Article 3. Cemetery

§3-301 Falls City Code §3-311

Article 3. Cemetery

§3-301 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; OPERATION AND FUNDING.  The Municipality owns and manages the Municipal Cemetery through the Cemetery Board.  The Governing Body, for the purpose of defraying the cost of the care, management, maintenance, and beautification of the Cemetery may each year levy a tax not exceeding the maximum limit prescribed by State law, on the actual valuation of all real estate and personal property within the Municipality that is subject to taxation.  The revenue from the said tax shall be known as the Cemetery Fund and shall include all gifts, grants, deeds of conveyance, bequests, money, stocks, bonds, or other valuable income-producing personal property and real estate from any source for the purpose of endowing the Cemetery.  The Cemetery Fund shall at all times be in the custody of the Municipal Treasurer.  The Cemetery Board shall manage the Cemetery and warrants drawn by the Chairman of the Board and countersigned by the Secretary shall be honored by the Municipal Treasurer.  The Board shall have the power and authority to hire and supervise such employees as they may deem necessary and to pass such rules and regulations for the operation of the Cemetery as may be proper for its efficient operation.  All actions by the Board shall be under the supervision and control of the Governing Body.  (Ref.  12-301 through 12-403, 17-926 through 17-943 RS Neb.)  

§3-302 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; CONVEYANCE OF LOTS.  The Governing Body may convey cemetery lots by Certificate signed by the Mayor, and countersigned by the Municipal Clerk under the Municipal Seal specifying that the person to whom the same is issued is the owner of the lot described therein by number for the purpose of interment.  The said Certificate shall give a right in fee simple to the proprietor, his heirs, and assigns.  The Certificate shall then be recorded in the office of the County Clerk.  (Ref. 17-941 RS Neb.)

§3-303 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; LOT PRICES.  The purchase price of burial spaces shall be publicly exhibited in the office of the Cemetery Board on a map or plat therein.  The Secretary, in his annual report to the Governing Body shall include therein a list of the burial spaces sold during the preceding year, or since the date of his last report, legally describing them, together with the name of the purchaser and the price received for each lot or space. Future additions to the Cemetery shall likewise be platted. Without reference to annual maintenance assessments or endowments for perpetual care, all lots in Steele Cemetery shall be sold by the square foot at prices to be determined by the Cemetery Board.  The purchase price of all lots or burial spaces sold shall be paid to the Municipal Treasurer before a burial permit is issued.

§3-304 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; CONVEYANCE PROCEDURE.  The Treasurer as ex officio Treasurer of the Cemetery Board is hereby authorized to receive payment for all burial spaces sold at the purchase prices fixed by the Cemetery Board.  When said Municipal Treasurer shall have received the purchase price of any burial space, together with the mandatory recording fee, the Municipal Clerk shall issue the Burial Permit and shall prepare a deed for the purchaser.  If the lot is to be endowed with perpetual care the deed shall recite the fact together with the covenants on the part of the Municipality to be performed on account of said endowment.  At least once during each thirty (30) days, the Municipal Clerk shall present all deeds for burial spaces sold during the period to the Mayor for signature.  The Municipality is hereby authorized to convey burial spaces by deeds signed by the Mayor and countersigned by the Municipal Clerk under the seal of the Municipality, specifying that the person to whom the same is issued is the owner of the lot described therein by its number, on the cemetery map or plat, for the purpose of interment.  The deed shall vest in the purchaser or his or her heirs or assigns, a right in fee simple to such burial space for the sole purpose of interment.  The deed shall be entitled to be recorded in the office of the Register of Deeds of Richardson County, Nebraska, without further acknowledgment, and such description of the burial space shall be deemed and recognized as a sufficient description thereof.  Burial lots shall not be held and used for speculation and no lot proprietor shall permit interment in or upon any lot held by him for compensation.  The grantee of each burial space shall pay to the Municipal Treasurer, at the time of purchase a fee set by the Governing Body for the recording expenses of the deed.  Transfer of deeds shall be made by the surrender of the original deed to the Municipal Clerk who shall cancel the same, note such cancellation on the Cemetery Map and records, and shall issue a new deed in lieu thereof.         

§3-305 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; UNLAWFUL BURIAL.  No burial shall be permitted in a church yard or any other place within the limits of the Municipality except the Municipal Cemetery. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of an offense.

§3-306 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; BURIAL OF INDIGENTS.  Within the Municipal Cemetery there shall be included a plot of ground which shall be available for the free burial of indigents and unknown travelers who may die while they are within the Municipality.

§3-307 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; BURIAL PERMIT.  All persons desiring to bury a deceased person shall first be required to file a completed death certificate with the Registrar of the County before any body may be buried in the Municipal Cemetery.  If it is impossible to complete the certificate of death within the legal period of time prescribed by State law, the funeral director shall notify the Registrar and obtain his written approval before the deceased person may be buried in the Municipal Cemetery.  The burial permit so issued by the Registrar shall then be filed with the Municipal Clerk.  It shall be unlawful for the Sexton, or other person, to allow the interment of a body without first receiving such permit.  The burial permit shall then be countersigned and dated by the Sexton.  The interment of any body shall be performed under the direct supervision of a licensed funeral director.  The applicant shall also file with the burial permit an application containing the name, age, sex, race, and cause of death of the deceased person for the records of the Cemetery Board.  Upon completion of the requirements herein, the Municipal Clerk shall then issue a Municipal Burial Permit which shall entitle the applicant to bury a deceased person in the Municipal Cemetery.  In the event that the removal of the body of any deceased person is requested the Municipal Clerk shall issue no permit until the applicant shall have first complied with the laws of the State of Nebraska with respect to such disinterment.  (Ref.  71-605 RS Neb.)

§3-308 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; SEXTON.  The Cemetery Board, subject to the approval of the Governing Body, shall have the authority to appoint a Sexton who shall perform such duties and make such reports as the Cemetery Board shall direct.  It shall be the duty of the Sexton, upon receiving a burial permit to locate and direct the party named in the permit to the lot mentioned therein and to dig and excavate, or cause the same to be dug or excavated, in compliance with the rules and regulations of the Cemetery Board.  It shall be the duty of the Sexton to charge and collect for excavation and digging graves, the amount of the charges fixed by the Cemetery Board.  The Cemetery Board shall have the right to dig and excavate all graves regardless of the method of interment used.

It shall be unlawful for any person other than the Sexton or some person duly authorized by him to enter the Cemetery for the purpose of digging any grave whether said person receives pay for the digging or not.  The Sexton shall also have charge of all grading, planting, trimming, removal of trees and shrubbery and laying out streets, walks, avenues, and drives and keeping them in proper order.  The Sexton shall be responsible for the care of all personal property, carts, wagons, and other equipment used in and about the Cemetery and shall keep in repair all fences and gates.  The Sexton shall have charge of the opening of all graves and shall have the power to hire additional help when necessary.  The Sexton shall tender a monthly report to the Cemetery Board of all work done by him during the preceding month, together with such recommendations as to the improving of the Cemetery as he deems important.  No claim for labor or material used in or about the Cemetery shall be allowed by the Cemetery Board without the written approval of the Sexton indorsed thereon to the effect that said labor was performed and said materials were furnished.  Failure or neglect on the part of the Sexton to file the monthly report for the space of ten (10) days from the end of each and every month shall automatically work a vacancy in the office and the Cemetery Board shall forthwith fill such vacancy.        

§3-309 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; UNLAWFUL BURIALS.  It shall be unlawful for any person to hold a funeral on the first (1st) day of the week commonly called Sunday except when an emergency exists.  It shall be in the discretion of the Cemetery Board to determine when and if such an emergency exists and grant an exemption to the provisions of this section.

§3-310 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; GRAVE DEPTH.  Graves shall not be less than six feet (6') deep; Provided, nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the use of mausoleums or other recognized methods of interring deceased persons if such a burial procedure is approved by the Cemetery Board.

§3-311 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY.  Any person who shall willfully destroy, mutilate, deface, injure, or remove any tomb, monument, or gravestone placed in the Cemetery, or any fence, railing, or other work for the protection or ornamentation of the Cemetery, or who shall willfully destroy, cut, break, or injure any tree, shrub, or plant shall be deemed to be guilty of an offense.  (Ref.  28-512 RS Neb.)