(60 ILCS 1/Art. 135 heading)
(60 ILCS 1/135-5)
Sec. 135-5. Joint township cemeteries. Any 2 or more townships or road districts, within or without the same county, may jointly unite in establishing and maintaining cemeteries within and without their corporate limits, may acquire lands for cemeteries in common by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, and may lay out lots of convenient size for individuals or families and sell those lots for burial purposes.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 388; P.A. 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-10)
Sec. 135-10. Joint agreement; referendum; board of managers.
(a) The supervisors of any townships or the highway commissioners of any road districts desiring to unite to establish and maintain cemeteries under this Article may provide by agreement for the joint establishment and maintaining of cemeteries. The agreement shall specify the site of the proposed cemeteries and the proportionate share of the cost of acquiring and maintaining the cemeteries that shall be borne by each of the townships or road districts.
(b) The proposition for the joint acquisition and maintenance shall state the proposed site of the cemeteries and the proportionate share of the cost of acquisition and maintenance to be borne by the respective townships or road districts. The township board shall certify the proposition to the proper election officials, who shall submit the question to the voters at an election in accordance with the general election law.
(c) If the proposition is approved by a majority of the voters in each of the townships or road districts voting upon the proposition, the supervisor of each township or the commissioners of highways of each road district shall appoint 3 persons as managers of the cemeteries. Those persons shall be known as the board of managers. They shall be residents of the respective townships or road districts from which they are appointed and shall hold their office for a term of 4 years and until their successors are appointed.
(Source: P.A. 81-1489; 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-15)
Sec. 135-15. Vacancies in board of managers. Vacancies in the board of managers occasioned by death, resignation, removal, or otherwise shall be reported by the board to the township supervisors or highway commissioners and shall be filled, in the same manner as original appointments, by the supervisor of the township or highway commissioner of the road district in which the deceased, resigned, removed, or retiring member resided.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 388; P.A. 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-20)
Sec. 135-20. Powers of board of managers. The board of managers shall control and manage the cemeteries jointly acquired by the townships or road districts. The board of managers may receive in trust from the proprietors or owners of any lot in the cemeteries, or any person, corporation, association, or society interested in the maintenance of those cemeteries, any gift or legacy of money or real, personal, or mixed property that is donated or bequeathed to the board of managers for the use and maintenance of the lot or cemeteries. The board of managers may convert the property into money, may invest the money in securities in which trust funds may be invested under the Illinois Trust Code, and may apply the income perpetually for the care of the lot or the care and maintenance of the cemeteries as specified in the gift or legacy or as provided by the board of managers if the gift or legacy does not specify the manner in which the income is to be expended.
(Source: P.A. 101-48, eff. 1-1-20.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-25)
Sec. 135-25. Vesting of gift or legacy. Every gift or legacy for any of the purposes set forth in Section 135-20 made to a cemetery by its name, if the cemetery has a board of managers appointed under this Article, shall vest in that board and take effect for all purposes as if made to that board and shall not fail merely because the cemetery is not incorporated.
(Source: P.A. 83-388; 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-30)
Sec. 135-30. Organization of board; treasurer and bond.
(a) The board of managers, as soon as may be convenient after appointment, shall meet and organize by selecting one of its members to be president and another of its members to be clerk.
(b) The board shall also select a treasurer, who need not be a member of the board. The treasurer, before entering upon his duties, shall execute a bond to the People of the State of Illinois for the use of the board of managers, in a penal sum not less than double the value of the money and property coming into his or her hands as treasurer, conditioned for the faithful performance of the treasurer's duties and for the faithful accounting for all money and property that, by virtue of the office, comes into the treasurer's hands. The bond shall be in a form and with sureties approved by the township supervisors or the highway commissioners and shall be filed with the township clerk of one of the townships as determined by the supervisors or with the district clerk of one of the road districts as determined by the highway commissioners.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 388; P.A. 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-35)
Sec. 135-35. Treasurer as custodian; annual report.
(a) The treasurer shall have custody of all money and property received in trust by the board of managers and shall pay out the money and property only upon the written order of the board, signed by at least 4 of its members. The treasurer shall keep permanent books of record of all trust funds, all receipts and disbursements of trust funds, and for what purposes trust funds were received and disbursed.
(b) The treasurer shall, on or before the first day of July of each year, make a report in writing to the board of managers, under oath, showing balances, receipts, and disbursements, including a statement showing the amount and principal of trust funds on hand and how invested. The report shall be audited by the board and, if found correct, shall be transmitted to the township supervisors or highway commissioners. If the report is approved by the supervisors or highway commissioners, it shall be filed by them with the same township or district clerk with whom the treasurer's bond is filed under Section 135-30.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 388; P.A. 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-40)
Sec. 135-40. Clerk's records; annual report.
(a) The clerk of the board of managers, in a book provided for that purpose, shall keep a permanent record of the proceedings of the board, signed by the president and attested by the clerk, and shall also keep a permanent record of the several trust funds, from what sources the trust funds were received, the amounts of the trust funds, and for what uses and purposes the trust funds were received.
(b) The clerk shall annually, on or before the first day of July, make a report in writing, under oath, to the township supervisors or highway commissioners as to the same matters required to be reported by the treasurer of the board of managers under subsection (b) of Section 135-35. The report, if found to be correct by the supervisors or highway commissioners, shall be approved by them and preserved by the board of managers.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 388; P.A. 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-45)
Sec. 135-45. Removal of officers; accounting. The township supervisors or highway commissioners may remove from office any or all of the members of the board of managers or the treasurer of the board for nonperformance of duties or for misappropriation or wrongful use of funds or property held by them as trustees for the cemeteries. The supervisors or highway commissioners may require a just and proper accounting for the use of those funds or property.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 388; P.A. 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-50)
Sec. 135-50. Tax; petition and referendum.
(a) When 50 legal voters of each township or road district present a petition to the board of managers asking that an annual tax be levied for the control and maintenance of cemeteries under this Article, the board shall certify the proposition to the proper election officials, who shall submit the proposition to the voters at an election in accordance with the general election law. The proposition shall be in substantially the following form: "For the levy of a tax to control and maintain cemeteries" or "Against the levy of a tax to control and maintain cemeteries".
(b) If a majority of all the votes cast in each township or road district upon the proposition is for a levy of the tax, the board of managers shall thereafter annually levy a tax, upon all property taxable by the townships or road districts, of not more than 0.10% of value, as equalized or assessed by the Department of Revenue, in each township or road district.
(c) The tax shall be collected in the same manner as other general taxes in the townships and road districts and, when collected, shall be deposited into a separate fund known as the Cemetery Fund.
(d) The tax shall be in addition to all other taxes that the townships or road districts are authorized to levy and collect.
(e) The limitations upon tax rates in subsection (b) are subject to the provisions of the General Revenue Law of Illinois.
(Source: P.A. 81-1489; 81-1509; 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-55)
Sec. 135-55. Ordinances; violation; jurors.
(a) The board of managers may pass ordinances for the government of the cemeteries, including ordinances relating to the operating and speed of motor vehicles and the use of lots, walks, ponds, water courses, vaults, buildings, and other places within the cemeteries, and for the maintenance of good order and quiet in the cemeteries. A person found guilty of violating any ordinance is guilty of a petty offense and shall be fined not less than $5 nor more than $100.
(b) No person shall be disqualified from acting as a juror in a cause under subsection (a) because of any interest or ownership he or she may have in the lots of the cemeteries.
(Source: P.A. 77-2341; 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-60)
Sec. 135-60. Policemen. The board of managers may appoint policemen to protect the cemeteries and preserve order in the cemeteries. The policemen have the same power with respect to any offenses committed in the cemeteries, or any violation of Section 135-55, that city marshals or policemen in cities have with respect to maintaining order in those cities or arresting persons for offenses committed in those cities.
(Source: Laws 1941, vol. 1, p. 284; P.A. 88-62.)
(60 ILCS 1/135-65)
Sec. 135-65. Transfer of funds. When a multi-township cemetery district takes over a cemetery or cemetery authority, the care fund of the cemetery or cemetery authority shall be transferred into the cemetery district fund of the multi-township cemetery district.
(Source: P.A. 91-181, eff. 1-1-00.)