Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:306 – Removal of dedication; procedure
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:306
- Board: means the Louisiana Cemetery Board. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:1
- Burial: means the placement of human remains in a grave. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:1
- Cemetery: means a place used or intended to be used for the interment of the human dead and, to the extent allowed in accordance with this Title, pet remains. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:1
- Cemetery authority: means any person, firm, corporation, limited liability company, trustee, partnership, association, or municipality owning, operating, controlling, or managing a cemetery or holding lands within this state for interment purposes. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:1
- Human remains: means the body of a deceased person and includes the body in any stage of decomposition, as well as cremated remains. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:1
- Interment: means the disposition of human remains by inurnment, scattering, entombment, or burial in a place used or intended to be used, and dedicated, for cemetery purposes. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 8:1
A. The following is the intent of the legislature:
(1) That the protection of unmarked human burial sites has been entrusted to the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, division of archaeology and the attorney general.
(2) Notice of a judicial proceeding shall be given to the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, division of archaeology and the attorney general in an action to cause the cemetery‘s dedication protection to be removed.
B. Property dedicated to cemetery purposes shall be held and used exclusively for cemetery purposes until the dedication is removed from all or any part of it by judgment of the district court of the parish in which the property is situated in a proceeding brought by the cemetery authority for that purpose and upon notice of hearing to the board, and by publication as provided in La. Rev. Stat. 8:307, and proof satisfactory to the court:
(1) That no interments were made in or that all interments have been removed from that portion of the property from which dedication is sought to be removed.
(2) That the portion of the property from which dedication is sought to be removed is not being used for interment of human remains.
C. When a petition is filed in court pursuant to Subsection B of this Section, a copy of the petition shall be served upon the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, division of archaeology and the attorney general.
D.(1) The board or Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, division of archaeology shall have the right to intervene in any action filed pursuant to Subsection B of this Section.
(2) The attorney general may represent the board or the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, division of archaeology in any action filed pursuant to Subsection B of this Section.
Acts 1974, No. 417, §1; Acts 2010, No. 79, §1; Acts 2022, No. 574, §1.