State 21
Government Article, the General Assembly. 22
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 23
1, 2025. It shall remain effective for a period of 1 year and, at the end of June 30, 2026, this 24
Act, with no further action required by the General Assembly, shall be abrogated and of no 25
further force and effect. 26
Approved:
________________________________________________________________________________
Governor.
________________________________________________________________________________
President of the Senate.
________________________________________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Delegates.