Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas House Bill HB1472 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Rodriguez of Travis H.B. No. 1472
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to jurisdiction over the removal of remains.
7	7	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
8	8	SECTION 1. Section 711.004, Health and Safety Code, is
9	9	amended to read as follows:
10	10	Sec. 711.004. REMOVAL OF REMAINS. (a) Remains interred in
11	11	a cemetery may be removed from a plot in the cemetery with the
12	12	written consent of the cemetery organization operating the cemetery
13	13	and the written consent of the current plot owner or owners and the
14	14	following persons, in the priority listed:
15	15	(1) the decedent's surviving spouse;
16	16	(2) the decedent's surviving adult children;
17	17	(3) the decedent's surviving parents;
18	18	(4) the decedent's adult siblings; or
19	19	(5) the adult person in the next degree of kinship in
20	20	the order named by law to inherit the estate of the decedent.
21	21	(b) A person listed in Subsection (a) may consent to the
22	22	removal only if there is no person in a priority listed before that
23	23	person.
24	24	(c) If the consent required by Subsection (a) cannot be
25	25	obtained, the remains may be removed by permission of the statutory
26	26	probate court of the county in which the cemetery is located, or, if
27	27	there is not a statutory probate court in that county, then in a
28	28	district court of the county in which the cemetery is located.
29	29	Before the date of application to the court for permission to remove
30	30	remains under this subsection, notice must be given to:
31	31	(1) the cemetery organization operating the cemetery
32	32	in which the remains are interred or if the cemetery organization
33	33	cannot be located or does not exist, the Texas Historical
34	34	Commission;
35	35	(2) each person whose consent is required for removal
36	36	of the remains under Subsection (a); and
37	37	(3) any other person that the court requires to be
38	38	served.
39	39	(d) For the purposes of Subsection (c) and except as
40	40	provided by this subsection or Subsection (k), personal notice must
41	41	be given not later than the 11th day before the date of application
42	42	to the court for permission to remove the remains, or notice by
43	43	certified or registered mail must be given not later than the 16th
44	44	day before the date of application. In an emergency circumstance
45	45	described by Subsection (l) that necessitates immediate removal of
46	46	remains from a plot, the court shall hear an application for
47	47	permission to remove remains under Subsection (c) not later than
48	48	the first business day after the application is made. In an
49	49	emergency circumstance described by this subsection, personal
50	50	notice may be given on the date the application is made.
51	51	(e) Subsections (a)-(d) and (k) do not apply to the removal
52	52	of remains:
53	53	(1) from one plot to another plot in the same cemetery,
54	54	if the cemetery:
55	55	(A) is a family, fraternal, or community cemetery
56	56	that is not larger than 10 acres;
57	57	(B) is owned or operated by an unincorporated
58	58	association of plot owners not operated for profit;
59	59	(C) is owned or operated by a church, a religious
60	60	society or denomination, or an entity solely administering the
61	61	temporalities of a church or religious society or denomination; or
62	62	(D) is a public cemetery owned by this state, a
63	63	county, or a municipality;
64	64	(2) by the cemetery organization from a plot for which
65	65	the purchase price is past due and unpaid, to another suitable
66	66	place;
67	67	(3) on the order of a court or person who conducts
68	68	inquests; or
69	69	(4) from a plot in a cemetery owned and operated by the
70	70	Veterans' Land Board.
71	71	(f) Except as is authorized for a justice of the peace
72	72	acting as coroner or medical examiner under Chapter 49, Code of
73	73	Criminal Procedure, remains may not be removed from a cemetery
74	74	except on the written order of the state registrar or the state
75	75	registrar's designee. The cemetery organization shall keep a
76	76	duplicate copy of the order as part of its records. The Texas
77	77	Funeral Service Commission may adopt rules to implement this
78	78	subsection.
79	79	(g) A person who removes remains from a cemetery shall keep
80	80	a record of the removal that includes:
81	81	(1) the date the remains are removed;
82	82	(2) the name and age at death of the decedent if those
83	83	facts can be conveniently obtained;
84	84	(3) the place to which the remains are removed; and
85	85	(4) the cemetery and plot from which the remains are
86	86	removed.
87	87	(h) If the remains are not reinterred, the person who
88	88	removes the remains shall:
89	89	(1) make and keep a record of the disposition of the
90	90	remains; and
91	91	(2) not later than the 30th day after the date the
92	92	remains are removed, provide notice by certified mail to the Texas
93	93	Funeral Service Commission and the Department of State Health
94	94	Services of the person's intent not to reinter the remains and the
95	95	reason the remains will not be reinterred.
96	96	(i) A person who removes remains from a cemetery shall give
97	97	the cemetery organization operating the cemetery a copy of the
98	98	record made as required by Subsections (g) and (h).
99	99	(j) A cemetery organization may remove remains from a plot
100	100	in the cemetery and transfer the remains to another plot in the same
101	101	cemetery without the written consent required under Subsection (a)
102	102	if the cemetery seeks consent by sending written notice by
103	103	certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known address
104	104	of the current owner of the plot from which the remains are to be
105	105	removed or to the person designated under Subsection (a). The
106	106	notice must indicate that the remains will be removed, the reason
107	107	for the removal of the remains, and the proposed location of the
108	108	reinterment of the remains. The cemetery may transfer the remains
109	109	to another plot in accordance with this subsection if an objection
110	110	is not received in response to the notice before the 31st day after
111	111	the date the notice is sent. A cemetery may not remove remains
112	112	under this subsection for a fraudulent purpose or to allow the sale
113	113	of the plot in which the remains are located to another person.
114	114	(k) In an emergency circumstance described by Subsection
115	115	(l) that necessitates immediate removal of remains before the date
116	116	on which the court is required to hear an application for permission
117	117	to remove remains under Subsection (d), a cemetery organization may
118	118	remove remains from a plot in the cemetery and transfer the remains
119	119	to another plot in the same cemetery without the court hearing. A
120	120	cemetery association that removes remains under this subsection
121	121	shall send written notice of the removal by certified mail, return
122	122	receipt requested, to the last known address of the person
123	123	designated under Subsection (a) not later than the fifth day after
124	124	the date the remains are removed. The notice must indicate that the
125	125	remains were removed, the reason for the removal of the remains, and
126	126	the location of the reinterment of the remains.
127	127	(l) For purposes of Subsections (d) and (k), "emergency
128	128	circumstance" means:
129	129	(1) a natural disaster; or
130	130	(2) an error in the interment of remains.