(a) Any person who willfully or maliciously injures, defaces, removes, or destroys any tomb, monument, gravestone, burial mound, earthen or shell monument containing human skeletal remains or associated burial artifacts, or other structure or thing placed or designed for a memorial of the dead, or any fence, railing, curb, or any enclosure for the protection or ornamentation of any tomb, monument, gravestone, burial mound, earthen or shell monument containing human skeletal remains or associated burial artifacts, or other structure before mentioned, or for any enclosure for the burial of the dead, or any person who willfully and wrongfully or maliciously 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.

Attorney's Note

Under the Alabama Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
Class C felony1 to 10 yearsup to $15,000
Class A misdemeanorup to 1 yearup to $6,000
For details, see Ala. Code § 13A-5-6 and Ala. Code § 13A-5-7
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Terms Used In Alabama Code 13A-7-23.1

  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • property: includes both real and personal property. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
(b) Any person who willfully or maliciously desecrates, injures, defaces, removes, or destroys any tomb, monument, structure, or container of human remains, burial mound, earthen or shell monument containing human skeletal remains or associated burial artifacts, 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.
(c) The provisions of subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply to any person holding a permit issued by the Alabama Historical Commission pursuant to subsection (d), to anyone operating a cemetery under standard rules and regulations and maintenance procedures, or to any person otherwise authorized by law to remove or disturb a tomb, monument, grave marker, burial mound, earthen or shell monument, or similar structure, or its contents, as described in subsections (a) and (b), nor shall subsections (a) and (b) apply to any person authorized to take any action on municipal property.
(d) 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.
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