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As Passed by the House
123rd General Assembly
Regular Session
1999-2000 | Sub. H. B. No. 531 |
REPRESENTATIVES HOLLISTER-SCHULER-METZGER-D. MILLER-
VAN VYVEN-HARTNETT-CLANCY-GRENDELL-REDFERN-WILLAMOWSKI-NETZLEY-
TERWILLEGER-TAYLOR-PETERSON-SMITH-BUEHRER-BRITTON-DISTEL-ROMAN-
KRUPINSKI-SULLIVAN-HARRIS-BENDER-VERICH-CAREY-EVANS-ALLEN-
SCHURING-WILSON-BRADING-BUCHY-LOGAN-TIBERI-O'BRIEN-HOOPS-
WINKLER-STAPLETON-VESPER-A. CORE-DAMSCHRODER-STEVENS
A BILL
To amend sections 1721.21, 1721.211, 3705.17, 4767.01, 4767.03, 4767.04, and
4767.08 of the Revised Code
to exempt certain political subdivisions from the
requirement of paying a cemetery registration fee, to make changes to the
law governing fees for the issuance of burial permits, to revise the
permissible uses of dividend and interest income from cemetery endowment care
trusts, to exempt family cemeteries from the requirement of maintaining an
endowment care trust,
to revise the
depository requirements for sellers of preneed cemetery merchandise and
services contracts, and to
generally exempt cemeteries owned and operated by fraternal
organizations, municipal corporations, or other political
subdivisions of the state, and national and family cemeteries,
from the requirements pertaining to preneed cemetery merchandise
and services contracts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 1721.21, 1721.211, 3705.17, 4767.01, 4767.03,
4767.04, and 4767.08 of the Revised
Code be amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 1721.21. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Person" means any corporation, company, partnership,
individual, or other entity owning or operating a cemetery for
the disposition of human remains.
(2) "Cemetery" means any one or a combination of more than
one of the following:
(a) A burial ground for earth interments;
(b) A mausoleum for crypt entombments;
(c) A columbarium for the deposit of cremated remains;
(d) A scattering ground for the spreading of cremated
remains.
(3) "Interment" means the disposition of human remains by
earth burial, entombment, or inurnment.
(4) "Burial right" means the right of earth interment.
(5) "Entombment right" means the right of entombment in a
mausoleum.
(6) "Columbarium right" means the right of inurnment in a
columbarium for cremated remains.
(B) No person shall operate or continue to operate any
cemetery in Ohio THIS STATE unless an endowment care trust is
established and
maintained as required by this section.
(C) Any person desiring to operate any cemetery
that is organized or developed after July 1, 1970, before offering to
sell or selling any burial lot, burial right, entombment right,
or columbarium right in that cemetery, shall first
establish an
endowment care trust, segregated from other assets, and
place in that fund a minimum of fifty thousand dollars in
cash or in bonds
of the United States, this state, or any county or municipal
corporation of this state.
Whenever any person described in this division has placed
another fifty thousand
dollars in the endowment care trust out of gross sales
proceeds,
in addition to the deposit required by this division,
that person, after
submitting proof of this fact to the trustees of the
endowment care trust, may be paid a distribution in
the sum of fifty thousand dollars from the endowment care
trust.
(D) Any person desiring to operate or to continue to
operate any cemetery after July 1, 1970, shall place into the
endowment care trust as required by this section not less
than ten
per cent of the gross sales proceeds received from the sale of
any burial lot, burial right, entombment right, or columbarium
right. This percentage shall be placed in the endowment care
trust no later than thirty days following the month in
which the entire gross sales are received.
(E) The trustees
of the endowment care trust shall
consist of at least three individuals who have been residents of
the county in which the cemetery is located for at least one
year, or a
trust company licensed under Chapter 1111. of the Revised Code or a national bank
or federal savings association that has securities pledged in accordance with
section 1111.04 of the Revised Code.
If a person or
entity other than THE TRUSTEES ARE NOT a financial institution
is designated as
trustee, the person or entity OR TRUST COMPANY, THE TRUSTEES shall
be bonded by a corporate
surety OR FIDELITY bond in an AGGREGATE amount OF not
less than one hundred per cent of
the funds held by the trustee TRUSTEES. The trustee
TRUSTEES or its THEIR agent shall,
on a continuous basis, keep exact records as to the amount of
funds under any joint account or trust instrument being held for
the individual beneficiaries showing the amount paid, the amount
deposited and invested, and accruals and income.
The funds of the endowment care trust shall be held and
invested in the manner in which trust funds are permitted to be
held and invested pursuant to sections 2109.37 and 2109.371 of
the Revised Code.
(F) Any person offering to sell or selling any burial lot,
burial right, entombment right, or columbarium right shall give
to the purchaser of the lot or right, at the time of sale, a
written agreement that identifies and unconditionally
guarantees to the purchaser the specific location of the lot or the specific
location to which the right applies.
(G) No person shall open or close any grave,
crypt, or niche for the interment of human remains in a cemetery
without the permission of the cemetery association or other
entity having control and management of the cemetery.
(H) Except as provided in division (G) of
this section, this section does not apply to A FAMILY CEMETERY AS DEFINED
IN SECTION 4767.02 OF THE REVISED CODE, TO any cemetery
that is owned and operated entirely and exclusively by churches,
religious societies, established fraternal organizations,
municipal corporations, or other political subdivisions of the state,
or to a
national cemetery.
(I) The dividend and
interest income from the endowment care trust shall be used only
FOR THE COST AND EXPENSES INCURRED TO ESTABLISH, MANAGE, AND ADMINISTER THE
TRUST AND for the maintenance, supervision, improvement, and preservation
of the grounds, lots, buildings, equipment, statuary, and other
real and personal property of the cemetery.
(J)(1) Annual reports
of all the assets and investments of the endowment care trust
shall be prepared and maintained, and shall be available for
inspection at reasonable times by any owner of interment rights
in the cemetery.
(2) Every cemetery required to establish and maintain
an endowment care trust shall file an affidavit annually with the
division of real estate of the department of commerce,
in a form prescribed by the division, certifying under oath each of the
following:
(a) That the cemetery has deposited, at
the time specified in division (D) of this section, the
amounts required by that division in the cemetery's endowment
care trust;
(b) That only dividend and interest
income have been paid from the endowment care trust, and the
cemetery used the amounts withdrawn only for the purposes
specified in division (I) of
this section;
(c) That all principal and
capital gains have remained in the endowment care trust;
(d) That the endowment care trust has
not been used to collateralize or guarantee loans and has not
otherwise been subjected to any consensual lien;
(e) That the endowment care trust is
invested in compliance with the investing standards set forth in
sections 2109.37 and 2109.371 of the
Revised Code.
Sec. 1721.211. (A) As used in this section, "preneed
cemetery merchandise and services contract" means a
written agreement, contract, or
series of contracts to sell or otherwise provide an outer
burial container,
monument, marker, urn, other type of merchandise customarily sold by
cemeteries, or
opening and closing services
to be used or provided in connection with the final disposition of a
dead human body, where payment for the container, monument, marker, urn, other
type of merchandise customarily sold by cemeteries, or opening and
closing services is made either outright
or on an installment basis, prior to the death of the person so
purchasing or for whom so purchased. "Preneed
cemetery merchandise and services
contract" does not include any preneed funeral contract or any
agreement, contract, or series of contracts pertaining to the
sale of any burial lot, burial or interment right, entombment
right, or columbarium right with respect to which an endowment
care fund TRUST is established or is exempt from establishment
pursuant
to section 1721.21 of the Revised Code.
(B) Subject to the limitations and restrictions contained
in Chapters 1101. to 1127. of the Revised Code, a
trust company licensed under Chapter 1111.
of the Revised Code or a national bank or federal savings association that
pledges securities
in accordance with section 1111.04 of the Revised Code or the individuals
described in division
(C)(2) of this section have the power as trustee to
receive and to hold and invest in accordance with
sections 2109.37 and 2109.371 of the Revised Code moneys
under a preneed cemetery merchandise and services
contract.
(C)(1) The greater of one hundred ten per cent of
the seller's actual cost or thirty per cent of the seller's retail price of
the merchandise and seventy per cent of the seller's retail price
of the services to be provided under a preneed cemetery
merchandise and services
contract shall remain intact as a
fund until the death of the person for whose benefit the
contract is made or the merchandise is
delivered as set forth
in division (K) of this section. However, any moneys held
pursuant to this section shall be released upon demand of the
person for whose benefit the contract was made or upon the demand
of the seller for its share of the moneys held
and earned
interest if the contract has been canceled as set forth in
division (G) of this section.
(2) The trustee of the fund described in division
(C)(1) of this section shall be a trust company licensed under
Chapter 1111. of the Revised Code or a national bank or federal savings
association
that pledges securities in accordance with section 1111.04 of the Revised Code
or at least
three individuals who have been residents of the county in which the seller is
located for at least one year, each of whom shall be bonded
by a corporate surety in an amount that is at least equal to the amount
deposited in the fund of which those
persons serve as trustee.
Amounts in the fund shall be held and invested
in the manner in which trust funds are permitted to be held and invested
pursuant to sections 2109.37 and 2109.371
of the Revised Code.
(D) Within thirty days after the last
business day of the
month in which the seller of cemetery merchandise or
services receives final
contractual payment under a preneed cemetery
merchandise and services contract, the
seller shall
deliver the greater of one hundred ten per cent of the seller's actual cost
or thirty per cent of the seller's retail price of
the merchandise and seventy per cent of the seller's current
retail price of the services as of the time the final
contractual payment is received DATE OF THE CONTRACT
to a trustee or to trustees as described in division
(C)(2) of this section, and the moneys
and accruals or income on the moneys shall be held in
a fund and designated for the person for whose benefit the
fund was
established
as a preneed cemetery merchandise and services
contract fund.
(E) The moneys received from more than one preneed
cemetery merchandise and services contract may, at
the option of the persons for whose
benefit the contracts are made, be placed in a common or pooled
trust fund in this state under a single trust instrument. If three
individuals are designated as
the trustees as provided in division (C)(2) of this
section, they shall be bonded by a corporate
surety OR FIDELITY bond in an AGGREGATE amount OF not
less than one hundred per cent of
the funds held by them as trustees. The trustee TRUSTEES or
its THEIR agent shall,
on a continuous basis, keep exact records as to the amount of
funds under a single trust instrument being
held for the individual beneficiaries showing the amount paid, the amount
deposited and invested, and accruals and income.
(F) The seller of merchandise or services under a
preneed cemetery merchandise and services contract
shall annually submit to the
division of real estate of the department of commerce an
affidavit in a form prescribed by the division, sworn under
oath, specifying each of the following:
(1) That, within the time specified in
division (D) of this section,
the amounts required by that division were deposited in an
appropriate fund;
(2) That the fund has not been used to collateralize
or guarantee loans and has not otherwise been subjected to any
consensual lien;
(3) That the fund is invested in compliance with the
investing standards set forth in sections 2109.37 and 2109.371
of the Revised Code;
(4) That no moneys have been removed from the fund,
except as provided for in this section.
(G) This division is subject to division (I) of this
section.
Any person upon initially entering into a preneed
cemetery merchandise and services contract may,
within seven days, cancel the contract
and request and receive from the seller one hundred per cent of
all payments made under the contract. After the expiration of
the above period, any person who has entered into a preneed
cemetery merchandise and services contract may, on
not less than fifteen days' notice,
cancel the contract and request and receive from the seller sixty
per cent of the payments made under the contract which have been
paid up to the time of cancellation; except that, if a preneed
cemetery merchandise and services contract
stipulates a firm or fixed or guaranteed
price for the merchandise or services for future
use at a time determined by
the death of the person on behalf of whom payments are made, the
person who has entered into the contract may, if the
merchandise
has not been delivered or the services have not been performed as set
forth in division (K) or (L) of this
section, on not less than fifteen days' notice, cancel the
contract and receive from the seller sixty per cent of the
principal paid pursuant to the
contract and not
less than eighty per cent of any interest paid, up to the time of
cancellation, and not less than eighty per cent of any accrual or
income earned while the moneys have been held pursuant
to divisions (C) and (D) of this section, up to the time of
cancellation. Upon cancellation, after the moneys have been
distributed to the beneficiary pursuant to this division, all
remaining moneys being held pursuant to
divisions (C) and (D) of
this section shall be paid to the seller. If more than one
person enters into the contract, all of those persons must
request cancellation for it to be effective under this division.
In such a case, the seller shall refund to each person only those
moneys that each person has paid under the contract.
(H) Upon receipt of a certified copy of the certificate of
death or evidence of delivery of the merchandise or
performance of the services pursuant to
division (K) or (L) of this section, the trustee
described in division (C)(2) of this
section or its
agent, shall forthwith pay the fund and accumulated
interest, if
any, to the person entitled to them under the preneed
cemetery merchandise and services contract. The
payment of the fund and accumulated
interest pursuant to this section, either to a seller
or person
making the payments, shall relieve the trustee of
any further liability on the fund or accumulated interest.
(I) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any
preneed cemetery merchandise and services contract may specify
that it is irrevocable.
All irrevocable preneed cemetery merchandise and services contracts shall
include a clear and conspicuous disclosure of irrevocability in the contract
and any person entering into an irrevocable preneed cemetery merchandise and
services contract shall sign a separate acknowledgment of the person's waiver
of the right to revoke. If a contract satisfies the requirements of this
division, division (G) of this section does not
apply to that contract.
(J) Any preneed cemetery merchandise and services
contract that involves the
payment of money shall be in writing and in compliance with
the laws and rules of this state.
(K) For purposes of this section, the seller is
considered to
have delivered merchandise pursuant to a preneed
cemetery merchandise and services
contract when either of the following occur:
(1) The seller makes actual delivery of the merchandise
to the beneficiary, or the seller pays for the merchandise and
identifies
it as being stored for the benefit of the beneficiary at a manufacturer's
warehouse;.
(2) The seller receives delivery of the
merchandise on behalf
of the beneficiary, and all of the following occur:
(a) The merchandise is permanently
affixed to or stored upon the
real property of a cemetery located in this state.
(b) The seller notifies the beneficiary of receipt of the
merchandise and identifies the specific location of the
merchandise.
(c) The seller at the time of the beneficiary's final
payment provides the beneficiary with evidence of ownership in
the beneficiary's name showing the merchandise to
be free and
clear of any liens or other encumbrances.
(L) For purposes of this section, a seller is considered to
have performed services pursuant to a preneed cemetery
merchandise and services contract when the beneficiary's next of
kin signs a written statement that the services have been
performed or, if no next of kin of the beneficiary can be located through
reasonable diligence, when the owner or other person responsible for the
operation of the cemetery signs a statement of that nature.
(M) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,
any trust may be charged a trustee's fee, which is to be deducted
from the earned income or accruals on that trust. The fee shall
not exceed the amount that is regularly or usually charged for
similar services rendered by the trustee
described in division (C)(2) of this section when
serving as a trustee.
(N) The general assembly intends that this section be
construed as a limitation upon the manner in which a person is
permitted to accept moneys in prepayment for
merchandise and services to be
delivered or provided in the future, or
merchandise and services to be used or provided in
connection with the final disposition of human remains, to the
end that at all times members of the public may have an
opportunity to arrange and pay for merchandise and
services for themselves
and their families in advance of need while at the same time
providing all possible safeguards whereunder the prepaid moneys
cannot be dissipated, whether intentionally or not, so as to be
available for the payment for merchandise and
services and the providing of
merchandise and services used or provided
in connection with the final disposition of
dead human bodies.
(O) This section does not apply when TO the seller or
provider of merchandise or services under a
preneed cemetery merchandise and services contract
is IF THE CONTRACT PERTAINS TO A CEMETERY THAT IS OWNED AND OPERATED
ENTIRELY AND EXCLUSIVELY BY an established and legally cognizable church
or denomination
that is exempt from federal income taxation under section
501(c)(3) of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1954," 26 U.S.C.A.
501, and the preneed cemetery merchandise and
services contract pertains to a cemetery
that is owned and operated entirely and exclusively by the
church or denomination
AN ESTABLISHED FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION,
OR A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THE
STATE, TO A CEMETERY THAT IS A NATIONAL CEMETERY, OR TO A CEMETERY
THAT IS A FAMILY CEMETERY AS DEFINED IN SECTION 4767.02 OF THE
REVISED CODE; provided that the church or denomination
adopts, on a voluntary basis, rules and other measures ARE ADOPTED
to
safeguard and secure all moneys received under a preneed
cemetery merchandise and services contract.
(P) This section does not prohibit persons other than cemetery
corporations or associations from selling outer burial containers, monuments,
markers, urns, or other
types of merchandise customarily sold by cemeteries pursuant to a
preneed cemetery merchandise and services contract; however all
sellers of merchandise pursuant to a preneed cemetery merchandise
and services contract shall comply with this section unless the
seller is specifically exempt from this section.
(Q) Any contract for preneed services or merchandise entered into
with a cemetery not registered under section 4767.03 of
the Revised Code is voidable.
Sec. 3705.17. The body of a person whose death occurs in
Ohio THIS STATE shall not be interred, deposited in a vault or
tomb,
cremated, or otherwise disposed of by a funeral director until a
burial permit is issued by a local registrar or sub-registrar of
vital statistics. No such permit shall be issued by a local
registrar or sub-registrar until a satisfactory death, fetal
death, or provisional death certificate is filed with the local
registrar or sub-registrar. When
the medical certification as to the cause of death cannot be
provided by the attending physician or coroner prior to burial,
for sufficient cause, as determined by rule of the director of
health, the funeral director may file a provisional death
certificate with the local registrar or sub-registrar for the
purpose of securing a burial or burial-transit permit. When the
funeral director files a provisional death certificate to secure
a burial or burial-transit permit, such THE funeral director
shall
file a satisfactory and complete death certificate within five
days after the date of death. The director OF HEALTH, by rule, may
provide
additional time for filing a satisfactory death certificate. A
burial permit authorizing cremation shall not be issued upon the
filing of a provisional certificate of death.
When a funeral director or other person obtains a burial
permit from a local registrar or sub-registrar, the registrar or
sub-registrar shall charge a fee of two THREE dollars and
fifty cents
for the issuance of a THE burial permit. Two dollars AND
FIFTY CENTS of each fee
collected for a burial permit shall be paid into the state
treasury to the credit of the division of real estate in the
department of commerce to be used by the division of real estate
in discharging its duties prescribed in Chapter 4767. of the
Revised Code and the Ohio cemetery dispute resolution
commission created by section 4767.05 of the Revised Code. A LOCAL
REGISTRAR OR SUB-REGISTRAR SHALL TRANSMIT PAYMENTS OF THAT PORTION OF THE
AMOUNT OF EACH FEE COLLECTED UNDER THIS SECTION TO THE TREASURER OF STATE ON A
QUARTERLY BASIS OR MORE FREQUENTLY, IF POSSIBLE. The director of
health shall, by rule, SHALL provide for the
issuance of a burial permit
without the payment of the fee required by this section if the
total cost of the burial will be paid by an agency or
instrumentality of the United States, the state or a state
agency, or a political subdivision of the state.
The director of commerce may by rule adopted in accordance
with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code reduce the total amount of
the fee required by this section and that portion of the amount
of the fee required to be paid to the credit of the division of
real estate for the use of the division and the Ohio cemetery
dispute resolution commission, if the director determines
that the
total amount of funds the fee is generating at the amount
required by this section exceeds the amount of funds the division
of real estate and the commission need to carry out their
powers
and duties prescribed in Chapter 4767. of the Revised Code.
No person in charge of any premises in which interments or
cremations are made shall inter or cremate or otherwise dispose
of a body, unless it is accompanied by a burial permit. Each
person in charge of a cemetery, crematory, or other place of
disposal, shall indorse upon the A burial permit the date
of
interment, cremation, or other disposal and shall retain such
permits for a period of at least five years.
The person in charge shall keep an accurate record of all
interments, cremations, or other disposal of dead bodies, made in
the premises under the person's charge, stating the name of the
deceased
person, place of death, date of burial, cremation, or other
disposal, and name and address of the funeral director. Such
record shall at all times be open to public inspection.
Sec. 4767.01. As used in sections 4767.01 to 4767.08 of the Revised
Code:
(A) "Cemetery," "interment," "burial right," "entombment
right," and "columbarium
right" have the same meanings as in section 1721.21 of the Revised
Code.
(B) "Political subdivision" has the same meaning as in
section 3501.01 of the
Revised Code MEANS ONE OR MORE MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS, TOWNSHIPS, OR
OTHER BODIES CORPORATE AND POLITIC AUTHORIZED TO OPERATE AND MAINTAIN A
CEMETERY UNDER THE LAW OF THIS STATE.
(C) "Division of real
estate" may be used interchangeably with, and for all purposes
has the same meaning as, "division of real estate and
professional licensing."
(D) "Superintendent"
or "superintendent of the division of real estate" means the
superintendent of the division of real estate and professional
licensing of this state. Whenever the division or
superintendent of real estate is referred to or designated in
any statute, rule, contract, or other document, the reference or
designation shall be deemed to refer to the division or
superintendent of real estate and professional licensing, as the
case may be.
Sec. 4767.03. (A)(1) The owner or the person responsible
for the operation and maintenance of a cemetery shall apply to
the division of real estate in the department of commerce to
register the cemetery on forms prescribed by the division. With
the application, the applicant shall submit such THE
documentation as
required in division (A) of section 4767.04 of the Revised Code
and a registration fee of twenty-five dollars for one cemetery,
forty dollars for two cemeteries, and fifty dollars for three or
more cemeteries, EXCEPT THAT NO FEE SHALL BE REQUIRED OF ANY
POLITICAL SUBDIVISION.
(2) The director of commerce, by rule adopted in
accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, may reduce the
amount of the registration fee required by this section in any
year if the director determines that the total amount of
funds the fee is
generating at the amount specified by this section exceeds the
amount of funds the division of real estate and the Ohio cemetery
dispute resolution commission created by section
4767.05 of the
Revised Code need to carry out their powers and duties under this
chapter. If the director so reduces the amount of the
registration fee, the director shall reduce it for all owners
or other
persons required to pay the fee under division (A)(1) of this
section and shall require that the reduced fee be paid according
to the number of cemeteries owned, operated, or maintained as
required under that division. If the director has reduced the
fee under division (A)(2) of this section, the director may
later raise it
up to the amounts specified in division (A)(1) of this section
if, in any year, the director determines that the total
amount of funds the
fee is generating at the reduced amount is insufficient for the
division of real estate and the Ohio cemetery dispute resolution
commission to carry out their powers and duties under
this
chapter.
(B) Upon receipt of the completed application form,
documentation, and, IF REQUIRED, registration fee, the
division of real estate
shall issue a certificate of registration to the applicant. The
applicant shall display the certificate in a conspicuous place on
the premises of the cemetery for which the registration was
obtained, except that, if the applicant is the legislative
authority GOVERNING BODY of a political subdivision or person
acting on behalf
of that authority GOVERNING BODY, the certificate shall be kept
on file and
BE available for public inspection at the office of the legislative
authority GOVERNING BODY.
(C) Each EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN THIS DIVISION, EACH
registration issued pursuant to this section
shall expire annually on the thirtieth day of June and may be
renewed. The renewal fee shall be the same as the initial
registration fees prescribed in division (A) of this section.
THE REGISTRATION OF A CEMETERY OPERATED AND MAINTAINED BY A POLITICAL
SUBDIVISION SHALL NOT EXPIRE UNLESS THE POLITICAL SUBDIVISION CEASES TO
OPERATE AND MAINTAIN THE CEMETERY. A POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OPERATING AND
MAINTAINING A CEMETERY IS NOT REQUIRED TO RENEW OR UPDATE THE REGISTRATION OF
THAT CEMETERY UNLESS THERE IS A CHANGE IN THE INFORMATION REQUIRED UNDER
DIVISION (A) OF SECTION 4767.04 OF THE REVISED CODE
OR UNLESS ADDITIONAL LAND IS ACQUIRED TO INCREASE THE SIZE OF THE
CEMETERY.
(D) All registration and renewal fees collected pursuant
to this section shall be paid into the state treasury to the
credit of the division of real estate in the department of
commerce to be used by the division to carry out its powers and
duties under this chapter and by the Ohio cemetery dispute
resolution commission created by section 4767.05 of
the Revised
Code.
Sec. 4767.04. (A) To qualify a cemetery for a certificate
of registration, the applicant shall submit to the division of
real estate the following information:
(1) The name of the cemetery;
(2) The street address, city, village, or township, and
county where the cemetery is located, and the mailing address if
different from the street address;
(3) The name and address of the person who owns the
cemetery;
(4) The name and address of the person responsible for the
operation and maintenance of the cemetery;
(5) A copy of the most recent annual report of the
cemetery if required by the Ohio DIVISION OF real estate
commission pursuant
to section 1721.211 of the Revised Code OR IF REQUIRED BY THE OHIO
CEMETERY DISPUTE RESOLUTION COMMISSION. If the cemetery is
owned by a cemetery company or association, a copy of the annual
report for the previous year of all of the assets and investments
of the endowment care funds TRUST of the COMPANY OR
association as prepared
pursuant to section 1721.21 of the Revised Code shall be
submitted to the division.
(B) If any of the information required in division (A) of
this section changes at any time, the person responsible for the
operation and maintenance of the cemetery shall submit written
notification of the change to the division within thirty days of
the change occurring.
(C) IN ADDITION TO SATISFYING THE REQUIREMENTS SET FORTH IN
DIVISIONS (A) AND (B) OF THIS SECTION, IF A POLITICAL
SUBDIVISION INTENDS TO ACQUIRE ADDITIONAL LAND TO INCREASE THE SIZE OF AN
EXISTING CEMETERY THAT IT IS OPERATING AND MAINTAINING OR INTENDS TO OPEN A
NEW CEMETERY, ITS GOVERNING BODY SHALL NOTIFY THE
DIVISION AT LEAST THIRTY DAYS BEFORE THE ACQUISITION OR OPENING TO RENEW THE
REGISTRATION OF THE EXISTING CEMETERY OR TO REGISTER THE NEW CEMETERY.
Sec. 4767.08. (A) The OHIO cemetery dispute resolution
commission, on its own motion or as a result of a complaint
received pursuant to section 4767.07 of the Revised Code and with
good cause shown, shall investigate or cause to be investigated
alleged violations of sections 1721.19, 1721.20, 1721.21,
1721.211, 4735.02, 4735.22, and 4765.03 4767.03 of the Revised
Code. If
the commission or the superintendent of the division of real
estate in the department of commerce believes that a violation
has occurred, the commission or superintendent shall do all
of the following:
(1) Review the financial records of the cemetery to ensure compliance with
sections 1721.21 and 1721.211 of the Revised Code;
(2) Request the
prosecuting attorney of the county in which the alleged violation
occurred to initiate such proceedings as are appropriate.
(B) If, as a result of an investigation, the commission or
the superintendent believes that a person has violated Chapter
1345. of the Revised Code, the commission or superintendent shall
report the findings to the attorney general.
(C) The commission, at any time, may dismiss a complaint if
it determines there is not good cause shown for the complaint.
If the commission dismisses a complaint, it shall notify the
person who filed the complaint within twenty days of reaching its
decision and identify the reason why the complaint was dismissed.
(D) When necessary for the division of real estate in the
department of commerce to perform the duties required by sections
4767.07 and 4767.08 of the Revised Code, the superintendent of
the division, after consultation with at least a majority of the
members of the cemetery dispute resolution commission, may
issue subpoenas and compel the production of books, papers, records,
and other forms of evidence.
Section 2. That existing sections 1721.21, 1721.211, 3705.17, 4767.01,
4767.03, 4767.04, and 4767.08 of
the Revised Code are hereby
repealed.
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