CHAPTER 368j

CEMETERIES

Table of Contents

Sec. 19a-311. (Formerly Sec. 19-162). Inspection. Burial prohibited until certificate obtained.

Sec. 19a-312. (Formerly Sec. 19-163). Mausoleums and columbariums. Maintenance. Court order re removal of body for interment. Public nuisance.


Sec. 19a-311. (Formerly Sec. 19-162). Inspection. Burial prohibited until certificate obtained. Such structure shall be erected under the supervision of an inspector to be appointed by the Department of Public Health, which shall determine the amount of his compensation, such compensation to be paid by the person erecting the same. No vault, crypt, niche, mausoleum, columbarium or structure, and no addition or alteration thereof, shall be used for the purpose of interring therein any body until the person, firm or corporation operating such structure has obtained from said department a certificate, signed by the Commissioner of Public Health, certifying that the plans and specifications filed pursuant to the provisions of section 19a-310 have been complied with, and that the requirements for a maintenance fund provided for in subsection (a) of section 19a-312 have been complied with, which certificate shall be filed in the office of the town clerk of the town wherein the community mausoleum is located, provided a columbarium which is used solely as a repository for the remains, after cremation of deceased persons and is located on the premises of any religious society or corporation shall not be subject to the provisions of this section.

(1949 Rev., S. 4707; 1971, P.A. 34, S. 2; P.A. 77-614, S. 323, 610; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 96-180, S. 59, 166; P.A. 19-57, S. 3.)

History: 1971 act excluded columbarium used solely for cremated remains and located on premises of religious society or corporation from provisions of section; P.A. 77-614 replaced department and commissioner of health with department and commissioner of health services, effective January 1, 1979; Sec. 19-162 transferred to Sec. 19a-311 in 1983; P.A. 93-381 replaced commissioner of health services with commissioner of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 96-180 made a technical change, effective June 3, 1996; P.A. 19-57 replaced reference to Sec. 19a-312(b) with reference to Sec. 19a-312(a).

Sec. 19a-312. (Formerly Sec. 19-163). Mausoleums and columbariums. Maintenance. Court order re removal of body for interment. Public nuisance. (a) There shall be established and maintained a fund for the perpetual care and maintenance of each mausoleum and columbarium, by applying in the case of a mausoleum not less than the sum of one hundred dollars from the proceeds received from the sale of each crypt and ten per cent of the proceeds received from the sale of each room; and in case of niches in a mausoleum or columbarium, used as a repository for the remains of deceased persons after cremation, a sum which shall be equivalent to ten per cent of the sale price of each niche. If sales of crypts or rooms in any such mausoleum, or sales of niches in any such mausoleum or columbarium, are made upon a partial payment plan, there shall be set apart and applied to said maintenance fund from each such payment such proportion thereof as the number of partial payments bears to the total amount of the sum required to be set aside for such fund.

(b) When any mausoleum, vault, crypt or structure containing one or more deceased human bodies, in the opinion of the Department of Public Health, becomes a menace to public health, and the owner or owners thereof fail to remedy or remove the same to the satisfaction of said department, any court of competent jurisdiction may order the person, firm or corporation owning such structure to remove the deceased body or bodies for interment in some suitable cemetery at the expense of the person, firm or corporation owning such mausoleum, vault or crypt. If no such person, firm or corporation can be found in the county where such mausoleum, vault or crypt is located, such removal and interment shall be at the expense of the cemetery, city or town within which such mausoleum, vault or crypt is located, or of the cemetery association in charge of any such cemetery.

(c) Any cemetery or mausoleum maintained or constructed contrary to the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a public nuisance and may be enjoined in an action brought by any taxpayer of this state.

(1949 Rev., S. 4708; P.A. 77-614, S. 323, 610; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 19-57, S. 2.)

History: P.A. 77-614 replaced department of health with department of health services, effective January 1, 1979; Sec. 19-163 transferred to Sec. 19a-312 in 1983; P.A. 93-381 replaced department of health services with department of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 19-57 deleted former Subsec. (a) re sale of crypt, room in mausoleum or niche in columbarium, redesignated existing Subsecs. (b) to (d) as Subsecs. (a) to (c) and made a technical change, effective July 1, 2019.