Texas SB 1604: Relating to an exemption for certain cemeteries from cemetery location restrictions.

Bill Text

By:AAWhitmire, Nelson S.B.ANo.A1604
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an exemption for certain cemeteries from cemetery
location restrictions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTIONA1.AASection 711.008, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (b) to read as follows:
(b)AASubsection (a) does not apply to:
(1)AAa cemetery heretofore established and operating;
(2)AAthe establishment and use of a columbarium by an
organized religious society or sect that is exempt from income
taxation under Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, by
being listed under Section 501(c)(3) of that code, as part of or
attached to the principal church building owned by the society or
sect;
(3)AAthe establishment and use of a columbarium by an
organized religious society or sect that is exempt from income
taxation under Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, by
being listed under Section 501(c)(3) of that code, on land that:
(A)AAis owned by the society or sect; and
(B)AAis part of the campus on which an existing
principal church building is located;
(4)AAthe establishment and use of a columbarium on the
campus of a private or independent institution of higher education,
as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code, that is wholly or
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substantially controlled, managed, owned, or supported by or
otherwise affiliated with an organized religious society or sect
that is exempt from income taxation under Section 501(a), Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, by being listed under Section 501(c)(3) of
that code, if a place of worship is located on the campus;
(5)AAthe establishment and use of a mausoleum that is:
(A)AAconstructed beneath the principal church
building owned by an organized religious society or sect that:
(i)AAis exempt from income taxation under
Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, by being listed
under Section 501(c)(3) of that code; and
(ii)AAhas recognized religious traditions
and practices of interring the remains of ordained clergy in or
below the principal church building; and
(B)AAused only for the interment of the remains of
ordained clergy of that organized religious society or sect;
(6)AAthe establishment and operation, if authorized in
accordance with Subsection (h), of a perpetual care cemetery by an
organized religious society or sect that:
(A)AAis exempt from income taxation under Section
501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, by being listed under
Section 501(c)(3) of that code;
(B)AAhas been in existence for at least five
years;
(C)AAhas at least $500,000 in assets; and
(D)AAestablishes and operates the cemetery on land
that:
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S.B.ANo.A1604
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(i)AAis owned by the society or sect;
(ii)AAtogether with any other land owned by
the society or sect and adjacent to the land on which the cemetery
is located, is not less than 10 acres; and
(iii)AAis in a municipality with a
population of at least one million that is located predominantly in
a county that has a total area of less than 1,000 square miles; [or]
(7)AAthe establishment and use of a private family
cemetery by an organization that is exempt from income taxation
under Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, by being
listed under Section 501(c)(3) of that code, on land that is:
(A)AAowned by the organization; and
(B)AAlocated in a county:
(i)AAwith a population of more than 125,000;
and
(ii)AAthat is adjacent to a county that has a
population of more than 1.5 million and in which more than 75
percent of the population lives in a single municipality[.]; or
(8)AAthe establishment and use of a private family
cemetery at a presidential library and museum.
SECTIONA2.AAThis Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
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S.B.ANo.A1604
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