(a) Discovery of Unverified Cemeteries. Section 711.0111
of the Health and Safety Code of Texas requires that any person that
discovers an unverified cemetery shall file a notice and evidence
of the discovery with the commission on a form provided by the commission.
Section 711.0111 also requires that any person that discovers an unverified
cemetery shall concurrently provide a copy of the notice of the filing
with the landowner on record in the county appraisal district on whose
land the unverified cemetery is located. The commission shall evaluate
the notice and the evidence submitted with the notice, and consider
the response of the landowner, if any is received not later than the
30th day after notice, and shall determine whether there is sufficient
evidence to support the claim of the existence of a cemetery. If the
commission determines that sufficient evidence supports the existence
of a cemetery, the commission shall notify the landowner and may file
notice of the existence of the cemetery under §711.011 of the
Health and Safety Code. If a notice of existence has already been
filed under §711.011 and the commission has determined that there
is not sufficient evidence of a cemetery the commission shall notify
the landowner of its determination, amend the notice to include the
commission's determination, and file the amendment with the county
clerk to correct the dedication.
(b) Criteria for Evaluating and Verifying Cemeteries.
The commission shall use one or more of the following criteria when
assessing the verification of the existence of a cemetery:
(1) the location contains interment(s) that is/are
confirmed through assessments or investigations consented by the landowner
and performed by a professional archeologist or other individuals
as defined by §711.0105(a) of the Health and Safety Code of Texas;
(2) the location contains human burial caskets or other
containers or vessels that contain human remains or are contextually
known to have been used to inter human remains;
(3) the location contains articulated human remains
that were deliberately interred; or
(4) the location contains a burial pit or burial pit
features.
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