Illinois Compiled Statutes
Chapter 820 - EMPLOYMENT
820 ILCS 135/ - Burial Rights Act.

(820 ILCS 135/0.01) (from Ch. 21, par. 100)
Sec. 0.01.
Short title.
This Act may be cited as the
Burial Rights Act.

(Source: P.A. 86-1324; 87-1174.)
 
(820 ILCS 135/1) (from Ch. 21, par. 101)
Sec. 1.
(a) Every contract, agreement or understanding between a cemetery
authority and a cemetery workers' association which totally prohibits burials
of human remains on Sundays or legal holidays shall be deemed to be void
as against public policy and wholly unenforceable.
(b) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit a cemetery authority and a
cemetery workers' association from entering into a contract, agreement or
understanding which limits Sunday or holiday burials of human remains to
decedents who were members of religious sects whose tenets or beliefs require
burials within a specified period of time and whose deaths occurred at such
times as to necessitate Sunday or holiday burials. Such contract, agreement
or understanding may provide that a funeral director notify the cemetery
authority within a reasonable time when a Sunday or holiday burial is necessitated
by reason of the decedent's religious tenets or beliefs.
(c) It shall be unlawful for any person to restrain, prohibit or interfere
with the burial of a decedent whose time of death and religious tenets or
beliefs necessitate burial on a Sunday or legal holiday.
(d) A violation of this Section is a Class A misdemeanor.
(e) For the purposes of this Act, "cemetery authority" shall have the meaning
ascribed to it in Section 2 of the Cemetery Care Act or the Cemetery Oversight Act, whichever is applicable; and "cemetery workers'
association" means an organization of workers who are employed by cemetery
authorities to perform the task of burying human remains or transporting
remains to cemeteries or other places of interment, and who join together
for collective bargaining purposes or to negotiate terms and conditions of employment.

(Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10.)
 
(820 ILCS 135/2) (from Ch. 21, par. 102)
Sec. 2.

Any person aggrieved by any conduct of a cemetery authority or
cemetery workers' association which is prohibited by Section 1 may maintain
an action in the circuit court of the county in which the violation occurred
to enjoin any conduct in violation of that Section. The circuit court may
enter an expedited order or temporary restraining order without notice and
hearing to protect the rights of persons aggrieved by such conduct in violation
of Section 1 of this Act.

(Source: P.A. 83-384.)
 
(820 ILCS 135/2.1) (from Ch. 21, par. 102.1)
Sec. 2.1.
Access to Interment Rights.
(a) If the owner of an interment
right in a cemetery or his or her legatees, executor or administrator
desires to use that interment right for interment purposes, necessitated by
the decedent's membership in a religious sect whose tenets and beliefs
require burial within a specified period of time, and a labor dispute has
resulted in a disruption of normal interment services at that cemetery, the
owner of the interment right or his or her heirs and legatees, executor or
administrator may arrange for the performance of the interment by
notifying the cemetery authority and designating individuals to perform the
interment; provided that such interment and all related work necessary to
perform the interment is performed at the direction and under the
supervision of the cemetery authority's management personnel and from a
pool of workers established pursuant to an agreement between the cemetery
authority and the appropriate labor union.
An agreement establishing such pool of workers to provide for the
religiously required interments as set forth in this Section shall be
negotiated and entered into within 120 days of the effective date of this
amendatory Act of 1992.
(b) In the event of a violation of this Section, a court shall enter an
injunction granting appropriate relief, including, in the case of a willful
violation, an award of attorney's fees and the imposition of a fine not to
exceed $1,000 for each interment which is found to have been delayed in
violation of this Section.
The failure of a cemetery authority or a labor union to negotiate in good
faith to establish a pool of workers as provided in subsection (a)
constitutes a willful violation of this Section for purposes of this
subsection (b), but only if the failure to negotiate in good faith results
in the delay of a religiously required interment in violation of this Section.
(c) The circuit court shall give priority to a proceeding brought pursuant
to
this Section over other civil matters.

(Source: P.A. 87-1174.)
 
(820 ILCS 135/2.2) (from Ch. 21, par. 102.2)
Sec. 2.2.
Application of this Act.
The sanctions and court proceedings
under Section 2.1 of this Act are intended, as a matter of public policy,
to apply only to burials required in a timely manner consistent with
religious tenets and beliefs, and not to the labor dispute that would
continue on beyond the
limited scope of religiously required burials.

(Source: P.A. 87-1174.)
 
(820 ILCS 135/2.3)
Sec. 2.3. Sections of cemeteries. No provision of any law of this State
may
be construed to prohibit a cemetery authority from reserving, in a cemetery not
owned by a religious organization or
institution, a section of interment rights, entombment rights, or
inurnment rights for sale exclusively to persons of a particular religion,
unless membership in the religion is restricted on account of race, color, or
national origin. As used in this Section, "interment rights", "entombment
rights", and "inurnment rights" have the meanings ascribed to those terms in
the Cemetery Care Act or the Cemetery Oversight Act, whichever is applicable.

(Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10.)
 
(820 ILCS 135/3) (from Ch. 21, par. 103)
Sec. 3.

(a) It is declared to be the public policy of this State pursuant
to paragraphs (h) and (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution
that the prohibitions and restrictions contained in this Act shall be applicable
in all counties and municipalities of this State, including home rule units.
No county or municipality, including a home rule unit shall adopt any ordinance
which abrogates any provision of this Act.
(b) A county or municipality may adopt an ordinance requiring that a funeral
director notify a cemetery authority within a specified period of time to
make arrangements for a burial on a Sunday or legal holiday necessitated
by the decedent's religious beliefs or tenets.
(c) If a permit is required for the burial of a human body in a county
of 3,000,000 or more population, the corporate authorities of the municipality
or the county board shall insure that such permit will be issued for the
burial of a decedent whose time of death and religious tenets or beliefs
necessitate a Sunday or holiday burial.

(Source: P.A. 83-384.)
 
(820 ILCS 135/3.1) (from Ch. 21, par. 103.1)
Sec. 3.1.
Severability.
The provisions of this Act are severable
under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.

(Source: P.A. 87-1174.)

Structure Illinois Compiled Statutes