Time is Running Out to Express Your Cemetery Concerns to the Ohio Cemetery Law Task Force -- Next Meeting Open to the Public is Scheduled for Friday, September 19, 2014

The Ohio Cemetery Task Force has been meeting monthly in Columbus since January, 2014.   

Their report and recommendations are due to the Governor, Speaker of the House, and President of the Senate by September 29, 2014.

Speaking for myself, I am particularly troubled by one of the paragraphs that is in the July 25, 2014 meeting minutes that appears under Section III. "New Business" :

"Mr. Russell then expressed his belief that all cemeteries need to be protected including the tombstones that are artifacts about the people. Tombstones can be interpreted to show the economic status of the family by the type and size of stone used; if there was a stonecutter in the community; where the stone came from tells us about the trade between people; and decorations
and epitaphs which reveal to us much about the community itself. While these cemeteries do not
need to be maintained the same as registered cemeteries they do need some protection. The task
force members agreed with Mr. Russell’s statements and concluded that the statements should be
added as part of the justification under criminal sanctions."

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I agree that ALL cemeteries need to be protected, however, unfortunately in the State of Ohio the filing of a Cemetery Complaint to the Ohio Dispute Resolution Commission can only be made on behalf of registered cemeteries -- those with burials within the past 25 years and those that are not considered to be  'family cemeteries.' 

Cemeteries that do not meet the above-stated requirements are not eligible to be registered. Thus as non-registered cemeteries they are deemed to be ineligible to be included in the process of filing formal complaints against those who are responsible for them.  This includes for reasons such as lack of routine maintenance or any other issues negatively impacting them.  

This discrimination means relegating literally thousands of Ohio's oldest and most vulnerable cemeteries to be classified as inactive cemeteries and not eligible for the same protections as active cemeteries.     

 Active = Registered        Inactive = Non-Registered

"While these cemeteries do not need to be maintained the same as registered cemeteries they do need some protection." 

The one sentence directly above above fails to explain any reasons why the members of the Ohio Cemetery Law Task Force conclude "these cemeteries do not need to be maintained the same as registered cemeteries...." And "need some protection" -- why would they need any less protection than registered cemeteries??  Descendants and family researchers do visit inactive and abandoned cemeteries, and gravestone conservation workshops have been held in them to cite two reasons for maintaining  them.    

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 Ohio Revised Code - "Lawriter" & Registered Cemetery Information

From Lawriter for Ohio Revised Code for Cemeteries

 

Dennis Ginty; May 7, 2013: 

"The Division does not register cemeteries that are family cemeteries and it doesn’t register cemeteries that have not had an interments during that last 25 years.  A Family cemetery is defined as “a cemetery that contains the human remains of persons, at least three-fourths of whom have a common ancestor or who are the spouse or adopted child of that common ancestor.” 
 

"Yes, you are correct that the minimum maintenance guidelines apply to registered cemeteries (Ohio Revised Code Section 4767.06 (H)).  The Cemetery Dispute Resolution Commission does not have the authority to create minimum maintenance guidelines for non-registered cemeteries." 

"Ohio Revised Code Section 4767.07 states a person may file a complaint against any person operating or maintaining a cemetery registered pursuant to section 4767.03.  The Division does not have jurisdiction to take complaints against unregistered cemeteries.  We are not aware of any other complaint process." 

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The next Ohio Cemetery Law Task Force Meeting is open to the public and scheduled for:

Friday, September 19^th at 10:00 a.m.

77 South High Street, 22^nd Floor, Columbus, OH 43215

If you are not able to attend this meeting in person, please consider contacting:

Ohio Cemetery Task Force Co-Chairperson:

Anne.Petit@com.state.oh.us 

Anne M. Petit
Superintendent

Ohio Department of Commerce

Division of Real Estate & Professional Licensing
Direct dial: 614-466-3411
Fax number: 614-644-0584
Office number: 614-466-4100

 

Or

Per the August 20, 2014 meeting minutes, Mr. Patrick Paccininni, general counsel for ODOT, will be the designated chair person at the September 19, 2014 meeting.  

Patrick Paccininni

Phone #: 614-446-7200

patrick.paccininni@dot.state.oh.us

Sharing a New Blog: "Gehio" -- "Geocaching+History+Ohio = A Tour Of Ohio Valley History"

"Gehio" -- "Geocaching+History+Ohio = A Tour Of Ohio Valley History"  is a new blog featured here under the category of "Miscellaneous Blogs of  Interest" in the right-hand column of links.  

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Thanking "Gehio" for including a new blog post about "Exploring Almost Forgotten Gravesites in Ohio" and a link to this blog in the nice listing of links.

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Below is a sampling of the cemetery-related blog posts to date for you to explore from "Gehio":

"This Blog"

Gehio: Segregated Soldiers in Hillcrest Cemetery

Feb 08, 2012

Geocaching sometimes takes me to interesting and forgotten places that pique my curiosity after scratching the surface a bit. Hillcrest Cemetery, a Cincinnati OH cemetery on Sutton Road in Anderson Township is one of those ...

http://gehio.blogspot.com/

Gehio: Brown's body & the 1st Purple Heart

Sep 15, 2011

His body was thought to be about 1000 ft away next to some old railroad tracks in what was the once weed filled and trash strewn forgotten Fulton Cemetery with no legible tombstones. I actually tried to locate Fulton once to ...

http://gehio.blogspot.com/

Gehio: Geocaching+History+Ohio = Gehio

Dec 19, 2013

Cemetery geocaches are some of my favorite hides, especially historical cemeteries. In November 2013 I saw a string of old cemeteries that had no geocaches so I changed that. Brethren Historic Cemetery This cemetery has ...

http://gehio.blogspot.co.uk/

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"Cemetery geocaches are some of my favorite hides, especially historical cemeteries. In November 2013 I saw a string of old cemeteries that had no geocaches so I changed that."

Brethren Historic Cemetery 
This cemetery has a section with headstones moved from another cemetery but they left the bodies behind.

Willsey Historic Cemetery
One of the many Colerain Township historical cemeteries.

Asbury Historic Cemetery and Chapel
I wasn't able to find much information about this old cemetery and chapel other than it dates back to 1836, the original chapel was destroyed in a storm and was rebuilt in 1868.

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While browsing through the blog posts found on  "Gehio" you'll discover a nice variety of Ohio-themed topics that make for fascinating historical reading; and along the way learn more about the fun connections you can find from  Geocaching.   

Ohio Cemetery Law Task Force Meeting Minutes - August 20, 2014 - Draft

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE OHIO CEMETERY LAW TASK FORCE
77 S. High Street, 22nd Floor Hearing Room 
August 20, 2014
Columbus, OH 43215-6133 10:00 a.m.
___________________________________________________

I.  Preliminary Matters

Co-chair Noonan called the meeting to order.
Roll Call: Laura Monick conducted roll call.

Present: Stephen George, Hon. Keith G. Houts, Hon. Cory Noonan, Anne M. Petit, Patrick Piccininni, Jay Russell, David Snyder, James Turner, James Wright.
Excused: Daniel Applegate, Dr. John N. Low

Review of Meeting Minutes: Co-chair Noonan opened the floor for discussion of the minutes of the July 25, 2014 meeting of the Ohio Cemetery Law Task Force. There being no discussion Mr. Turner moved to approve the minutes of the July 25th meeting. Mr. Piccininni seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

II. Old Business

Co-chair Noonan opened the floor for discussion of old business.

Co-chair Petit introduced a letter from Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Administrator Steve Buehrer as addressed to Timothy C. Long, Ohio Cemetery Association Legislative Agent and Attorney, relating to the scope rating of cemetery salespeople. The task force discussed the complexity of the issue and that they were encouraged by the information that there is now an open dialogue concerning the issue. Mr. Russell then moved that the task force should note in the final report that this is an area of concern for cemeteries due to the impact of scope ratings on operating expenses. Mr. Turner seconded the motion. 

The motion passed unanimously.

The discussion was then turned over to Mr. Turner to explain the process being followed by the sub-committee at their August 8th meeting. The sub-committee also met prior to this meeting to begin editing the initial draft as sent to the task force members. The task force then discussed the structural outline for the final report, the appropriate sections for topics that will be laid out in the final report and where more detail was needed.

The task force then moved on to the natural burial definition. The task force previously agreed to a definition and was left with discussing the proper location for the definition in the Revised Code. For consistency, the task force agreed that the definition should be placed in Ohio Revised Code section 1721.21 with the other cemetery definitions. This also requires a revision to Ohio Revised Code section 4767.01(A) to add the term “natural burial.”

Finally, the task force touched on the topic of tax advantaged easements and set aside programs. Research conducted by Mr. Russell found that Indiana has a process to lower the tax valuation for a cemetery on private property to $1/acre but that the process included the need for a professional survey and that this was often cost prohibitive to the landowner. Co-chair Petit found information that Michigan repealed their law but there was no documented reasoning behind the repeal. Finally, Co-chair Petit introduced information from Washington State concerning their law permitting non-profit preservation and maintenance corporations. 

The task force concluded that their recommendation should include information concerning the
availability of numerous options that could help address the topic of historic cemeteries on
private property.

III. New Business

Co-chair Noonan brought the task force into new business and discussion began on the limited
time left for the task force to complete their final report. A final review was made of the report
draft provided to the task force members; including whether there were any topics discussed by
the task force but not included in the current draft.

The task force then deliberated on the distribution of the final report upon completion. Mr.
George moved that a hard copy of the report be provided to the Governor, the Speaker of the
House and the President of the Senate with an electronic version of the report being sent to the
rest of the General Assembly. Mr. Turner seconded the motion. The motion passed
unanimously.

Upon discussion of the next meeting date the task force agreed to meet on September 19th at
10:00am. However, both co-chairs were unavailable on that day. Mr. Piccininni moved to
designate a chair pro-tempore for the September 19th meeting. Mr. Turner seconded the motion.
The motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Turner nominated Mr. Piccininni as chair pro-tempore for the September 19th task force
meeting. Co-chair Petit seconded the motion. Mr. Piccininni accepted the nomination. The
motion passed unanimously.

The sub-committee asked that any ideas or corrections to the draft report be submitted by the
task force members by September 1st and that anything submitted be related to discussions
already held in order to help keep the drafting process moving in a timely manner. After those
revisions, the target for a final draft being sent to the task force members is September 12th.

Next Meeting Dates:
September 19th at 10:00 am

IV. Adjournment

Mr. Turner moved to adjourn. Mr. Russell seconded the motion. The motion passed
unanimously.