Not yet, but it will. The Cemetery Oversight Act consolidated the Cemetery Care Act and the Cemetery Association Act and gave regulatory authority to the Department. The Act will fully replace those two laws when the Cemetery Care Act and Cemetery Association Act are repealed, which will occur on March 1, 2012. Currently, the Cemetery Care Act and Cemetery Association Act are still in effect and are enforced by the Comptroller.

No, a cemetery is fully exempt from the Cemetery Oversight Act and need not comply with its requirements if it is a family burial ground; if it has not engaged in an interment, inurnment, or entombment of human remains within the last 10 years and does not accept or maintain care funds; or if the cemetery is less than 2 acres and does not accept or maintain care funds. “Care funds” are funds paid by consumers and held in trust by the cemetery to fund the care of the cemetery.

A cemetery is partially exempt and thus is subject to a number of provisions of the Cemetery Oversight Act if the cemetery authority engages in 25 or fewer interments, inurnments, or entombments of human remains for each of the preceding 2 calendar years and does not accept or maintain care funds; if it operates as a public cemetery; or if it operates as a religious cemetery. Partially exempt cemeteries must 1) provide reasonable maintenance at the cemetery, 2) keep a map of the cemetery, which will be open to public inspection, 3) maintain an index that associates the identity of deceased persons interred, entombed, or inurned after the effective date of this Act with their respective final resting place, 4) maintain a record of the deceased's name, age, date of burial, and parcel identification number identifying where the human remains are interred, entombed, or inurned, 5) make entries into the Cemetery Oversight Database once it is operational, 6) use reasonable best efforts to control traffic at the cemetery so as not to block streets outside the cemetery, 7) create a written contract signed by a cemetery representative and the consumer for all purchases that must conspicuously disclose information such as the location of the internment, inurnment, or entombment right, 8) not restrict payment to cash only and provide a receipt for full or partial payment, 9) conspicuously post the sign provided by the Department in all cemetery offices, 10) abide by the Department’s investigation and mediation procedures if the cemetery cannot successfully resolve a complaint, 11) abide by the whistleblower protection provision, and 12) abide by the consumer bill of rights, which requires, among other things, a standardized price list be provided to consumers and allows consumers to purchase merchandise or services through a third-party vendor of the consumer's choice without incurring a penalty or additional charge by the cemetery.

A cemetery that does not fall under any category above will be required to obtain a license with the Department after applications become available. All cemeteries currently licensed by the Comptroller will be required to obtain a license under the Cemetery Oversight Act.

Yes, unless they qualify for a full exemption or a partial exemption as explained above.

Many sections of the Act require action by the Department or the adoption of rules before they take effect.  However, a number of sections create obligations beginning on March 1 for many of Illinois’ cemeteries.  These obligations include:

• Reasonable maintenance and care of the cemetery.
• Maintaining a record of interments, inurnments, and entombments and an index that associates the identity of deceased persons interred, entombed, or inurned with their respective place of interment, entombment, or inurnment.
• Using reasonable best efforts to ensure that funeral processions entering and exiting the cemetery grounds do not obstruct traffic on any street outside the cemetery for excessive periods of time and that multiple funeral processions do not arrive at the cemetery simultaneously.
• Creating a written contract for all purchases made after the effective date of the Act that incorporates clear disclosures, prices, all goods and services purchased, the precise location of an interment, inurnment, or entombment right, and whether the right is limited to a term of years.
• Giving consumers receipts for full or partial payment and excepting at least one other form of payment than just cash.
• Making available a standardized price list disclosing prices for all cemetery-related products.
• Providing access to the cemetery under the cemetery’s reasonable rules and regulations.
• Allowing consumers to purchase merchandise or services from a third‑party vendor of the consumer's choice without incurring a penalty or additional charge by the cemetery; provided, however, that consumers do not have the right to purchase types of merchandise that would violate applicable law or the cemetery’s rules and regulations.
• For a cemetery that has the legal right to extend a term burial, providing the family or other authorized agent under the Disposition of Remains Act the opportunity to extend the term of a term burial prior to disinterment for the cost as stated on the cemetery’s current price list. Regardless of whether the family or other authorized agent chooses to extend the term burial, the cemetery shall, prior to disinterment, provide notice to the family or other authorized agent under the Disposition of Remains Act of the cemetery authority's intention to disinter the remains and to inter different human remains in that space
• Conspicuously posting the required sign in the cemetery office.

No.  A cemetery is fully exempt from the Cemetery Oversight Act if it is a family burial ground; if it has not engaged in an interment, inurnment, or entombment of human remains within the last 10 years and does not accept or maintain care funds; or if the cemetery is less than 2 acres and does not accept or maintain care funds.

The sign can be downloaded here.  The Department intends to propose a rule requiring the sign to be posted in color, so the Department recommends that you post a color copy of the sign.

Applications are not yet available. After the rules are complete, the Department will be able to create applications. The rule-making process has several steps, which affords the Cemetery Oversight Board, the public, and a legislative committee the opportunity to provide input.

Most likely. The Department is currently in the process of drafting rules that will set the fee amounts for application, renewal, annual audits, mediation, and the other fees mentioned in the Act. All rules under the Department give licensees the ability to request a variance or fee reduction, which licensees could use to decrease or avoid paying a fee that would be unduly burdensome.

Possibly.  Fully licensed cemetery authorities and those maintaining a partial exemption must maintain a map of their cemetery property, delineating all lots or plots, blocks, sections, avenues, walks, alleys, and paths and their respective designations. The Department may order a cemetery authority to obtain a cemetery plat, which would have to be prepared by a licensed land surveyor, in the following circumstances: (1) the cemetery authority is expanding or altering the cemetery grounds or (2) a human body that should have been interred, entombed, or inurned at the cemetery is missing, displaced, or dismembered and the cemetery map contains serious discrepancies. When deciding whether to order a new plat, the Department will consider whether the cemetery authority would experience an undue hardship as a result of obtaining the plat.

Consumers have many rights both from the Consumer Bill of Rights and other sections of the Act. Consumers can click here for an informational brochure on their rights when making cemetery and other final disposition purchases in Illinois.

If a cemetery is licensed by the Comptroller, then the complaint should go to the Comptroller at 1-877-203-3401. A complaint against a cemetery that is not licensed by the Comptroller can be made with the Department by calling the consumer hotline, which is 1-888-RLOVED1 (1-888-756-8331).