| (a) What unique defined terms are used in this section?
(1) "Authorized person" means the person that has the
right to control the disposition of an individual's remains, as specified
by Health and Safety Code, §711.002.
(2) "Barred individual" means a natural person whose
remains you have been or may be requested to inter in your cemetery,
who caused the death of a victim already interred in your cemetery
as a result of conduct constituting:
(A) murder under Penal Code, §19.02;
(B) capital murder under Penal Code, §19.03;
(C) criminally negligent homicide under Penal Code, §19.05;
(D) intoxication manslaughter under Penal Code, §49.08;
or
(E) a crime under a statute of another state that is
similar to Penal Code, §19.02, §19.03, §19.05, or §49.08.
(3) "Time of interment" means the time you place the
remains of an individual in the individual's final resting place.
(4) "Written notice" means the notice specified by
Health and Safety Code, §712.009(b)(2), requesting that a barred
individual not be interred in your cemetery.
(5) "You" or "I" means the owner or operator of a perpetual
care cemetery.
(6) "Department" means the Texas Department of Banking.
(b) What should I do if I receive a written notice
requesting that I not inter a named person in my cemetery? If you
receive a written notice under Health and Safety Code, §712.009(b)(2),
this subsection specifies the actions you should take within the two-week
period following the date you receive the notice. It may be in your
best interests to inform your attorney and the department that you
received a notice under Health and Safety Code, §712.009(b)(2).
If you consult an attorney, you should follow your attorney's advice.
(1) If you receive the written notice after the time
of interment of the person named as a barred individual in the notice,
you should state that interment has already occurred in a written
reply to the person who sent you the notice.
(2) If you receive the written notice prior to the
time of interment of the person named as a barred individual in the
notice, you should take the actions specified in this paragraph of
this subsection.
(A) If you are not aware that the person named as the
barred individual has died or you have not scheduled interment of
the named person's remains, you should make appropriate entries in
your records to temporarily prevent any future interment of the named
person for a period of up to two weeks, to permit you to investigate
the facts and circumstances surrounding the notice.
(B) If the named person has died and interment of the
remains of the named person in your cemetery is pending, you should:
(i) temporarily suspend any plans to inter the named
person for a period of up to two weeks, to permit you to investigate
the facts and circumstances surrounding the notice; and
(ii) notify the authorized person of the possibly barred
individual that you are required to temporarily suspend interment
to investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding the notice.
(C) You should immediately examine the written notice
and any accompanying documents to determine if the written notice
satisfies the requirements of subsection (c) of this section. If the
written notice satisfies these requirements without any further inquiry,
you must comply with subsection (d) of this section. If the written
notice does not comply with subsection (c) of this section, you should
identify as soon as possible, in a written reply to the person who
sent you the notice, the additional information or documents that
must be furnished to you in order for the notice to comply with subsection
(c) of this section. You should also specify a date by which you must
receive the additional information or documents. You may also choose
to include other information in your reply, such as:
(i) notice that you have not yet been requested to
inter the barred individual's remains, or that interment has been
temporarily suspended pending a reply to your request for additional
information;
(ii) notice that failure to submit a timely response
with the requested information and documents may permit interment
of the person named as the barred individual;
(iii) notice that, if you determine the written notice
complies with subsection (c) of this section, you will not inter the
barred individual in your cemetery during the seven year period following
the date of the notice, and that the period can be extended from time
to time if you receive a timely renewal notice; and/or
(iv) if your cemetery is the only cemetery serving
the municipality or county in which the victim and the person named
as the barred individual lived, notice that you will inter the barred
individual's remains in a different part of your cemetery or otherwise
as far away as possible from the place where the victim is interred,
if you determine the written notice complies with subsection (c) of
this section.
(c) What must the written notice contain to satisfy
legal requirements? To satisfy the requirements of Health and Safety
Code, §712.009, a written notice must be received by you prior
to the time of interment of the person named as the barred individual,
and must contain, or have attached documents containing, information
that unambiguously:
(1) identifies a victim interred in your cemetery;
(2) identifies the sender as the authorized person
of the victim;
(3) identifies a person as a barred individual and
requests that the barred individual not be interred in your cemetery;
and
(4) demonstrates that the named person is a barred
individual, by including:
(A) a certified, final trial court judgment that has
not been overturned on appeal, convicting the identified person of
an offense specified in subsection (a)(2) of this section for causing
the victim's death; or
(B) effective only if the individual dies before conviction,
a certified document that:
(i) identifies the named person as causing the victim's
death, in violation of a specified offense that is listed in subsection
(a)(2) of this section; and
(ii) is signed by an authorized representative of the
medical examiner or law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over
the specified offense.
(d) What must I do if I receive a written notice that
complies with subsection (c) of this section? If you are subject to
a written notice that satisfies the requirements of Health and Safety
Code, §712.009(b)(2), as discussed in subsection (c) of this
section, you should take the actions specified in this subsection.
(1) If the barred individual has died and you had temporarily
suspended interment of the barred individual's remains under subsection
(b)(2)(B) of this section, you should notify the authorized representative
of the barred individual that you may not inter the barred individual
in your cemetery. Alternatively, if your cemetery is the only cemetery
serving the municipality or county in which the victim and the barred
individual lived, you should explain the authorized representative's
options to select an interment location within the boundaries you
specify for the purpose of ensuring interment of the barred individual's
remains is in a different part of your cemetery or otherwise as far
away as possible from the place where the victim is interred. At your
option, you may also explain other, non-interment services you can
provide. If a contract exists that purports to require you to inter
the barred individual's remains, you should also comply with subsection
(e) of this section.
(2) If you are not aware that the barred individual
has died or you have not scheduled or been requested to provide interment
of the barred individual's remains, you should make appropriate entries
in your records to either:
(A) prevent interment of the barred individual's remains
for a period of seven years following the date you received the written
notice; or
(B) require interment of the barred individual's remains
in a different part of your cemetery or as far as possible away from
the place where the victim is interred, for a period of seven years
following the date you received the written notice, if your cemetery
is the only cemetery serving the municipality or county in which the
victim and the barred individual lived.
(3) If you are not aware that the barred individual
has died or you have not scheduled or been requested to provide interment
of the barred individual's remains, you should also make appropriate
entries in your records to remind you of future actions that may be
required if you are requested in the future to inter the barred individual's
remains. For example, if the written notice contained and relied on
a certified trial court judgment, you should, by means of a notice
in writing, give a reasonable opportunity (e.g., two weeks) to:
Cont'd... |
