(a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(1) BOARD. The Cullman County Cemetery Board.
(2) CEMETERY. Any for profit cemetery in the county where property is used or intended to be used for the interment of human remains, including, but not limited to, any property containing a grave, lot, crypt, niche, or mausoleum and any gravestone, headstone, or other marker therein.
(3) MAINTENANCE. The act of maintaining a cemetery, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
a. The cutting and trimming of the lawn, shrubs, and trees.
b. Keeping in repair the drains, water lines, roads, buildings, fences, and other structures located in the cemetery.
c. The service and repair of machinery, tools, and equipment used for the maintenance of the cemetery.
(4) NEGLECTED CEMETERY. A cemetery that has become abandoned or neglected in any of the following ways:
a. Weeds, briars, bushes, or trees have become overgrown.
b. Fences have become broken, decayed, or dilapidated.
c. Graves, lots, crypts, niches, mausoleums, and markers and roads, buildings, or other structures in a cemetery which have become damaged, broken, dilapidated, or destroyed.
(b)(1) The Cullman County Cemetery Board is created.
(2) The board shall consist of five members.
(3) One member of the board shall be appointed by each member of the local legislative delegation, and the local legislative delegation, by majority vote, shall appoint an additional member, who shall serve as the chair of the board. The members shall serve at the pleasure of the local legislative delegation.
(4) The board shall meet quarterly and at such times as the board by a majority of its members agree.
(5) The board may adopt necessary rules or procedures to conduct its business.
(6) Members of the board shall serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred while conducting the business of the board, according to its rules or procedures.
(c)(1) The board shall be responsible for all of the following duties:
a. Negotiating the acquisition of any neglected for-profit cemetery in the county, including a cemetery owned by a private entity.
b. Supervising the clean up and maintenance of any neglected cemetery under its authority.
c. Coordinating with the sheriff to provide inmate labor to perform the maintenance of any neglected cemetery.
d. Purchasing equipment and other necessary materials to perform the functions of the board.
e. At its discretion, transferring the ownership of a cemetery under its authority to a nonprofit board.
f. Any other business necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.
(2) The board may only perform maintenance on a private cemetery if the board finds after a hearing that the condition of the cemetery is a public nuisance.
(d)(1)a. Subject to subdivision (2) of subsection (c), fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) shall be made available to the board from the county general fund when the board takes action by majority vote to acquire a for-profit neglected cemetery under this section. The funds shall come from the sales tax revenues deposited in the county general fund.
b. Fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) is the maximum amount available to the cemetery board under this section.
(2) The funds made available for the purposes of this section shall come only from the sales tax revenues collected in the fiscal year 2016 and thereafter that is greater than the sales tax revenues collected and deposited in the county general fund in the fiscal year 2015.
(e)(1) The county commission shall have no authority over the board, and the county commission shall have no responsibility over a cemetery in the county, as defined by this section.
(2) The county commission may appropriate funds to the cemetery board.
(f) Members of the board may not be subject to civil liability arising from the conduct of the affairs of the board except when the act or omission of the member of the board amounts to willful or wanton misconduct, fraud, or gross negligence.
Last modified: May 3, 2021