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Cemetery Preservations Guidelines

Compiled by Ted Urquhart, ACPA 1st VP

Workshop Sponsored by
The Alabama Historical Commission
And
The Montgomery Genealogical Society, Inc.
This is my attempt to summarize the five hours of presentations, discussions and numerous handouts provided during the excellent Cemetery Preservation Workshop held in the Alabama Archives Auditorium in Montgomery on Nov. 9, 2002. This will be in outline format with the intent of providing the steps needed to preserve a historic burial ground as established by Alabama law and other "official" state guidelines, to include "the recommended way" as presented at the workshop.

Presenters included representatives of the Alabama Attorney General's Office, the Alabama Historical Commission (AHC), and the following civic organizations who gave "informed" but not "official" guidelines: the Montgomery Genealogical Society (MGS), the Alabama Preservation Association, and several others.

First, the definition of A Historic Burial Ground: at least one grave must be 75 years old or older.

The following points are extracts for Alabama law with discussion as required.
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Petition for appointment of commission to locate or enlarge, mark boundaries, etc., of burial places, graveyards or cemeteries.
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Three to five citizens should petition the judge of probate of any county in which any burial place, graveyard or cemetery is located, requesting him to appoint a commission to locate, mark the boundaries, plat and survey such burial place. Upon the filing of the petition, the judge appoints a commission of three to five people to carry out those duties. The judge notifies each member of the commission of his appointment and issues to him a commission directing him to perform the duties required of him. A lawyer is not required for this action.
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Commission - Establishment and marking of boundaries; preparation and filing of reports.
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 Within 60 days after their appointment, the commission shall meet at the proposed burial place, fix the boundaries and mark with posts, brick, stone or other durable material the graveyard to be established or enlarged and shall make their report in writing and file the same in the office of the judge of probate. Also, the commission shall also assess the damages suffered by any person by reason of the taking of his property or injury thereto in locating and marking boundaries for burying places, which shall be included in their reports to the probate judge and shall state the names of the owners of land so taken or injured. Also, upon the payment to the probate judge by the petitioners of the amount of damages assessed, together with the costs of the proceedings, the judge shall cause such proceedings to be recorded in the probate office in said county.
These are the preliminary steps to protect everyone involved legally. The commission is established, marks the boundaries of the cemetery and submits a report to the judge of probate. When the cemetery is on private property, a statement from the property owner providing his permission to have access to the cemetery should be submitted with the report. The probate office then records the cemetery in the county land records. The commission is not necessarily disbanded after the filing of this initial report but may be a relatively long-lived commission to oversee additional work that may be required to better define the boundaries as well as any required restoration and preservation efforts. The judge may or may not want additional reports submitted periodically.
I think it is best to now alert you to one provision of Alabama law:
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 Desecration, defacement, etc., of memorial of dead; invasion or mutilation of corpse.
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 Any person who willfully or maliciously injures, defaces, removes or destroys any tomb, monument, gravestone or other memorial of the dead, or any fence or any enclosure about any tomb, monument, gravestone or memorial, or who willfully and wrongfully destroys, removes, cuts, breaks or injures any tree, shrub, plant, flower, decoration, or other real or personal property within any cemetery or graveyard shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
•
 Any person who willfully or maliciously desecrates, injures, defaces, removes, or destroys any tomb, monument, structure, or container of human remains, and invades or mutilates the human corpse or remains shall be guilty of a Class C felony and upon conviction the person shall be punished as provided by law.
•
 Any person who maliciously desecrates an American Indian place of burial or funerary objects on property not owned by the person shall be guilty of a Class C felony and upon conviction the person shall be punished as provided by law.
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 The provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to any person holding a permit issued by the Alabama Historical Commission pursuant to subsection (d) of this section.
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 The Alabama Historical Commission, to provide for the lawful preservation, investigation, restoration, or relocation of human burial remains, human skeletal remains, or funerary objects, shall promulgate rules and regulations for the issuance of a permit and may issue a permit to persons or companies who seek to restore, preserve or relocate human burial remains, human skeletal remains, funerary objects, or otherwise disturb, a place of burial.
Once the commission has filed the report to the probate office and the cemetery has been recorded, then a different organization, a cemetery preservation association or similar organization, needs to obtain a permit from the Alabama Historical Commission (AHC). The initial step to take is to complete and submit a Historic Cemetery Association/Significance Survey Form to the AHC. This, as well as a series of cemetery survey forms to be used in documenting the cemetery, can be found under AHC's web page:
These forms may be printed from this page to fill out and mail in to the AHC.
These are the preliminary steps to protect everyone involved legally. The commission is established, marks the boundaries of the cemetery and submits a report to the judge of probate. When the cemetery is on private property, a statement from the property owner providing his permission to have access to the cemetery should be submitted with the report. The probate office then records the cemetery in the county land records. The commission is not necessarily disbanded after the filing of this initial report but may be a relatively long-lived commission to oversee additional work that may be required to better define the boundaries as well as any required restoration and preservation efforts. The judge may or may not want additional reports submitted periodically.


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