81R14611 ALB-D
By: Coleman H.B. No. 3739
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to regulation of and access to certain cemeteries;
providing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 711.012(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The Texas Funeral Service Commission may enforce
Section 711.052 and may adopt rules, establish procedures, and
prescribe forms to enforce and administer Sections 711.003,
711.008, 711.010, 711.011, 711.021-711.035, 711.038, 711.041,
711.042, 711.061, and 711.062 relating to cemeteries that are not
perpetual care cemeteries.
SECTION 2. Section 711.052(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(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; [or]
(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; or
(5) interferes with a person's right to reasonable
ingress and egress under Section 711.041.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
this Act if any element of the offense was committed before that
date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.