Definitions

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Local Government
  4. Abandoned Cemeteries and Burial Grounds
  5. Definitions

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As used in this chapter, the term:

  1. "Abandoned cemetery" means a cemetery which shows signs of neglect including, without limitation, the unchecked growth of vegetation, repeated and unchecked acts of vandalism, or the disintegration of grave markers or boundaries and for which no person can be found who is legally responsible and financially capable of the upkeep of such cemetery.
  2. "Archeologist" means any person who is:
    1. A member of or meets the criteria for membership in the Society of Professional Archaeologists and can demonstrate experience in the excavation and interpretation of human graves; or
    2. Employed on July 1, 1991, by the state or by any county or municipal governing authority as an archeologist.
  3. "Burial ground" means an area dedicated to and used for interment of human remains. The term shall include privately owned burial plots, individually and collectively, once human remains have been buried therein. The fact that the area was used for burial purposes shall be evidence that it was set aside for burial purposes.
  4. "Burial object" means any item reasonably believed to have been intentionally placed with the human remains at the time of burial or interment or any memorial, tombstone, grave marker, or shrine which may have been added subsequent to interment.Such term also means any inscribed or uninscribed marker, coping, curbing, enclosure, fencing, pavement, shelter, wall, stoneware, pottery, or other grave object erected or deposited incident to or subsequent to interment.
  5. "Cemetery" or "cemeteries" means any land or structure in this state dedicated to and used for interment of human remains. It may be either a burial park for earth interments or a mausoleum for vault or crypt interments or a combination of one or more thereof.
  6. "Descendant" means a person or group of persons related to a deceased human by blood or adoption in accordance with Title 19.
  7. "Genealogist" means a person who traces or studies the descent of persons or families and prepares a probative record of such descent.
  8. "Human remains" means the bodies of deceased human beings in any stage of decomposition, including cremated remains.
  9. "Preserve and protect" means to keep safe from destruction, peril, or other adversity and may include the placement of signs, markers, fencing, or other such appropriate features so as to identify the site as a cemetery or burial ground and may also include the cleaning, maintenance, and upkeep of the site so as to aid in its preservation and protection.

(Code 1981, §36-72-2, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 924, § 3; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2508, § 1; Ga. L. 2006, p. 1087, § 7/HB 910.)

Cross references.

- Georgia Cemeterians Board Act, § 43-8B-1 et seq.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Abandonment was a jury question.

- Descendants of the grantor of a burial ground were not entitled to summary judgment on a buyer's claim that the cemetery was abandoned, O.C.G.A. § 36-72-2(1), because there was evidence that no one had been buried there since 1971, that the descendants had not paid taxes on the lot, and that the descendants had not maintained the cemetery. City of Sandy Springs v. Mills, 331 Ga. App. 709, 771 S.E.2d 405 (2015).


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