South Carolina H 3230: Cemetery preservation and protection

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3230 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 06, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3230

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING 
SECTION 6-1-35, RELATING TO PRESERVATION AND PROTECTION OF CEMETERIES, SO AS TO 
AUTHORIZE THE GOVERNING BODY OF A COUNTY OR MUNICIPALITY TO ADOPT BY ORDINANCE 
THE REQUIREMENT THAT CEMETERY OWNERS AND OPERATORS SHALL MAINTAIN, PRESERvE, 
AND PROTECT THE CEMETERY, AND TO PROVIDE ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURES.

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 6-1-35 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 
6-1-35. (A)(1) Counties 
and municipalities are authorized to maintain, preserve, and protect any cemetery located within its 
jurisdiction which the county or municipality determines has been abandoned or 
is not being maintained and are further authorized to expend public funds and 
use county or municipal inmate labor, in the manner authorized by law, in 
connection with the cemetery.

 (2) Notwithstanding another provision of 
law, each county and municipality of the State are authorized to provide by 
ordinance:

 (a) that the owner or operator of an 
active cemetery located in the county or municipality shall maintain, preserve, 
and protect the cemetery and keep it free of rubbish, debris, or any other 
unhealthy conditions that constitute a public nuisance, provided an ordinance 
enacted pursuant to this subsection may not be solely for aesthetic purposes; 
and

 (b) for notification from the designated 
county or municipal official to the cemetery owner or operator of the 
conditions needing correction, require the owner or operator take action as 
necessary to correct the conditions, provide the terms and conditions under 
which an employee of the county or municipality, or a person employed for that 
purpose, may enter the cemetery to correct the conditions, and provide that no 
more than the actual cost of the cemetery maintenance or clean up becomes a 
lien upon the cemetery and is collectable as a county or municipal tax.

 (B) As 
used in this section, the term "maintain, preserve, and protect" meansincludes, but is not limited to, all reasonable measure designed 
to keep the cemetery safe from destruction, peril, 
or other adversity, rubbish, debris, or unhealthy 
conditions, and may include the placement of signs, markers, fencing, or 
other appropriate features so as to identify the site as a cemetery and so as 
to aid in the maintenance, preservation, and protection of the abandoned cemetery.

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval 
by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on December 06, 2024 at 10:47 AM