Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:680 – A. Any person who has reason to believe he has discovered an unmarked burial site or received human skeletal remains from an unmarked burial site shall notify the law enforcement age
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:680
- Burial: means the placement of human remains in a grave. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:1
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Disposition: means the interment, burial, cremation, or anatomical donation of the body of a deceased person or parts of the body of a deceased person. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:1
- Disturb: includes excavating, removing, exposing, defacing, mutilating, destroying, molesting, or desecrating in any way any unmarked burial sites or any human skeletal remains, burial artifacts, or burial markers on or in an unmarked burial site without a permit. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:673
- Human skeletal remains: means any part of the body of a deceased human being in any stage of decomposition. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:673
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: means an individual, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, association, trust, or any other legal entity. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:1
- Secretary: means the secretary of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism or the person designated by the secretary to administer the provisions of this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:673
- Unmarked burial site: means the immediate area where one or more human skeletal remains are found in the ground that is not in a recognized and maintained municipal, fraternal, religious, or family cemetery, or a cemetery authorized by the Louisiana Cemetery Board. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:673
A. Any person who has reason to believe he has discovered an unmarked burial site or received human skeletal remains from an unmarked burial site shall notify the law enforcement agency of the jurisdiction where the site or remains are located within twenty-four hours of discovery. Any person who has reason to believe he has discovered or received burial artifacts shall notify the secretary through the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, division of archaeology, within seventy-two hours of the discovery. Failure to give notice as required is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars.
B. Any activity that may disturb the unmarked burial site, human skeletal remains, or burial artifacts associated with the site shall immediately cease on discovery. No activity which will disturb the unmarked burial site shall resume until the secretary has issued a permit governing the disposition of the unmarked burial site, the human skeletal remains, or the burial artifacts. In no event shall the secretary take longer than thirty days to decide on issuance of a permit without the written agreement of all parties.
C. Each law enforcement agency that receives notice of an unmarked burial site or human skeletal remains shall immediately notify the coroner of the parish where the site or remains are found. The law enforcement agency shall also notify the secretary through the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, division of archaeology, within two business days of any discovery unless circumstances indicate that the death or burial is less than fifty years old or that there is need for a criminal investigation or legal inquiry by the coroner.
D. If the coroner finds that the unmarked burial site is over fifty years old and that there is no need for a legal inquiry by his office or for a criminal investigation, the secretary shall have jurisdiction of the site, human skeletal remains, and the burial artifacts.
Acts 1991, No. 704, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1992; Acts 2009, No. 438, §6A; Acts 2022, No. 574, §1.