By: Hancock	S.B. No. 2053
	(In the Senate - Filed March 9, 2023; March 21, 2023, read
	first time and referred to Committee on Local Government;
	April 17, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 9,
	Nays 0; April 17, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the disposition of burial spaces and abandoned plots in
	certain cemeteries in the possession and control of a municipality.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 713.009, Health and Safety Code, is
	amended by amending Subsection (f) and adding Subsections (f-1) and
	(f-2) to read as follows:
	(f)  After taking the action described by Subsection (d), the
	municipality or corporation shall continue to maintain the cemetery
	so that it does not endanger the public health, safety, comfort, or
	welfare. Additional burial spaces may not be offered for sale,
	except as provided by Subsection (f-1).
	(f-1)  A municipality that has taken possession and control
	of a cemetery under this section for at least 25 years may sell
	additional burial spaces in the cemetery if, after a public
	hearing, the governing body of the municipality by official action
	finds that:
	(1)  the cemetery has been consistently maintained in
	accordance with Section 713.011; and
	(2)  the sale and use of additional burial spaces in the
	cemetery will not endanger the public health, safety, comfort, or
	welfare.
	(f-2)  A municipality shall provide written notice of a
	public hearing required under Subsection (f-1). The notice must:
	(1)  describe the municipality's proposed action;
	(2)  identify the cemetery that is the subject of the
	hearing by name and location;
	(3)  be published in a newspaper of general
	circulation:
	(A)  once a week for three consecutive weeks:
	(i)  in a county in which the cemetery is
	located; or
	(ii)  in the absence of a newspaper in that
	county, in the neighboring county nearest to the cemetery that has a
	newspaper of general circulation; and
	(B)  with a final date of publication that is not
	less than one week and not more than two weeks before the date of the
	hearing; and
	(4)  be mailed to the Texas Historical Commission not
	less than one week before the date of the hearing.
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter A, Chapter 713, Health and Safety
	Code, is amended by adding Sections 713.012 and 713.013 to read as
	follows:
	Sec. 713.012.  ABANDONED PLOTS IN CERTAIN CEMETERIES IN
	MUNICIPAL POSSESSION AND CONTROL. (a)  This section applies only to
	a cemetery for which the governing body of a municipality by
	official action issues the findings described by Section
	713.009(f-1).
	(b)  After notice provided in accordance with Subsection (c)
	and a public hearing, the governing body of a municipality may by
	official action declare a plot in a cemetery subject to this section
	as presumed abandoned if:
	(1)  the municipality does not have any record of
	ownership or sale of the plot;
	(2)  the plot has not been used for interment; and
	(3)  the plot is not within a family enclosure or area
	of plots of related persons.
	(c)  A municipality shall provide written notice of the
	public hearing required under Subsection (b) that satisfies the
	notice requirements described by Section 713.009(f-2).
	(d)  The municipality may combine the notice and hearing
	required under this section with the notice and hearing required
	under Sections 713.009(f-1) and (f-2).
	(e)  A municipality has the exclusive right of sepulture in
	an abandoned plot in a cemetery subject to this section and may
	convey that right in the plot.
	(f)  A person may rebut the presumption of abandonment by
	submitting to the municipality a deed, certificate of ownership,
	bill of sale, receipt, instrument of conveyance, or other evidence
	of ownership under which the person may claim the exclusive right of
	sepulture in the plot in accordance with Section 711.039.
	Sec. 713.013.  APPEAL OF FINDING OF ABANDONMENT. (a) Not
	later than the 10th day after the date the governing body of a
	municipality declares a plot abandoned under Section 713.012, a
	person aggrieved by the declaration or a taxpayer residing in the
	municipality may file with a district court, county court, or
	county court at law of the county in which the cemetery is located a
	verified petition that states the decision is wholly or partly
	illegal and the grounds of the illegality.
	(b)  On the filing of the petition, the court may grant a writ
	of certiorari directed to the governing body to review the
	governing body's decision. The writ must require the governing
	body's return to be made and served on the petitioner not later than
	the 10th day after the date the writ is issued, unless otherwise
	extended by the court. Granting of the writ does not stay the
	proceedings on appeal, but on application and after notice to the
	governing body, the court may grant a restraining order.
	(c)  The governing body's return must be verified and
	concisely state any pertinent facts that show the grounds of the
	decision under appeal. The governing body is not required to return
	the original documents on which the governing body acted but may
	return certified or sworn copies of the documents or parts of the
	documents as required by the writ.
	(d)  If a court determines at the hearing that testimony is
	necessary for proper disposition of the matter, the court may take
	evidence or appoint a referee to take evidence as directed. The
	referee shall report the evidence to the court with the referee's
	findings of fact and conclusions of law. The referee's report
	constitutes a part of the proceedings on which the court makes a
	decision.
	(e)  The court may wholly or partly reverse or affirm or
	modify the appealed decision. The court may not assess costs
	against the governing body unless the court determines that the
	governing body acted with gross negligence, bad faith, or malice in
	making the decision.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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