§3-301 Falls City Code §3-303

Article 3. Cemetery
§3-301 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; OPERATION AND FUNDING. The
Municipality owns and manages the Municipal Cemetery through the
Cemetery Board. The Governing Body, for the purpose of defraying
the cost of the care, management, maintenance, and beautification
of the Cemetery may each year levy a tax not exceeding the maximum
limit prescribed by State law, on the actual valuation of all real
estate and personal property within the Municipality that is
subject to taxation. The revenue from the said tax shall be known
as the Cemetery Fund and shall include all gifts, grants, deeds of
conveyance, bequests, money, stocks, bonds, or other valuable
income-producing personal property and real estate from any source
for the purpose of endowing the Cemetery. The Cemetery Fund shall
at all times be in the custody of the Municipal Treasurer. The
Cemetery Board shall manage the Cemetery and warrants drawn by the
Chairman of the Board and countersigned by the Secretary shall be
honored by the Municipal Treasurer. The Board shall have the power
and authority to hire and supervise such employees as they may deem
necessary and to pass such rules and regulations for the operation
of the Cemetery as may be proper for its efficient operation. All
actions by the Board shall be under the supervision and control of
the Governing Body. (Ref. 12-301 through 12-403, 17-926 through
17-943 RS Neb.)
§3-302 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; CONVEYANCE OF LOTS. The Governing
Body may convey cemetery lots by Certificate signed by the Mayor,
and countersigned by the Municipal Clerk under the Municipal Seal
specifying that the person to whom the same is issued is the owner
of the lot described therein by number for the purpose of
interment. The said Certificate shall give a right in fee simple
to the proprietor, his heirs, and assigns. The Certificate shall
then be recorded in the office of the County Clerk. (Ref. 17-
941 RS Neb.)
§3-303 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; LOT PRICES. The purchase price of
burial spaces shall be publicly exhibited in the office of the
Cemetery Board on a map or plat therein. The Secretary, in his
annual report to the Governing Body shall include therein a list of
the burial spaces sold during the preceding year, or since the date
of his last report, legally describing them, together with the name
of the purchaser and the price received for each lot or space.
Future additions to the Cemetery shall likewise be platted. Without
reference to annual maintenance assessments or endowments for
perpetual care, all lots in Steele Cemetery shall be sold by the
square foot at prices to be determined by the Cemetery Board. The
purchase price of all lots or burial spaces sold shall be paid to
the Municipal Treasurer before a burial permit is issued.
§3-304 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; CONVEYANCE PROCEDURE. The Treasurer
as ex officio Treasurer of the Cemetery Board is hereby authorized
to receive payment for all burial spaces sold at the purchase
prices fixed by the Cemetery Board. When said Municipal Treasurer
shall have received the purchase price of any burial space,
together with the mandatory recording fee, the Municipal Clerk
shall issue the Burial Permit and shall prepare a deed for the
purchaser. If the lot is to be endowed with perpetual care the
deed shall recite the fact together with the covenants on the part
of the Municipality to be performed on account of said endowment.
At least once during each thirty (30) days, the Municipal Clerk
shall present all deeds for burial spaces sold during the period to
the Mayor for signature. The Municipality is hereby authorized to
convey burial spaces by deeds signed by the Mayor and countersigned
by the Municipal Clerk under the seal of the Municipality,
specifying that the person to whom the same is issued is the owner
of the lot described therein by its number, on the cemetery map or
plat, for the purpose of interment. The deed shall vest in the
purchaser or his or her heirs or assigns, a right in fee simple to
such burial space for the sole purpose of interment. The deed
shall be entitled to be recorded in the office of the Register of
Deeds of Richardson County, Nebraska, without further
acknowledgment, and such description of the burial space shall be
deemed and recognized as a sufficient description thereof. Burial
lots shall not be held and used for speculation and no lot
proprietor shall permit interment in or upon any lot held by him
for compensation. The grantee of each burial space shall pay to
the Municipal Treasurer, at the time of purchase a fee set by the
Governing Body for the recording expenses of the deed. Transfer of
deeds shall be made by the surrender of the original deed to the
Municipal Clerk who shall cancel the same, note such cancellation
on the Cemetery Map and records, and shall issue a new deed in lieu
thereof.
§3-305 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; UNLAWFUL BURIAL. No burial shall be
permitted in a church yard or any other place within the limits of
the Municipality except the Municipal Cemetery. Any person
violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of
an offense.
§3-306 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; BURIAL OF INDIGENTS. Within the
Municipal Cemetery there shall be included a plot of ground which
shall be available for the free burial of indigents and unknown
travelers who may die while they are within the Municipality.
§3-307 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; BURIAL PERMIT. All persons desiring
to bury a deceased person shall first be required to file a
completed death certificate with the Registrar of the County before
any body may be buried in the Municipal Cemetery. If it is
impossible to complete the certificate of death within the legal
period of time prescribed by State law, the funeral director shall
notify the Registrar and obtain his written approval before the
deceased person may be buried in the Municipal Cemetery. The
burial permit so issued by the Registrar shall then be filed with
the Municipal Clerk. It shall be unlawful for the Sexton, or other
person, to allow the interment of a body without first receiving
such permit. The burial permit shall then be countersigned and
dated by the Sexton. The interment of any body shall be performed
under the direct supervision of a licensed funeral director. The
applicant shall also file with the burial permit an application
containing the name, age, sex, race, and cause of death of the
deceased person for the records of the Cemetery Board. Upon
completion of the requirements herein, the Municipal Clerk shall
then issue a Municipal Burial Permit which shall entitle the
applicant to bury a deceased person in the Municipal Cemetery. In
the event that the removal of the body of any deceased person is
requested the Municipal Clerk shall issue no permit until the
applicant shall have first complied with the laws of the State of
Nebraska with respect to such disinterment. (Ref. 71-605 RS Neb.)
§3-308 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; SEXTON. The Cemetery Board, subject
to the approval of the Governing Body, shall have the authority to
appoint a Sexton who shall perform such duties and make such
reports as the Cemetery Board shall direct. It shall be the duty
of the Sexton, upon receiving a burial permit to locate and direct
the party named in the permit to the lot mentioned therein and to
dig and excavate, or cause the same to be dug or excavated, in
compliance with the rules and regulations of the Cemetery Board.
It shall be the duty of the Sexton to charge and collect for
excavation and digging graves, the amount of the charges fixed by
the Cemetery Board. The Cemetery Board shall have the right to dig
and excavate all graves regardless of the method of interment used.
It shall be unlawful for any person other than the Sexton or some
person duly authorized by him to enter the Cemetery for the purpose
of digging any grave whether said person receives pay for the
digging or not. The Sexton shall also have charge of all grading,
planting, trimming, removal of trees and shrubbery and laying out
streets, walks, avenues, and drives and keeping them in proper
order. The Sexton shall be responsible for the care of all
personal property, carts, wagons, and other equipment used in and
about the Cemetery and shall keep in repair all fences and gates.
The Sexton shall have charge of the opening of all graves and shall
have the power to hire additional help when necessary. The Sexton
shall tender a monthly report to the Cemetery Board of all work
done by him during the preceding month, together with such
recommendations as to the improving of the Cemetery as he deems
important. No claim for labor or material used in or about the
Cemetery shall be allowed by the Cemetery Board without the written
approval of the Sexton indorsed thereon to the effect that said
labor was performed and said materials were furnished. Failure or
neglect on the part of the Sexton to file the monthly report for
the space of ten (10) days from the end of each and every month
shall automatically work a vacancy in the office and the Cemetery
Board shall forthwith fill such vacancy.
§3-309 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; UNLAWFUL BURIALS. It shall be
unlawful for any person to hold a funeral on the first (1st) day of
the week commonly called Sunday except when an emergency exists.
It shall be in the discretion of the Cemetery Board to determine
when and if such an emergency exists and grant an
exemption to the provisions of this section.
§3-310 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; GRAVE DEPTH. Graves shall not be
less than six feet (6′) deep; Provided, nothing herein shall be
construed to prohibit the use of mausoleums or other recognized
methods of interring deceased persons if such a burial procedure is
approved by the Cemetery Board.
§3-311 MUNICIPAL CEMETERY; DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY. Any person
who shall willfully destroy, mutilate, deface, injure, or remove
any tomb, monument, or gravestone placed in the Cemetery, or any
fence, railing, or other work for the protection or ornamentation
of the Cemetery, or who shall willfully destroy, cut, break, or
injure any tree, shrub, or plant shall be deemed to be guilty of an
offense. (Ref. 28-512 RS Neb.)